When teams of researchers at Germany's Technical University of Hamburg and Kiel University used chemical vapor and a high-temperature oven last summer to produce a new carbon-based lattice they call Aerographite, it immediately grabbed attention for its weight: At 75 times lighter than Styrofoam and six times lighter than air, it is billed as the world's lightest material.
The Taliban have a lot to worry about when it comes to Western military technology. The latest threat is easy to miss but potentially deadly in its effect: a 4 X 1-in. unmanned air vehicle (UAV) the British Army is deploying for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Called the Black Nano Hornet, the UAV weighs 16 grams (5 oz.) and has a camera with zoom function that transmits still images and full-motion video to a handheld monitor. The U.K.
The Pentagon recently signed off on plans to spend more than $1 billion on new equipment for the Afghan air force. The shopping list includes a mix of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, including additional Cessna C-208s, which the air force uses for cargo and personnel transport, and more MD 530F helicopters. While some purchases were expected based on long-standing plans, a major change is the addition of four Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft to replace a fleet of Alenia Aeronautica G.222 transports that proved burdensome to maintain.
During tension between China and Japan over conflicting claims to the Senkaku/Daiyoutai Islands in January (see page DT15), images emerged on the Internet confirming the existence of China's YJ-12 supersonic antiship ramjet missile. Asian sources report that China has deployed the YJ-12. Images show that the missile is a larger development of the YJ-91, a Chinese version of the Russian Zvezda Kh-31 ramjet-powered antiship/radar missile. Chinese sources estimate the YJ-12 has a speed of Mach 2-4 and range of 250-400 km (155-248 mi.).
Vice Adm. (ret.) Yedidia Yaari President and CEO, Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd., Haifa, Israel Birthplace: Kibbutz Merhavia, Israel, 1947 Education: B.A., Middle East History, Haifa University; M.P.A., Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Advanced Naval Command Course, U.S. Naval War College.
At the Aero India exposition this month, Israeli companies Elbit Systems and Windward Ltd. displayed for the first time an integrated maritime patrol platform for India. The platform comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Elbit, the new Maritime Hermes 900, equipped with Marint, a satellite-based maritime analytics system from Windward. The platform is intended to perform 24/7 monitoring of India's large maritime environment, including littoral waters and economic exclusion zones.
Although U.S. and Afghan soldiers have become skilled at recognizing signs of improvised explosive devices (IED), the Pentagon is seeking technologies that detect IEDs before they threaten troops and vehicles. One recent development is Scissor-G (Shadow-Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground), which picks up irregularities and other indicators of IEDs from a safe distance. Scissor-G is a product of the U.S. Army's Communications, Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (Cerdec).
The AASM (armament air-sol modulaire) Hammer bomb, the principal air-to-ground weapon in use by the French air force and navy on Rafale combat aircraft, will receive a third guidance kit this year, most likely in the first half, incorporating a laser sensor for the terminal flight phase.
A dream of science fiction and engineering is to sail beneath the waves and fly above them in one vehicle. Students at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) are the latest to buy into this idea, along with the military officials who fund their research. An article on the university's web page about the “Booby” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) became a minor sensation on the Chinese Internet in late 2012.
The Derby missile, manufactured by Rafael, is the weapon of choice for India's Tejas fighter. A contract is to be signed by the end of this month to supply the air-to-air weapon for the light combat jet, developed by India's Aeronautical Development Agency. A key aircraft requirement is integration of a beyond-visual-range missile. The Rafael Python V missile, closely related to Derby, was also an option. The Indian air force has ordered 40 Tejas aircraft and plans to add 160 more: 100 Mk. II versions for the air force and 60 for the navy.
Since shedding Soviet-style communism in 1990 and adopting parliamentary government and a market economy, Mongolia has become the most democratic of the Central Asian republics. Moreover, it sits atop the world's largest coal reserve as well as mountains of gold, copper, uranium and rare minerals. In 2012, the landlocked nation posted 13% economic growth. Everything should be coming up roses.
A new type of solid-state laser being developed for U.S. Air Force aircraft will soon be tested as a possible naval weapon that could be used against enemy ships. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and the Office of Naval Research plan to demonstrate the High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (Hellads) to engage surface ships, according to a contract announcement. The test, which will take place by the end of 2014, requires buying another Hellads system from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, since the current laser is for testing with USAF.
Internal bleeding from abdominal wounds is a time-sensitive injury on the battlefield. With no medical techniques to stop it, getting the wounded to surgical care rapidly is necessary to save their lives. Medics, however, may soon have a way of stabilizing internal bleeding for several hours. Arsenal Medical Inc. of Watertown, Mass., has developed a two-component polyurethane foam system that shows promise in controlling severe hemorrhaging, and the U.S.
The White House is adopting a tough public relations campaign against China and other online hackers believed to be carrying out what has been described as the greatest theft of intellectual property in history. On Feb.
More than two decades have passed since the last commercial helicopter was built in the U.K., but civil rotorcraft production could be on the verge of a comeback. While the last flirtations with the commercial sector—in the 1980s by what was then Westland were not especially successful—AgustaWestland, the helicopter manufacturing arm of Italy's Finmeccanica, believes it is time for its Yeovil-based U.K. subsidiary to reembrace the commercial world.
Beechcraft and BAE Systems have undertaken the first flight of a specially modified BAe 146 transport aircraft for the U.K. Royal Air Force. The U.K. Defense Ministry purchased two ex-TNT Airlines BAe 146-200QTs in early 2012 as part of an urgent operational requirement to support and boost passenger and cargo transport capability in Afghanistan. The aircraft were delivered to BAE and Beechcraft Global Customer Support under a £15.5 million ($24.3 million) deal.
In Washington nobody likes to talk about the “s-word” but as March 1, the deadline for the across-the-board budget cuts grows closer, conversations about sequestration are becoming all-consuming. “It is just occupying everyone's time,” says Pentagon industrial base chief Brett Lambert. Unless lawmakers pass a new agreement by the end of the month, $85 billion in across-the-board budget reductions will take place for fiscal 2013. It is the first increment in a 10-year, nearly $1 trillion package of spending cuts.
Aug. 10, 1628: Vasa, first of a new class of ships intended to change the balance of power in Nordic waters, left her Stockholm yard for the first time. As she left the lee of the city, she heeled sharply, flooded and sank. The shipwrights blamed the sailors for demanding too many guns. This is related to the news that full-scale development of the JAS 39E version of the Saab Gripen will cost 13.1 billion kronor ($2.1 billion) over five years. That is about 1 billion kronor less than Saab's last major effort, the JAS 39C/D.
L-3 Communications is exploring whether a German concept from World War II could boost the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability of small naval vessels. During the war, the Germans developed the Focke-Achgelis FA 330 Bachstelze (Wagtail), an unpowered autogyro capable of lifting a man. It was towed behind prowling U-boats and used to spot targets and possible threats. The pilot would bark sightings by telephone to the submarine.
Orbital Sciences Corp. hopes to launch its first Antares rocket next month, paving the way for a second commercial cargo service to the International Space Station (ISS) by summer. The plan assumes a successful on-pad hot-fire test of the liquid-fueled Ukrainian-built rocket, but it will not be delayed by inconclusive results from a NASA probe into the cause of a fairing-separation problem that destroyed the $388 million Glory atmospheric-research mission in 2011.
