DSIAC collects and publishes articles related to our technical focus areas on the web to share with the DoD community.
The Pentagon wants another crack at shooting down ballistic missiles with laser beams. According to The War Zone, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is looking to put lasers on high-flying drones. Their mission: to intercept enemy missiles during the so-called “boost phase.” This is the second attempt to build such a thing, following an aborted
Electrical engineers at Duke University have invented an inexpensive printed sensor that can monitor the tread of car tires in real time, warning drivers when the rubber meeting the road has grown dangerously thin. If adopted, the device will increase safety, improve vehicle performance and reduce fuel consumption. The group hopes that the tire wear
The American Society of Quality has published the 3rd edition of the Certified Reliability Engineer Handbook. This handbook is fully updated to the 2018 Body of Knowledge for the Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE), including the new sections on leadership, performance monitoring, root cause analysis, and quality triangles. Its purpose is to assist individuals preparing for
Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have shown that early fatigue damage behavior in structures may be predicted through the study of the microscale mechanical behavior of the material. The findings are an important result for the structural health monitoring (SHM) community and may lead to new sensing techniques for predicting the service life
The German Aerospace Center, Germany’s space agency, will fly two experiments on a suborbital flight by Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle later this year as part of an effort to diversify its microgravity research efforts. Thomas Driebe, head of the physical and material sciences program at the center, known by the German acronym DLR, said
As virtual reality technology becomes less expensive and delivers a more realistic, immersive experience, some national security experts warn that it is only a matter of time before terrorists use it for recruiting, training and plotting attacks. The virtual reality (VR) marketplace is exploding. Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, Google Cardboard, Microsoft HoloLens,
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is seeking a new high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle with the unique capacity to carry a high energy laser system that can stop enemy missiles when they have barely left the launch pad, according to a new MDA request for information. “Our vision is to shift the
The Army’s future air-and-missile defense capabilities are taking shape under the newest Space and Missile Defense commander, Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, particularly in laser-armed combat vehicles and the Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense system (IAMD), both considered to be crucial enablers for the maneuver force. How the Army will employ laser weapons in combat and what the
The U.S. Navy took the first step to reintroducing to the fleet an old-but-much-needed technology when it successfully tested a solid-fuel ramjet engine at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) in China Lake, California. As threats emerge that require an ability to strike targets from farther out to sea than ever before, the Navy
The Army is getting up-to-date on cyber and electromagnetic activity policies, finally releasing the long-anticipated updated field manual for cyber and EW functions. The document, titled FM 3-12 “Cyberspace and Electronic Warfare Operations,” and dated for mid-April, though publicly released within the last week, replaces FM 3-38, which provided the initial guidance back in 2014.
The Cranfield University Center for Aeronautics, with partners Airbus Helicopters UK, BHR Group and Helitune, aims to revolutionize health monitoring for rotorcraft by investigating the aeroelastic behavior of rotor blades and developing state-of-the-art fiber optic sensors. The project has approximately 2.6 million dollars in funding and is scheduled to be completed around July 2018. Current
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a Maritime version of its Harop Loitering Munitions (LM) family. The company is displaying the weapon at the DSEI 2017 defense expo in London this week. The new marine capabilities of the HAROP extends the operational capability of surface ships, from offshore patrol vessels to naval frigates. The technological