DSIAC collects and publishes articles related to our technical focus areas on the web to share with the DoD community.
The side prepared to fight is the side that wins the battle—and basic science research provides the first step in being prepared. Like all aspects of the military, the research and development sector thrives on a foundation of cause and effect. Applied research questions more easily match this formula because you can make concrete claims
On a cloudy night in the future, special operators are conducting a nighttime raid on an enemy compound. A mission commander aboard an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship sets his sights on a target. Using a high-energy laser, he aims and shoots at an electrical transformer, the engine of a pick-up truck, communication equipment stacked near the
Advanced Vertical Takeoff and Landing was a topic of discussion at the recent American Helicopter Society International”s Annual Forum & Technology Display in Houston, Texas. VTOL refers to an aircraft”s ability to takeoff, hover and land vertically. There are numerous advantages to advancing VTOL capabilities, particularly maneuverability in a combat situation. The special session highlighted
As China and Russia continue to demonstrate rapid progress in development of hypersonic strike weapons, the U.S.’s largest guided-missile company says technology to counter the threat is already achievable but that fielding a system requires sustained funding and a national sense of urgency. “We are at a tipping point in hypersonics. It is the number
The Army Recognition Defense and Security Web TV news channel presents a highlight video of Day 2 at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) 2017, which was held in Tampa, Florida from 15 to 18 May 2017. Highlighted in the video are: RPAMS RP Advanced Strike-X ATV – militarized CAN-AM X3 to provide an
For the past two years a conglomerate of trade associations, industry, government and academia have been collaborating on the world’s first operational 3D printed excavator. That project made a giant leap forward with the recent printing of a prototype that leveraged large-scale additive manufacturing technologies and further explores the feasibility of printing with metal alloys.
The military is beginning to organize around a principle of multi-domain battle — the notion that effects, planning and operations will converge seamlessly among the five domains of warfare: land, sea, air, space and cyber. Rather than thinking about war from a domain-centric perspective, future battles will be fought with a combination of effects. The
AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate junior force researchers resolved an issue of critical importance to military pilots and aircrews—portable, reliable, and robust temporary landing zone lighting. Current portable landing zone lighting systems, used for temporary and semi-permanent airfields, are aging and quickly reaching the end of their functional lifetimes. The need for a quick solution
Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) The DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge is the first-of-its-kind collaborative machine-learning competition to overcome scarcity in the radio frequency (RF) spectrum. Today, spectrum is managed by dividing it into rigid, exclusively licensed bands. This human-driven process is not adaptive to the dynamics of supply and demand, and thus cannot exploit the full
New Mexico-based ARCA Space Corporation has announced that it is developing the world”s first Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle that can deliver both a small payload and itself into low Earth orbit, at a cost of about US$1 million per launch. Dubbed the Haas 2CA after the 16th century rocket pioneer Conrad Haas,
Rice University scientists have fabricated a durable catalyst for high-performance fuel cells by attaching single ruthenium atoms to graphene. Catalysts that drive the oxygen reduction reaction that lets fuel cells turn chemical energy into electricity are usually made of platinum, which stands up to the acidic nature of the cell’s charge-carrying electrolyte. But platinum is
UBC engineers have developed a more resilient type of concrete using recycled tires. The concrete has improved durability with better resistance to loads and cracking and could be used for concrete structures like buildings, roads, dams and bridges while reducing landfill waste. The researchers experimented with different proportions of recycled tire fibres and other materials