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Sandia Labs Course Helps Aircraft Inspectors Detect Composite Material Damage

As manufacturers build more wings, fuselages and other major commercial aircraft parts out of solid-laminate composite materials, Sandia National Laboratories has shown that aircraft inspectors need training to better detect damage in these structures. So the Airworthiness Assurance Center — operated by Sandia for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the past 26 years —

The Future Is Small

For three decades, the symbol of the U.S. space program was the mighty Space Shuttle, an 86-ton reusable spacecraft that hauled astronauts, equipment, and supplies into orbit 135 times before being retired in 2011. Among candidates for the next symbol might be the shiny aluminum box located on a clean room assembly bench in Georgia

Army to Modernize and Merge Capabilities of Arrow UAS and Lighter-Than-Air Persistent Surveillance System

The US Army intends to award North Eastern Aeronautical Company (NEANY) Inc. a USD49.2 million sole-source contract to modernise and merge the capabilities of the company”s Arrow unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with the service”s lighter-than-air (LTA) Persistent Surveillance System (PSS). The Justification and Approval (J&A) for the contract, which was posted on the Federal Business

Army Innovative Technologies Project an Enabler for MLRS Long-Range Tactical Missile

U.S. Army fire-support experts are reaching out to industry for help in developing enabling technologies for a long-range tactical missile able to hit stationary and moving targets about 200 or more miles away. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., issued a broad agency announcement this week (W31P4Q-17-R-0028) for the potential $148

Marine Corps Experimenting With a New Service Rifle

On the heels of a widely praised 2015 decision to issue the more maneuverable M4 carbine in lieu of the M16A4 to Marines in infantry battalions, the Marine Corps may be on the cusp of another major weapons decision. The Marine Corps” experimental battalion, the California-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, has been conducting pre-deployment exercises

Today’s Battle for Electromagnetic Spectrum Interoperability and Dominance

U.S. and allied military forces are working on new electronic warfare, cyber warfare, spectrum warfare, and information warfare systems to seize and hold control of communications, radar, and other important sensors. Cyber warfare, information warfare, electronic warfare (EW), spectrum warfare, electromagnetic maneuver warfare. Those are only some of the names by which U.S. military experts

Microgrids Boost Energy Reliability and Efficiency for the Marine Corps

Military microgrids can save the Marine Corps hundreds of man hours, reduce fuel use, and lower costs through automatic load sharing. U.S. Marine Private Robert Bliss explains. The high-tech gear the Marine Corps uses continues to evolve each year. Power generators allow the Marine Corps to operate its gear no matter the environment. Recently, the

Wearable Electronics Textile System Demonstrated Using Nanogenerators, Solar Cells and Supercapicators

Wearable electronics fabricated on lightweight and flexible substrate are believed to have great potential for portable devices, but their applications are limited by the life span of their batteries. We propose a hybridized self-charging power textile system with the aim of simultaneously collecting outdoor sunshine and random body motion energies and then storing them in

AF Sustainment Center Enhances AVCOM Maintenance Obsolesce Prediction Tool

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., 27 Oct. 2016. Data analysts at BAE Systems are enhancing a predictive maintenance computer program to enable U.S. Air Force experts to anticipate when obsolescence will affect aircraft components, and then plan for alternative sourcing or system redesign. Officials of the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker Air Force Base,

Flying Drones Could Recharge Wirelessly in Mid-Air

Scientists have demonstrated a highly efficient method for wirelessly transferring power to a drone while it is flying. The breakthrough could in theory allow flying drones to stay airborne indefinitely by simply hovering over a ground support vehicle to recharge opening up new potential industrial applications. The technology uses inductive coupling, a concept initially demonstrated

The Zumwalt Destroyer Is Here, Now What About the Railgun?

The USS Zumwalt, lead ship of a new class of advanced stealth destroyers, was commissioned on Saturday, October 15th with great fanfare. The knifelike ship, armed with two 155-millimeter guns and 80 vertical launch silos, has no shortage of firepower. The Navy hopes to install a railgun in place of the one of the main

Innovative Super Cavitation Approach Makes for a Smoother Ride

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Moving through water can be a drag, but the use of supercavitation bubbles can reduce that drag and increase the speed of underwater vehicles. Sometimes these bubbles produce a bumpy ride, but now a team of engineers from Penn State Applied Research Laboratory have an approach that could smooth out the