DSIAC collects and publishes articles related to our technical focus areas on the web to share with the DoD community.
The US Army’s Big Six modernisation programme is beginning to take shape, with autonomy very much at the fore. But how much artificial intelligence can we expect and what impact will it have on military readiness? The Big Six programme, announced in October 2017, looks to revamp and future-proof armour, artillery, aviation, air and missile
MIT-developed process could offer nontoxic alternative to environmentally harmful chemicals. Fabrics that resist water are essential for everything from rainwear to military tents, but conventional water-repellent coatings have been shown to persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies, and so are likely to be phased out for safety reasons. That leaves a big
Understanding how lithium reacts to pressure developed from charging and discharging a battery could mean safer, better batteries. There’s an old saying: “You must learn to walk before you learn to run.” Despite such wisdom, numerous industries skip the basics and sign up for marathons instead, including the battery industry. Lithium ion batteries hold incredible
“Everyone in the industry has been waiting for this discovery. This is a paradigm shift in the field of high-temperature oxidation. We are now establishing new principles for understanding the degradation mechanisms in this class of materials at very high temperatures.” Many current and future technologies require alloys that can withstand high temperatures without corroding.
Researchers at Columbia Engineering have demonstrated for the first time a new technique that takes its inspiration from the nacre of oyster shells, a composite material that has extraordinary mechanical properties, including great strength and resilience. By changing the crystallization speed of a polymer initially well mixed with nanoparticles, the team was able to control
Understanding how lithium reacts to pressure developed from charging and discharging a battery could mean safer, better batteries. There’s an old saying: “You must learn to walk before you learn to run.” Despite such wisdom, numerous industries skip the basics and sign up for marathons instead, including the battery industry. Lithium ion batteries hold incredible
MIT-developed process could offer nontoxic alternative to environmentally harmful chemicals. Fabrics that resist water are essential for everything from rainwear to military tents, but conventional water-repellent coatings have been shown to persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies, and so are likely to be phased out for safety reasons. That leaves a big
Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to play an increasing role in military systems. There is an urgent opportunity and necessity for citizens, policymakers, and leaders to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI. Tech leaders, including Elon Musk and the three co-founders of Google’s AI subsidiary DeepMind, have signed a pledge promising to not
The all-weather precision guided bomb could enter service next year. The U.S. military’s new “Stormbreaker” guided bomb has entered operational testing and could be ready for service as early as next year. The new bomb will allow combat jets to strike moving targets on the ground using sensors capable of seeing through bad weather. In
The Defense Department will soon take four major steps toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s vision for beefing up U.S. space capabilities, with the goal of setting up a new independent branch of the armed forces by 2020, Vice President Mike Pence announced Aug. 9. In June, Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately begin the work
Self-healing metal oxides could protect against corrosion. Researchers find an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide, though solid, can flow like a liquid instead of cracking. Researchers have found that a solid oxide protective coating for metals can, when applied in sufficiently thin layers, deform as if it were a liquid, filling any cracks and gaps
An array of new agile launch capabilities being developed by the commercial sector to send satellites into orbit could provide added resiliency to the U.S. space architecture. Multiple existing and new industry players are developing dedicated small satellite launch vehicles to address growing requirements, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan titled, “Small