DEFENSE

Systems Digest

15 FEBRUARY 2022

DSIAC collects and publishes articles related to our technical focus areas on the web to share with the DoD community.

FEATURED ARTICLE

Simplified Human/Machine Interfaces Top List of Critical DoD Technologies

A modern-day cell phone packs quite a wallop when it comes to computing technology and capability. But most cell phones barely come with a “quick start guide,” let alone an instruction manual that spells out how to use all the features. Cell phone companies have mastered the interface between humans and technology, making their use…

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Notable Technical Inquiry

Combustion Efficiency Data for Liquid-Fueled Ramjets

The Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC) was asked how combustion efficiency can be estimated for a liquid-fueled ramjet flying in the Mach 2-3 range with a given combustor length or bulk flow residence time.  In particular, DSIAC was asked for some sort of data or an empirical/analytical model that has been validated with data, rather than non-computational fluid dynamics solutions, that can be used…

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FEATURED WEBINAR

An Airman assigned to the 393rd Bomber Generation Squadron prepares GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions to be loaded onto a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The loading operations were a component of the Air Force Research Laboratory QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Hastings)

Air Force Demonstrates Low-Cost Maritime Defense Capability With QUICKSINK

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFRL) – In a demonstration of enhanced maritime lethality, the Air Force tested a new, more versatile variant of the QUICKSINK maritime weapon, increasing aircraft lethality by expanding its targeting reach. QUICKSINK is a low-cost method for neutralizing surface vessels using a modified, air-delivered munition. A 500-pound variant of the…

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From left to right, Berkeley Lab researchers Anthony Gonsalves, Alessio Amodio, and Dan Wang align precision optics to prepare the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Petawatt laser for laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) experiments. The machine learning–based control algorithm stabilizes the high-power laser’s pointing at the LPA target. (Credit: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab)

Machine Learning Helps Ease the Jitters of High-Power Lasers

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have made a breakthrough in laser technology by using machine learning (ML) to help stabilize a high-power laser. This advancement, spearheaded by Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) and Engineering Divisions, promises to accelerate progress in physics, medicine, and energy. The…

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satellite over Earth

Space Development Agency Completes Successful Launch of T1DES Prototype Satellite

WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Space Development Agency announced the successful launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, of the first prototype among 12 risk reduction satellites comprising the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) constellation that will demonstrate tactical data delivery to Warfighter platforms to support capabilities like targeting and missile warning and tracking of…

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Sailors from the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Texas (SSN 775) pull in line from a tugboat as the submarine prepares to depart Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine

Johns Hopkins APL, Navy Team up to Advance Additive Manufacturing for Critical Missions

Over the past decade, additive manufacturing has emerged as a disruptive force in advanced defense manufacturing. However, skepticism about its reliability — particularly for building crucial military hardware — has hindered its adoption. Now, through a collaborative effort with the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in…

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Artist’s concept of five performer designs for the DARPA ANCILLARY program’s EVADE demonstration. Image shows vertical takeoff-and-landing position and forward flight orientation, to scale, for each aircraft. Source: DARPA

DARPA to Demonstrate Revolutionary Drone Capabilities for Warfighters

Five cutting-edge unmanned aerial systems (UASs) are slated to begin flight testing later to highlight the versatility of vertical take-off and landing for UASs weighing less than 330 pounds. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft for the demonstration, known as EVADE – Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration – will boast significantly enhanced range, endurance, and…

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Rendering of Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft in lunar orbit providing Ocula lunar imaging services. (Image: Firefly Aerospace)

LLNL’s High-Resolution Telescope System to Usher in a New Era of Lunar Exploration

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is playing a pivotal role supporting a groundbreaking lunar imaging effort in collaboration with Firefly Aerospace. A LLNL state-of-the-art telescope system will be deployed onboard Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle to enable Firefly’s new Ocula imaging service, as early as 2026. This marks the first planned commercial lunar imaging service, providing…

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periodic table of elements metals

Career Exploration: Using Ingenuity and Innovation to Create “Memory Metals”

Othmane Benafan is a NASA engineer whose work is literally reshaping how we use aerospace materials — he creates metals that can shape shift. Benafan, a materials research engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, creates metals called shape memory alloys that are custom-made to solve some of the most pressing challenges of space…

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The Common Sensor Payload is the electro-optical/infrared/laser range designator sensor for battlefield commanders onboard the MQ-1C Gray Eagle uncrewed aircraft system. It provides real-time imagery for detection and classification of targets and threats for battlefield commanders with day and night imaging sensors, laser designation, pointing, target marking, and spot tracking for aerial intelligence. (U.S. Army Photo)

PD SAI to Deliver Updated CSP Cooling Shroud Design

Every combatant command has its own set of challenges that soldiers need to overcome and adapt to. In the Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) theater in the U.S. Central Command, one of these challenges is extreme heat. Two years ago, soldiers identified a need to provide cooling to the unit’s Common Sensor Payloads (CSPs) that were…

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Lead bullet stuck in a metal armor plate.

What reports, tests, and studies are available on MXenes in electromagnetic interference and ballistic shielding materials?

The Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC) is seeking reports, tests, and studies on the use of MXenes and other advanced materials in making electromagnetic interference and ballistic shielding materials for defense applications. If you have any information to support this request, please contact Nicole Bennett (nicole.bennett5.ctr@mail.mil), the lead DSIAC analyst for this effort, or…

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drone flying in the sky at dusk

Automated Impacts Routing – Path Optimization Through Adverse Atmospheric Effects and Obstacles

Automated Impacts Routing (AIR) is a software system that uses a modified version of the A* algorithm by including environmental (atmosphere/terrain) effects coupled with shortest path calculations. It allows best and second-best path solutions as part of user selections. With multiservice U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) transitions, AIR has been developed and delivered as an…

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Aircraft Survivability Symposium

The Aircraft Survivability Symposium is a SECRET//NOFORN event, and all attendees must submit and keep a completed DD Form 3150 on their person at all times to attend. The presenters will discuss survivability technologies, survivability…

Special Air Warfare Symposium

Hosted by the Global Special Operations Forces (SOF) Foundation, the 2022 Special Air Warfare Symposium will be held in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the home of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Though much of…

Automated ISR and Battle Management

DSI’s 10th Annual Automated Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Battle Management Summit will provide the DoD, military services, intelligence community, industry, and academia the opportunity to discuss ways to modernize ISR systems for the…

2022 Tactical Wheeled Conference

This conference is focused on the tactical wheeled vehicle industry and its support to the U.S. Department of Defense and our nation’s Warfighters. The information and dialogue presented at this conference will discuss the design,…

AFA Warfare Symposium

Attended by DoD officers, enlisted members, civilians, and veterans, this warfighting symposium will focus on the critical concerns and challenges of joint warfare in every corner of the globe. Drawing speakers from combatant commands, as…

Voice From the Community

ST Portrait
Michael J. Patterson

Chairman/Founder Desert Works Propulsion, LLC

Mr. Patterson has 40 years’ experience in spacecraft electric propulsion (EP), including 37 years with NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH, where he served as Senior Technologist for In-Space Propulsion until retirement in December 2021. During his NASA tenure, he worked to transition EP technologies to commercial and National Security Space missions. In 2022, he founded Desert Works Propulsion LLC to accelerate fielding of high-performance EP in support of U.S. commercial and military missions, providing consulting, design, and manufacturing.

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