Avenger - A new, Stealthy Combat Predator

UAV manufacturer General Atomics began flight testing of a larger, stealthier UAV dubbed as the 'Avenger'. Formerly known as 'Predator C', the new jet powered UAV made its first flights Apr. 4, 2009. The UAV's shape reflects the designer's goal to reduce the aircraft electromagnetic and thermal signature. It is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B engine feeding from the curved dorsal intake, reducing radar reflections from the turbine blades. The exhaust is partly shielded by the V-tail which also reduces the aircraft thermal signature while serpentine exhaust eliminates radar reflections from inside the engine. The Avenger is designed to fly a 20 hour mission. The Avenger is designed to operate at altitude up to 60,000 ft and cruising speed of 400 knots.

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Net-Centric Warfare Is Changing the Battlefield Environment

Net-centric warfare is not just about technology; it is an emerging theory of war and the next art and science of warfare to be exploited. Net-centric warfare involves a cultural change in relationships that includes networking over the Internet among large groups of people. America's armed forces are now creating and executing plans using capabilities that were not available 12 years ago during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq when the military advantage still came from numbers of platforms and people in the battlespace. Today, our nation's military forces, armed with superior technology, gain power from information, access, and speed.

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A New “Open Rotor” Jet Engine That Could Reduce Fuel Consumption

NASA and GE Aviation are testing a new “open rotor” jet engine with a different design that puts the fan blades on the outside of the engine. The jet fuel consumption will be reduced by more than 30 percent.

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A Steam-Fired Jet Engine for Boats?

A Company Develops a Jet Engine for Boats Fired by Steam

A separate boiler heats water to generate steam, which is pushed at about four times normal atmospheric pressure through a hollow tube submerged in the water.
When the steam hits the water, it immediately condenses to 1,600th of its previous volume. The resulting effect is a dramatic drop in pressure — essentially a vacuum — that sucks water from the front to the back of the tube and thus produces thrust to move.

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Tiny Weapons, Jet Engines in Killer Drone Upgrades

Today's killer drone is a slow-flying, easy-to-spot turboprop plane that drops relatively-crude munitions on its targets. Tomorrow's killer drone could be a stealthy jet, firing off missiles "the size of a loaf of French bread."

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ALE-55 Towed Fighter Decoys for US Navy, Australia

“Raytheon’s ALE-50 ‘Little Buddy’ Decoys” covered a towed system that serves with F-16 Falcon/Viper, F/A-18 Hornet family, and B-1B Lancer heavy bomber aircraft. A related system is made by competitor BAE, whose AN/ALE-55 (V) consists of an electronic frequency converter (EFC) and a fiber optic towed decoy. It works together with an aircraft’s onboard electronic warfare (EW) equipment, throughout the ECM cycle of Suppression (harder to acquire or track), Deception (active jamming techniques aimed at launchers); and Seduction (active jamming aimed at the missile, and being a decoying target if all else fails).

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Raytheon Lands Army Contract To Improve Battlefield Networked Communications

"The Enhanced Position Location Reporting System Extended Frequency, or EPLRS-XF, radio gives the warfighter high-speed, on-the-move video and data exchange capabilities for a broad range of applications," said Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems' Integrated Communications Systems.

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Russian industry looks beyond PAK-FA

By
Stephen Trimble on April 11, 2009 9:24 PM

Alexey Federov, the head of the United Aircraft Corporation, which is sort of like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman combined, has recently disclosed interest in building a "lightweight" fifth-generation fighter after completing the PAK-FA.

PAK-FA was understood to be Russia's answer to both the F-22 and the F-35

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Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) 'Kill Weapon' Flummoxes U.S. Navy

China’s development of an advanced long-range anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) "kill weapon" that can reportedly target, track, and destroy U.S. surface ships, including aircraft carriers, in a single strike without being nuclear tipped, due to its size. This makes the ASBM "kill weapon" the first ballistic misssile to be successfully developed specifically to attack surface ships. According to a U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) report, the missile has range of 2000 kilometers (2000km) (approximately 1,240 miles) and can reach an aircraft carrier or any other surface ship within 12 minutes at that range.

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