Datalink for Raytheon's GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II Ready to Fly

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) completed a series of hardware-in-the-loop laboratory tests on the GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II's datalink, a crucial step to clearing the datalink for flight tests later this month.

During the tests, engineers verified the Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) datalink worked as anticipated in a variety of demanding circumstances. Because of the GBU-53/B's datalink's performance, engineers will now conduct UHF and Link 16-mode testing of the datalink from a UH-1 helicopter.

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E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Integrated Test Team Wins Award

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Integrated Test Team (ITT) - composed of military, civil service and industry personnel from Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, prime contractor Northrop Grumman and other aerospace industry contractors - has received the Weapons Systems Award from the Order of Daedalians, an organization that has been dedicated to supporting military services and aerospace activities for more than 75 years.

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Roll-Up Solar Panels

Xunlight, a startup in Toledo, Ohio, has developed a way to make large, flexible solar panels. It has developed a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique that forms thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells on thin sheets of stainless steel. Each solar module is about one meter wide and five and a half meters long.

As opposed to conventional silicon solar panels, which are bulky and rigid, these lightweight, flexible sheets could easily be integrated into roofs and building facades or on vehicles. Such systems could be more attractive than conventional solar panels and be incorporated more easily into irregular roof designs.

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Flash Memory offers up to 40 Mbps read performance

Spansion Inc., the world's largest pure-play provider of Flash memory solutions, today announced a new family of Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) MirrorBit® Multi-I/O Flash Memory devices that deliver breakthrough performance. The family includes devices from 32-megabits (Mb) up to 128-megabits. Each device supports the option for single (one-bit data bus), dual (two-bit data bus) or quad (four-bit data bus) serial I/O data transmission, enabling manufacturers to more easily manage inventory and support multiple product models using a single SPI device. Leading performance of up to 40 Mbps (80 MHz per I/O in quad I/O mode) makes the MirrorBit SPI Multi-I/O family capable of executing code in-place (XIP) for a variety of industrial and consumer electronics applications with performance that matches or exceeds conventional parallel I/O NOR Flash memory.

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Power drill

Thermal energy stored in the Earth's crust could be more easily utilised if it were accessed with a new drilling technique that uses superheated steam.

The technology, being trialled this year by its developer Potter Drilling in the US, could help further exploit geothermal energy, which currently supplies less than one per cent of the world's electricity yet has the potential to provide significantly more.

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Making it with lasers

In Europe, photonics is well on the way to becoming a distinct and strategically important industrial sector with its own aims and objectives. According to the European Photonics Industry Association (EPIC; Paris, France) Europe leads the world in the production of photovoltaics, lasers for manufacturing, and lighting. EPIC’s assessment of the prospects for these industry sectors in light of the current economic downturn is the subject of this year’s European Report.

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General Dynamics, Rafael to Replace the Strykers' SLAT Protection Cages with Reactive Armor

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (GD-ATP) will provide reactive armor tile sets for the U.S. Army Stryker family of vehicles. The $150 million contract is scheduled for delivery within 10 months, by March 2010. Reactive armor system comprises tiles that fasten to the exterior of the Stryker family of vehicles, allowing it to better withstand hits from a variety of anti-armor munitions, primarily RPGs. The reactive armor kit will replace the Slat armor currently used with Strykers in theater. While providing effective defense against RPGs, Slat offers 'statistical' protection rather than an assured defeat of the projectile. Furthermore, the kit, designed by Rafael, can be tailored to address a wide range of threats, utilizing the 'hybrid protection' approach. The reactive armor solutions currently offered by Rafael are presenting enhanced capabilities over the tiles employed on previous systems, including improved effectiveness, protection against a wider range of threats and increased safety, utilizing insensitive sheet explosives activated only when triggered by shaped charges.

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More than Just a Weather Forecast

Unmanned aircraft are becoming an increasingly important part of defense strategies; helping military personnel respond to a greater demand for improved surveillance and attack operations. These sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer enhanced flexibility, speed, intelligence and a reduced risk of loss of life. The most notorious UAV is the General Atomics Predator, which first was responsible for reconnaissance missions. It later launched missiles at targets in Afghanistan, Iraq and regions of Pakistan. But without a pilot on-board, the success of UAV flights depends heavily on accurate information and reporting.

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UK's first future strategic tanker takes flight

Airbus has performed the maiden flight of the first Trent 700-powered A330-200 being built to deliver the UK's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft capability from 2011.

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Aerial images online endanger national security, critics say

One is a assemblyman in California; the other a piano tuner in Pennsylvania.

But when they independently looked at online aerial imagery of nuclear power plants and other sites, they had the same reaction: They said they feared that terrorists might be doing the same thing.

Now, both have launched efforts to try to get Internet map services to remove or blur images of sensitive sites, saying the same technology that allows people to see a neighbor's swimming pool can be used by terrorists to chose targets and plan attacks.

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$119M to General Dynamics for Army’s WIN-T Satellite Terminals

As the Army’s tactical portion of the USA’s Global Information Grid (GIG) network, WIN-T is designed to help deployed forces tap into that grid and its databases, collectors, and connections to national agencies. At present, this requires multiple private networks, or outright forward deployment of representatives from the agencies in question.

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Singaporean fuel cell to boost endurance of UAVs: claims developer

AEROPAK, a next-generation fuel cell power system recently developed by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies will increase the flight endurance of small and stealthy electric unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by as much as 300 percent. The fuel cell technological advancements will bring significant enhancements to UAS, making them more effective in persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, a main focus area for leading defense and security organizations around the world.

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Rolls-Royce: Open rotor 'is real'; Pratt pushes geared turbofan

Rolls-Royce expressed confidence this week that the open rotor concept can be viable, asserting that it will "comfortably meet Stage 4 noise requirements."

Speaking in Washington at the Eco-Aviation conference presented by ATW and Leeham Co., Strategic Marketing Manager-Future Programs Paul Randall said the open rotor is "the true game-changer" and could provide a 25%-30% fuel efficiency gain over turbofans powering narrowbodies today and be 10%-15% more fuel efficient than advanced turbofans that may come on line in the next decade. "Now the open rotor has moved from being a physics problem to an engineering problem," he said. "It is real and it is being realized."

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Darpa Plans Triple-Target Missile Demo

A new program to develop a high-speed, long-range airborne weapon that can engage aircraft, cruise missiles and air defenses is part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency's $3.25 billion Fiscal 2010 budget request.

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Northrop Grumman Team Submits Bid to Compete for Navy’s CANES

The team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation submitted its bid today for the US Navy’s Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services, or CANES. CANES will streamline and update shipboard network systems to improve interoperability and affordability across the fleet.

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Armed Crop Dusters Go To War

The AT-802U, a crop duster adopted to counter-insurgency missions, is trying to challenge the basic trainer aircraft that have been monopolizing this small market. The AT-802U is a 7.2 ton, single engine aircraft with a useful load of 4.2 tons. Cruise speed is 307 kilometers an hour, but is built to operate efficiently at 240 kilometers an hour. Slowest speed is about 180 kilometers an hour. Endurance varies, depending on fuel used (normally it takes ten pounds of fuel a minute).

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Blanket provides protection against dirty bombs

The first instinct when confronted with a radiological explosive device may be to turn tail and run, but the new Demron-W Nuclear/Ballistic Shield affords the opportunity to stick around and save the day.

The Demron suppression blanket provides total protection against ballistics, improvised explosive devices, dirty bombs, spills, and all types of radiological and nuclear incidents, according to Miami-based manufacturer Radiation Shield Technologies (RST).

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Why Lightning Didn't Destroy Air France Jet

A NASA researcher who did groundbreaking work in lightning protections for aircraft says that he'd be "astounded" if lightning caused the Air France crash over the Atlantic Ocean, because of the extensive shielding and other protections built into modern aircraft, including the A-330 that disappeared between Rio de Janeiro and Paris on Monday.

"They might have taken a hit, but it would have been part of a larger and more traumatic thing that must have happened to them," says Bruce Fisher, now chief engineer for NASA's Langley research services directorate.

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‘Colossal’ Magnetic Effect Under Pressure

Pressure has a unique ability to tune the electron interactions in a clean and theoretically transparent manner,” he added. “It is a direct and effective means for manipulating the behavior of electrons and could provide valuable information on the magnetic and electronic properties of manganite systems. But of all the effects, pressure effects have been the least explored.”

The researchers found that when a manganite was subjected to conditions above 230,000 times atmospheric pressure it underwent a transition in which its magnetic ordering changed from a ferromagnetic type (electron spins aligned) to an antiferromagnetic type (electron spins opposed). This transition was accompanied by a non-uniform structural distortion called the Jahn-Teller effect.

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Algae: A New Way to Make Biodiesel

Algae — "seaweeds" in Latin — were some of the first plant-like organisms on Earth. They are photosynthetic, like land plants, and we consider them to be "simple" because they lack the many distinct organs found in land plants.

Because some algae species are oil rich, the amount of oil we can collect from them is hundreds of times greater than the amount of oil that can be collected from an equal amount of a traditional, plant-based, biodiesel feedstock like soybeans.

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New type of membrane developed at Sandia may help make hydrogen hybrid cars a reality

Sandia National Laboratories researchers may have developed the key to making hydrogen cars a commercial reality.

A major roadblock in the development of hydrogen cars has been the lack of a reliable hydrogen fuel cell that works well in both dry and humid environments. Hydrogen fuel cells are electrochemical engines that come in several different varieties with the most common being the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. PEM fuel cells use oxygen from the air and pressurized hydrogen to create electricity, heat and water (steam) as byproducts. The electricity powers the electric motor that turns the wheels of the car.

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High-pressure Compound Could Be Key to Hydrogen-powered Vehicles

Hydrogen-powered cars sound like a great idea, but how do you stuff enough hydrogen into a small, portable volume that’s practical as fuel? Help could be on the way in the form of a hydrogen-rich compound discovered by researchers in the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

The newly discovered material is a high-pressure form of ammonia borane, a solid material which itself is already imbued with ample hydrogen. By working with the parent material at high pressure in an atmosphere artificially enriched with hydrogen, the scientists were able to ratchet up the hydrogen content of the material by roughly 50 percent.

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Efficient New Light Unfolds Like Paper

The next time your lamp needs a new light bulb, you might change the lamp shade instead of the light bulb.

New research out of Germany and published in a recent issue of the journal Nature shows that cheap and thin organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) can create white light as bright as any compact fluorescent bulb for nearly half the electricity as many compact fluorescent light bulbs.

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EJ200 Engine Sets New Standards On-wing

The first EJ200 engine has achieved the significant milestone of 1,000 engine flying hours onboard a Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

Engine EN1030 was the first to be built to the Full Operational Clearance standard at the Rolls-Royce assembly facility in Bristol (UK) and was delivered to the RAF in 2003. Since then it has flown in two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in service with 3, 29 and 11 Squadrons, at RAF Coningsby. EN1030 is scheduled to continue flying until 1,200 engine flying hours are achieved, whereupon it will be removed for scheduled maintenance.

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Blast-Guard - Interior Blast Protection Systems

Ballista-Tek(tm) the specialist interior blast protection division of Exmoor Trim Limited has developed Blast Attenuating Vehicle Seating and Floor Matting designed to increase survivability and reduce injury to Troops in Armoured and Light vehicles.

Vehicle Seating - Purpose built seating which features heavy duty seat frame with GRP/Kevlar double shell with integrated 'Blast-Guard(tm)' Tiles to reduce the effects of both Blast and Shock waves, offering improved protection for troops. Integral harness restraints and Outlast(r) adaptive comfort fabric ensure increased ride comfort along with safety. The system also offers additional protection by the integration of special SF blast Tile fitted beneath seat bases. The flexible design allows the integration of both Blast and Ballistic materials enabling the seat to be suitable for most vehicles. Options include runners for driver and commanders versions and side mounts, allowing the seat to be fitted to interior bulk heads by means of a special Mark 1 tested track system.

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US Army Awards DRS $120 M for Tactical Quiet Generators

DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it received approximately $120 million in multiple follow-on delivery orders under pre-existing contracts from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey to manufacture more than 7,200 Tactical Quiet Generators (TQG) in various sizes.

The generators are in 3-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 100-kilowatt power output sizes, and will be manufactured by DRS Fermont in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Delivery of the generator sets started in the early part of 2009 and will run through January 2011. DRS TQGs provide military forces with a reliable power source that is lightweight, quiet and can be used in remote field locations wherever electrical power is needed. DRS next-generation 100-kilowatt TQG features an advanced electronic diagnostics and prognostics package, and a state-of-the-art digital control panel. A 200-kilowatt TQG is also offered with this feature, but not part of this contract award.

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Microwave Missiles: High-Energy Weapons in the Air Force

The High Power Microwave Technologies Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory is looking for an innovative approach for non-lethal weapons technology that targets enemies' electronic systems. Here are projects looking to turn microwaves into technology-disabling weapons.

New research into high-power microwaves could make them a crucial tool of electronic warfare. The U.S. Air Force’s newest directed-energy weapon program, the Counter-Electronics High-Powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP), would create a weapon that fires powerful bursts of HPM, frying the electronics of multiple targets without harming people or other infrastructure.

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New Army Rifle Fires Laser-Guided Smart Bullets With Onboard Targeting Chips

It would be hard to describe a bullet as smart, but what if that bullet was laser-guided, radio-controlled, and carried an onboard targeting CPU? The US Army has announced the creation of the XM25 rifle, which can fire a new type of explosive round that fit that exact description. Imagine the implications: hitting targets inside buildings or hiding around walls. Whoa.

First, the scope on the rifle has a laser that gauges the distance to the target. The soldier can set exactly where the 25-millimeter bullet will detonate by adding or subtracting 3 meters from that point. Then, the scope will send a radio signal to a chip inside the bullet telling it how far it should travel before exploding.

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Fianium's new US applications lab aims to prove materials-processing strength of ultrafast fiber lasers

Ultrafast fiber laser manufacturer Fianium (Southampton, England) has opened a new, US-based micro-materials processing applications lab. Fianium established the facility to enable work with OEMs in testing material samples and to highlight the processing results attainable with its picosecond fiber lasers. Fianium aims to prove that ultrafast fiber lasers are superior for materials processing of a diverse range of targets, including materials--such as polymers, glasses, organic tissue and reflective metals--that have historically proven difficult to process using conventional DPSS lasers.

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Options Expand in Heavy Lift

In the airlift world, the unexpected is the rule. The U.S.—with by far the largest domestic market—has long dominated the segment, but may now be on the verge of losing leadership.

The Obama administration has announced its intention to cap production of the Boeing C-17 at 205 aircraft. Boeing, during 2008, proposed continuing the C-17A line while working on the C-17B, a substantially modified version for shorter, softer airfields. But the C-17B would have taken until 2016 to get into production, meaning that the price for 40-60 B models would include six more years of C-17As.

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