NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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17 Nov 05. A Raytheon Company-produced Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) destroyed a ballistic missile target outside the earth’s atmosphere during a Missile Defense Agency/Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program flight test over the Pacific Ocean. It was the sixth successful intercept for the Aegis BMD program using the SM-3.
23 Nov 05. The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company, the first to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology on a production scale, has claimed that RFID is the future for tyre identification in manufacturing, supply chain management and tyre/vehicle integration. This weekend, Goodyear’s RFID technology passed its first major real-life test when NASCAR used it for Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead – Miami Speedway in Florida. (Source: just-auto.com editorial team
17 Nov 05. Northrop Grumman Corporation has begun initial flight testing of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (EO DAS) sensors, which will surround the aircraft with a unique protective sphere of situational awareness. On Nov. 11, Northrop Grumman’s BAC 1-11 avionics testbed aircraft flew with three EO DAS sensors installed. During the flight, all three sensors functioned simultaneously to provide a seamless, combined wide field of view. Northrop Grumman conducted the flight tests in the local airspace around the company’s Electronic Systems sector headquarters, located near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall airport.
22 Nov 05. Thales has launched its latest-generation radio base station, the µBTS, a highly competitive new product with a very low form factor. The µBTS is a complete radio base station solution complying fully with the TETRA specifications. With its compact, lightweight design, the µBTS can be used as a mobile base station on board fire brigade or military convoy vehicles. It is also suitable for temporary site coverage at special events. The µBTS meets the most demanding reliability requirements and is fully IP65 sealed for operation in harsh environmental conditions. With 1 or 2 carriers for 3 or 7 simultaneous communications, this base station is ideal for areas with low or medium traffic loads, such as motorways, railways, metro systems, as well as open country and inside buildings. The µBTS is easy to set up and operate, as was demonstrated in August 2005 when the new base station was used at the Luciano Pavarotti concert in Sonderborg, Denmark. The first order for µBTS also came from Denmark, where the nationwide TETRA operator TetraStar has a network of 59 µBTS systems integrated with a Digicom25 TETRA-over-IP network, also provided by Thales.
21 Nov 05. A successful first flight with FILUR. Saab and FMV’s technology demonstrator program FILUR has made its first flight. It was a successful flight and the test results are now being evaluated in order to be able to optimize flight performance for future flights. On the 10th of October the low signature demonstrator FILUR made its first flight. “The ten minutes flight went really well, and we are now looking forward to a second flight test campaign during 2006”, says Mikael Franzén, UAV program Manager at Saab. FILUR’s main objective is to show the tactical importance of stealth technology applied on aerial vehicles, to gain experience and to set a foundation for stealth requirements for future aerial systems and air-surveillance systems. The focus with the FILUR program is on low signature, for both radar and IR-signature. “Static measurements of radar cross section (RCS) made late 2004 showed really good performance and corresponded with calculated data. In flight measurements of stealth performance will be done as a next step”, says Jan Boström FILUR Project Manager, Saab Aerosystems. The technology developed in FILUR will be used for future Saab UAV-systems. This could be one important featur