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25 Apr 19. Warfighters Need ‘Uncompromised’ Technology, Official Says. Adversaries shouldn’t already have read the manual on a new U.S. gun before the first soldier has had a chance to fire one, the Defense Security Service’s director of counterintelligence said here today.
“We are in a very highly contested environment, with our opponents quite successfully taking our stuff,” William Stephens said at a forum on supply chain security and software at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting that U.S. intelligence analysts and other sources support that assessment.
Stephens spoke on the importance of delivering and how to deliver “uncompromised” technology and capability to the warfighter.
What that means in practical terms is that when new technology arrives in warfighters’ hands, the only people who should know how it works, what it does and what its limits and capabilities are include the defense contractor that built it, the military service that paid for it, and the service member who’s going to use it.
Techniques adversaries use to figure out new U.S. technology before soldiers or airmen get a chance to use it vary greatly, he said, but include such things as exploitation of relationships in the technology community — such as at conferences and trade shows — as well as email and mail, surveillance, exploitation of cyber operations, exports or supply chains, and even insider access and outright theft.
Americans pay for a lot of technology to support the warfighter, Stephens said, and when that technology is compromised before the warfighter is able to use it, Americans lose out on their investment. But the biggest threat from compromised technology, he added, is to warfighters themselves.
Some nations, Stephens said, are “exceedingly well-focused on coming after American technology, and that’s got to stop.”
Delivering Uncompromised Technology
How can the Defense Department improve upon its ability to deliver uncompromised technology to warfighters? Stephens said that might include telling program managers at the beginning of a program they need to deliver a technology uncompromised. That directive is passed down to a prime contractor who will develop the technology. The contractor must operate at a “certain state of care,” and that certain state of care, which could be established “legally as a definition.”
If a company is operating at that state of care, Stephens said, it can achieve “safe harbor” status, which protects it from litigation. While it will never be 100 percent possible to prevent adversaries from taking U.S. technology, contractors will be able to show they are doing their best to protect technology development from compromise. “They aren’t expected to be magic, but they are expected to operate with a significant capability,” he said.
If technology is compromised and a company is determined to be responsible for the loss, it may have safe harbor if it had been operating at the legally defined “appropriate state of care,” Stephens explained. If the company was not operating at the appropriate state of care, then it may be exposed to litigation and Americans can get back some of their investment.
Stephens said it’s possible that insurance markets might grow up around this concept, where companies that are good at establishing and maintaining that state of care will pay lower premiums than those that aren’t.
The extensive security needed to provide uncompromised technology is expensive, Stephens acknowledged, and he suggested that small businesses that want to provide technology to the military might be offered tax breaks or low-interest or no-interest loans to help. (Source: ASD Network)
26 Apr 19. What Might Come After the F-22 Raptor: A Stealthy Laser Fighter? Stealth will almost certainly play a role in a future PCA—should the Air Force analysis show that a requirement for such an aircraft exists. But the service is also likely to heavily invest in electronic warfare capabilities for the next-generation air superiority fighter.
The United States Air Force is in the process of completing its initial research on a next-generation air superiority capability to replace the Boeing F-15C Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighters. Once such research is completed, the service will embark on an 18-month analysis of alternatives (AOA) starting this coming January to determine exactly what kind of capabilities it will need to gain and maintain control over the skies in the post-2030 threat environment. By then—in the year 2035—the stealthy F-22 will be 30 years old while most the F-15C fleet will be more than 50 years old. Thus, while the Air Force has not made any decisions on what a future air superiority fighter might look like, the service says that the so-called Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) capability will be designed to meet threats that an upgraded F-22 and F-15 fleet cannot.
“We understand what the threat is going to be like in the future,” said Col. Tom Coglitore, chief of Air Combat Command’s Air Superiority Core Function Team in an interview with The National Interest. “We understand what our current and projected capabilities will be and will compare them to the future threat. If there is a gap, then we will likely pursue the development of a new capability if we cannot modernize an existing capability to fulfill our need.”
Essentially—as Coglitore explains it—the PCA is the air domain platform component of a future “family of capabilities” for air superiority. But that family of capabilities is more than just the PCA aircraft itself, it includes basing and logistics, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), command and control, as well as other platforms and weapons—both existing and future. Indeed, for the Air Force, air superiority will likely move beyond just the realm of kinetic actions to include non-kinetic effects such as electronic attack and cyber-warfare, Coglitore said.
Basing and logistics—while often overlooked—are a crucial component of modern air warfare, especially as a resurgent Russia and an increasingly powerful China develop long-range precision strike capabilities. China has developed a host of cruise and ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Western Pacific while Russian forces possess long-range weapons such as the Kalibr-NK and Kh-101 stealthy long-range cruise missiles that can threaten U.S. bases in Europe and the Middle East. “We definitely need to be able to operate from locations, and they need to be secure,” Coglitore said. “We must be able to operate out of locations necessary to create the effects wherever they are needed.”
The Air Force is also working on concepts to secure its aerial refueling tanker fleet as part of its future air superiority efforts. The Air Force is aware that both the Russians and the Chinese expect to attack the service’s vital tankers—the very sinews that hold U.S. air operations together—as part of their efforts to defeat any American-led air campaign. Indeed, both the Russians and the Chinese have developed long-range air-to-air missiles specifically designed to attack those critical nodes. While some of the service’s longer-range plans call for developing a stealthy tanker—the Air Force is working on contingencies for the nearer-term to mitigate the threat—which the service takes seriously.
“That is a strategy others have advertised and we’re familiar with,” Coglitore said. “We’re analyzing what potential adversaries have indicated they would do and then we obviously have to come up with our own capability to make sure we can still conduct the mission and create the effects desired. So, we’re aware is the short answer and we will be prepared to counter it.”
One of the potential ways that the United States would counter such threats is by increasing the range and persistence of its aircraft, but the problem is the inherent size limitations of a fighter. “Fighters tend to be small and so their ability to persist can be seen as a limitation, so that’s something that we will definitely be looking at to see if we can change that aspect—or if we even need to,” Coglitore said.
Range and persistence have long been a problem for fighter aircraft—and it is a problem even during operations in relatively permissive environments. One example of that was the 2011 operation over Libya—which was difficult despite the North African nation’s antiquated air defenses because of the sheer distances involved. Indeed, for the Air Force, such distances could drive unaffordable force structures if future platforms have the same attributes as the service’s current aircraft fleet.
“Libya was a challenge for us,” Coglitore said. “The distances to conduct operations in Libya was a challenge. You had aircraft operating from Italy, flying three hours down to the Gulf of Sidra to cover the coast of Libya which is 1100 miles long. You do that math even with fighter airspeeds and you’ll find the surface-to-air threat wasn’t what we were concerned about, the tyranny of distance was itself was the challenge.”
To ensure that the Air Force is ready to meet the challenge, the service will be looking at its tanker requirements as part of the PCA study. “In our examination of the PCA requirements, we will eventually look at the tanker force structure,” Coglitore said. “One could argue that if you have a longer range platform, you could have a smaller tanker force structure. Conversely, smaller platforms may drive larger numbers of smaller tankers which may or may not be more advantageous.”
The other problem with fighter aircraft is that because of their small size, such machines inherently have a limited payload. Current generation fighters like the F-22 and the Lockheed Martin F-35 carry a limited payload internally, which could be a limitation during future combat operations. “It’s kind of a bummer if you drive three or four hours and you can only carry, say, two bombs or two missiles or whatever and now you have to go home to reload,” Coglitore said. “So the force structure is significantly impacted by that tyranny of distance—or your ability to go far and carry the requisite number of weapons to conduct that mission.”
Thus to solve those limitations, a future PCA might be a significantly larger aircraft that today’s fighters—designed to operate at far greater ranges while carrying a far greater ordnance load. Those requirements for range, persistence and payload will have to be balanced against the need for stealth, electronic warfare capabilities, speed, maneuverability and other traits. “You’re looking at all those trades we’ll be playing in our analysis and presenting to our senior leaders for decisions,” Coglitore said. “I think we’ll have several good options.”
Many of the Air Force’s potential future requirements might seem to be contradictory, but new technology might make such a plane technically feasible. Indeed, a very large fighter with a very large payload, huge range which is also extremely stealthy while being extremely maneuverable would be an extreme technical challenge with current technology. However, new technology such as adaptive cycle engines—which the Air Force is currently developing with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney—will likely solve many of those potentially contradictory requirements. “The bottom-line is it’s going to have to be a variable-cycle engine to meet those kinds of needs and not be a humongous airplane,” Jeff Martin, General Electric’s expert on sixth-generation fighter propulsion told me some time ago.
Stealth will almost certainly play a role in a future PCA—should the Air Force analysis show that a requirement for such an aircraft exists. But the service is also likely to heavily invest in electronic warfare capabilities for the next-generation air superiority fighter. The Air Force sees electronic attack as one of many potential requirements for survival in the 2030 plus timeframe, Coglitore said. The PCA will likely use a combination of stealth, electronic attack and other factors such as speed to survive. “There is a balance out there,” Coglitore said. “There are many ways to achieve survivability.”
The Air Force is also looking at more exotic technologies such as directed energy weapons. However, while the service is looking at the possibility of laser weapons, the technology has thus far failed to deliver on its promise. The Air Force will have to come up with a decision point on when to cut off promising but immature technologies from being included in the program. “That’s beauty and difficulty of this problem we have,” Coglitore said. “There are so many options. Each new technology could have a cascading effect on several key attributes of a future platform, providing opportunities in different corners of the trade-space block.” (Source: News Now/https://nationalinterest.org)
25 Apr 19. DoD Launches New Chief Technologist Website. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) has launched a new public website, https://www.cto.mil. The new website will help members from the different services, industry, academia, allied partners and the American public to stay informed on happenings in the DoD research, development, engineering and technology enterprise. The website is launched in advance of DoD Lab Day, on April 25, 2019, showcasing the innovative research and development performed across the department’s laboratories, warfare centers, and engineering centers. More than 80 exhibits will highlight key innovations in areas including artificial intelligence, autonomy, robotics, directed energy, hypersonics, advanced computing, “big data” analytics, and biotechnology. This unique opportunity to interact with the scientists and engineers will be showcased on the OUSD(R&E) Twitter page, @DoDInnovation. (Source: glstrade.com)
24 Apr 19. NAVAIR eyes magnetic anomaly detector fit for MH-60R. Plans are being developed to introduce magnetic anomaly detection equipment onto US Navy (USN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters, the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has revealed.
In a sources sought notice issued on 17 April, NAVAIR advised that it was seeking eligible companies “capable of performing the software development, manufacture, and integration of an engineering change proposal [ECP] for the technical insertion of a digital magnetic anomaly detection [DMAD] capability into the MH-60R aircraft procured by the NAVAIR Multi-Mission Helicopter Program Office [PMA-299]”. It added, “The proposed ECP shall include both hardware integration into the aircraft and software integration into the Avionics Operating Program [AOP], a Lockheed Martin proprietary product.” (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 Apr 19. Life-saving frontline technology given £5m boost. The development of the TXA Autoinjector will allow life-saving blood clotting treatment to be given at the push of a button. Technology being developed by a team of military doctors and scientists to stop rapid blood loss on the battlefield is a step closer to saving lives. The TXA Autoinjector project, which allows life-saving blood clotting treatment to be administered at the push of a button, has been given a £5m funding boost by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson to accelerate the technology. During a visit to The Royal London Hospital and London’s Air Ambulance at Barts Health NHS Trust today, the Defence Secretary said the technology would be backed by the department’s new Transformation Fund.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: Saving lives is at the heart of what our Armed Forces do, and this funding shows our commitment to ensuring those serving on the frontline get the best treatment as rapidly as possible.
Our work to save lives does not stop at our serving men and women but must also be about helping to improve the livelihoods of people across the world. This technology will allow us to just that, whether it is rolling it out to emergency services in the UK, or equipping medics in developing countries across the globe.
If successful, the cutting-edge medical technology could also be adapted from use in the battlefield to any major trauma incidents, from stab wounds to road traffic accidents.
It could also be used to help women in developing countries who suffer major blood loss during birth and are unable to access medical treatment.
Around 4.8 million people across the globe die due to major trauma incidents every year, while 14 million women face traumatic blood loss during labour.
Colonel Nigel Tai, trauma surgeon at The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust added: Large international clinical trials show that TXA saves lives in bleeding patients. But we also know that for patients to be given the best chance, TXA should be given as soon as possible after injury.
The prospect is, that by packaging the drug in to a pre-filled AutoInjector, injured soldiers can self-treat as part of their first-aid drills, and won’t have to wait for evacuation or specialist medical help to arrive
The auto-injector uses Tranexamic Acid, which is a cost-effective and reliable drug that stabilizes and strengthens blood clotting within damaged tissues and can be administered by an untrained user.
Currently, administration of TXA requires an intravenous drip but the development of the auto-injector will allow it to be administered safely into a muscle.
The treatment is expected to benefit up to a third of seriously injured soldiers who would otherwise die from their wounds. Once developed, the Autoinjector could be rolled out to police, NGOs, ambulance services, and Code Red first aid kits situated in public places. (Source: U.K. MoD)
24 Apr 19. Zero-carbon aviation is one step closer with the award of a UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme grant to develop electric propulsion for Airlander 10. A partnership of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), Collins Aerospace, and the University of Nottingham (UoN) has won grant funding in excess of £1m from the UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme to develop electric propulsion technologies using Airlander 10 as the initial platform. The project, named E-HAV1, will deliver a full-sized prototype 500kW electric propulsor for ground testing and technologies ready for future productionisation. These technologies will be directly applicable to a future Airlander 10, with the goal of replacing its fuel-burning forward engines as the first step towards an all-electric version of the aircraft.
Utilising a combination of buoyant lift from helium, aerodynamic lift, and vectored thrust, Airlander 10 already operates with a significantly lower fuel burn than other aircraft of similar capability. The integration of electric forward propulsors will increase this advantage. Airlander 10’s ability to support a broad range of activities from passenger travel to fisheries protection makes it the ideal platform for pioneering electric propulsion in civil aircraft.
Project E-HAV1 will address key goals of the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy: strengthening the UK’s aerospace capabilities, positioning the UK for developing future generations of civil aircraft, and advancing a new generation of efficient propulsion technologies. Each of the three partners is a leader in their sector: HAV in whole-aircraft design capability, Collins in electric power system development, and UoN in electric propulsion research and testing. This collaboration demonstrates the commitment all three organisations have to the future of sustainable aviation. “Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the biggest challenges facing aviation today,” says HAV’s CEO Stephen McGlennan. “While Airlander 10 is already helping customers Rethink the Skies with incredible efficiency, we have to find ways of further reducing the impact we have on our environment. This project will move us closer to our goal of zero-carbon aviation.”
“As the innovation leader in electric power systems for the aerospace and defense industry, Collins Aerospace is proud to join with our partners in advancing this critical initiative,” said Marc Holme, Motor Drive Systems Engineering Director at Collins Aerospace. “Together, we’re developing innovative technologies that will pave the way for the hybrid-electric and all-electric aircraft of the future.”
Prof Pat Wheeler, Head of the University of Nottingham’s Power Electronics, Machines and Control Research Group, commented, “we are really looking forward to the exciting challenges of applying our technological knowledge of electrical machines, power electronics and power systems to the Airlander propulsion application. This project will also benefit from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF) investment in our new Centre for Power Electronics and Electrical Machines, which will open early in 2020”.
Business Minister Lord Henley said: “The UK has world-leading capabilities in aerospace manufacturing. The testing of this new electric engine, is our modern Industrial Strategy in action. This is a vital step in aerospace manufacturing to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of hybrid-electric technology, using the best talent, industry and innovation to transform the way people, goods and services move across the UK.”
The E-HAV1 project is supported by the UK’s Aerospace Technology Programme, a joint Government and industry investment to maintain and grow the UK’s competitive position in civil aerospace design and manufacture. The programme is delivered through a partnership between the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK; addressing large-scale technology and capability challenges, principally over a rolling 5 to 15-year timeframe.
24 Apr 19. US Navy to roll out further E-2D upgrades. The US Navy (USN) is looking to equip the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft with beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) networking and GPS-protection capabilities for operating in an electronic attack (EA) environment.
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on 24 April that it intends to award Northrop Grumman a sole-source contract to incorporate BLOS Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) and Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) engineering change proposals (ECPs) into full-rate Production (FRP) Lots 7-11 E-2D aircraft.
TTNT integrates Advanced Tactical Data Link (ATDL) functionality into the E-2D, and includes replacing the Multifunctional Information Distribution System – Low Volume Terminal (MIDS LVT) radio with MIDS/JTRS that has incorporated Link-16 concurrent multi-netting (CMN-4) and TTNT. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
23 Apr 19. Russia Floats Out First Nuclear Sub That Will Carry Poseidon Strategic Underwater Drones. The Project 09852 special-purpose nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod that will be the first carrier of Poseidon strategic underwater drones was floated out at the Sevmash Shipyard in north Russia on Tuesday, TASS reports from the scene.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the submarine’s launch ceremony via a TV link-up. As Sevmash Head Mikhail Budnichenko said during the ceremony of floating out the submarine from the slipway, “the enterprise’s shipbuilders will fulfill all the tasks of building ships within the established timeframe and with high quality.” After that, Ship Commander Captain First Rank Anton Alyokhin traditionally smashed a bottle of champagne against the ship’s board. The submarine’s construction will be completed afloat. A source in the defense industry earlier told TASS that the tests of the submarine’s nuclear reactor and its dockside trials are scheduled for this year. The Belgorod will undertake shipbuilders’ sea and state trials in 2020, after which it will be delivered to the Navy by the end of that year, the source noted. Another source in the defense industry told TASS that the new submarine would be able to carry six strategic underwater drones. The nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod was initially being built under Project 949A ‘Antey.’ The submarine was laid out at the Sevmash Shipyard on July 24, 1992. On December 20, 2012, it was laid down again under Project 09852. The exact operational characteristics of the special-purpose submarine have been classified and are unknown today. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported in November 2018 that the Belgorod sub’s crew had been formed. The underwater drone later named Poseidon was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his State-of-the-Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018. The Russian leader said that Russia had already developed drones capable of moving at very large depths and to an intercontinental distance at a speed multiply exceeding the speed of submarines, the most advanced torpedoes and all types of surface ships. As the Russian president said, these drones can be armed with conventional or nuclear munitions, which will allow them to strike a broad range of targets. The Poseidon drone will feature an unlimited operating range and an operational depth of over 1km. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/TASS)
24 Apr 19. Alta Devices Introduces New Solar Product to Enable Flying Cell Phone Towers. Alta Devices has announced a new solar solution that is designed to meet the specific needs of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can serve as platforms for cellular and IoT connectivity.
By combining its breakthrough solar cell technology with several new inventions, this solution offers industry-leading features to maximize power, minimize weight, and provide sufficient protection from the harsh environment commonly found in the Earth’s stratosphere.
High altitude long endurance (HALE) UAVs that fly at stratospheric levels (sometimes also referred to as high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS)), are an important new aircraft category and can include airplanes, airships, and/or balloons that can fly at altitudes of 20 kilometers (60,000 feet) for extended periods of time. In addition to being used for a variety of communications (such as cell phone connectivity and others), these aircraft can be used for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue, border patrol, mapping, and many other applications. Solar power is critical for these aircraft, particularly because the objective is to fly for years without refuelling.
Flight at this altitude demands solar technology that is different from the type used in terrestrial installations or in space. For example, at 60,000 feet, ultraviolet radiation from the sun is more intense than on the earth’s surface. Unlike in space with zero gravity, the generation of lift is important for stratospheric vehicles. In order to allow the aircraft to carry a useful payload and enough batteries for night flight, the solar technology used must be extremely light-weight. In contrast to both terrestrial and space applications, at 60,000 feet, mechanical stresses during flight can be very tough on the aircraft surface and solar panels, so the solar material must be flexible and durable.
Alta Devices new HALE solar product uses world-record efficiency single junction gallium-arsenide solar cells, producing industry-leading power-per-unit-area under high-altitude operating conditions. Alta has worked closely with its HALE customers, leaders in aerospace innovation, to solve critical challenges related to the mechanical and electrical integration of this technology onto multiple aircraft platforms. The company developed a special, lightweight packaging solution that protects the solar cells from the extreme UV, ozone and the thermal environment of the stratosphere, while maintaining a smooth, aerodynamic surface.
Other crucial challenges addressed by Alta include designing for mechanical stresses and vibration expected during flight and developing techniques for successful co-curing into lightweight composite structures. Optimizing a solar array for an aircraft requires complex configurations that maximize cell packing factor, minimize electrical mismatch and allow the design to utilize maximum surface area for solar. Alta worked with its customers to understand these requirements and developed sophisticated module designs that address these issues, thus providing an easy-to-integrate solution that maximizes system performance, while reducing the amount of work required during installation.
Alta Devices CEO, Jian Ding, commented, “Alta Devices recognizes that our aerospace customers need to innovate every aspect of these new and complex aircraft systems. With our new HALE solar solution, they now have one less thing to worry about. This will simplify the design process and significantly reduce the complexity involved in manufacturing these aircraft.” (Source: UAS VISION)
24 Apr 19. Sky Power Presents New Engine Families at Xponential 2019. The German UAS engine manufacturer Sky Power presents for the first time a series of new engines in different performance classes to the public at the leading trade fair AUVSI Xponential 2019 in Chicago. The portfolio ranges from small single-cylinder engines based on carburettor technology to 2-cylinder engines with carburettor or injection system.
“We are very proud to be able to present an entire series of new engines at the trade fair. This is an important step for our young, but experienced company. We have incorporated more than 30 years of experience of our employees into developing efficient, reliable and powerful efficient, reliable and powerful engines”, states Karl Schudt, CEO of Sky Power GmbH.
The individual engines are bundled in engine families. Consequently, engines of different design and for manifold fields of application are grouped in the various cubic centimeter classes. Only the SP-28 is available in just one version, as it is the smallest single-cylinder engine in the portfolio. This engine is equipped with a carburettor and has an improved cylinder design for better thermal stability. From the second half of the year the engine will be offered with the newly developed ignition system SP-IGU.
All other engines in the Sky Power portfolio are provided with two spark plugs.
“With the SP-28 this is not possible due to the small cylinder volume of 28 ccm” continued Schudt. Therefore, the next larger single-cylinder engine is provided with two spark plugs. The SP-55 series, with 55ccm, can be operated both with a carburettor as well as with an injection system. Both the carburettor and the injection system are positioned at the side of the crankcase and inject directly into it. As a result, a generator or starter generator can be positioned on the rear exposed drive shaft, which enables a very compact design of the engine. In addition, the engine is equipped with the HKZ215 ignition system and the ECU030.
“At the trade fair we will present the engine in a carburettor version. However, the engine is also available in other versions, with injection system and soon as a Heavy Fuel (HF) variant”, as Schudt described the new product philosophy.
Within the engine families, this philosophy always includes the variants with carburettor and injection system. The HF-engines will be available in the near future. Three different versions based on one engine will be available to the customers. This also applies to the 2-cylinder engines with 110, 210, 170 and 275 ccm, which will also be presented at the fair. All engines can be provided with a generator or starter generator on the drive shaft and are equipped with the HKZ215 ignition system and the ECU030.
The entire engine portfolio can be used for hybrid operations.
“What kind of generator power and other subsystems are necessary depends on the customer’s application. Because of this we presented our Engine Kit last year, which gives the customer an overview of the different options. Ultimately almost every engine leaves our production in a different configuration, dependent on the customer’s needs”, stated Schudt. Furthermore, all engines can be provided with a system carrier, on which the ignition electronics are mounted. As a result, the engine can be integrated with the most important subsystems in an aircraft to save space. Sky Power will be attending the AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2019 – All Things Unmanned in Chicago, Booth # 1834, from April 29th through May 2nd. (Source: UAS VISION)
23 Apr 19. Insect-Inspired UAV Technology for High-Wind Conditions and Larger Payloads. A Purdue University researcher has been awarded a patent for a solution for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to fly in high-wind conditions, provide energy savings, and handle a larger payload. Assistant professor Dr. Xiumin Diao’s design got inspiration from the insect kingdom.
“Our drone design was inspired by the wings and flight patterns of insects,” Diao. “We created a drone design with automatic folding arms that can make in-flight adjustments.”
The researcher noted that because the UAV design did not have fixed arms like a traditional rigid “quadcopter” drone, its adjustable arms could adjust the aircraft’s center of gravity during the flight. In addition, Diao said that the full range of the UAVs thrust power could be taken advantage of thanks to the adjustable arms, which boosts energy efficiency and payload capacity.
Diao, along with Hao Xiong and Jin Hu, had a paper published on the design. In the abstract, they noted that “an arm-rotation approach is proposed to optimize the energy efficiency of a quadrotor with a center-of-gravity offset in steady hovering. It is shown with simulation that an example quadrotor with rotatable arms can save up to 13% of energy. Experiments show that the same example quadrotor can save even more energy in practice, owing to the byproduct of the arm-rotation.”
“The drones on the market now have fixed arms and that greatly reduces their maximum payload capacity when the payload is offset their center of gravity,” Diao said. “Our design allows a larger payload because the movable arms can liberate part of rotor thrust to fight the weight on the overall device.”
To patent his device, Diao worked with the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, and they are looking for more researchers and partners to license the technology. (Source: UAS VISION)
23 Apr 19. Cube Autopilot Gets uAvionix ADS-B IN Capability. uAvionix, designer and manufacturer of Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) equipment for unmanned and manned aircraft today announced a partnership with CubePilot (ProfiCNC and Hex) designer and manufacturer of the world leading “The Cube” autopilot (Formerly known as “Pixhawk”) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – to integrate ADS-B IN receive capability into its Carrier Board. The new Carrier Board, available in July this year, integrates uAvionix’s custom ADS-B silicon for 1090MHz ADS-B reception for worldwide Detect and Avoid (DAA) functionality. CubePilot, which proudly uses the open-source ARDUPILOT platform, previously provided plug-and-play functionality for several uAvionix ADS-B IN and OUT products, including PingRX, Ping2020i and Ping1090i. Support for these products is retained in the new design, allowing for 978MHz ADS-B reception or integration of ADS-B OUT functionality.
With this integration, UAS operators will be able to see nearby ADS-B OUT enabled aircraft on ARDUPILOT’s Mission Planner, allowing the Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) with timely notification to take the necessary actions to remain well clear.
“With this partnership, uAvionix furthers our goal of ensuring safety and common situational awareness between airspace users,” states Christian Ramsey, uAvionix President. “We believe that ADS-B IN functionality should be a requirement for every DAA system for UAS operations over people or Beyond Visual Line of Sight, and meeting that requirement should not be cost prohibitive.”
“The safe integration of UAS into the National airspace of any country needs to take a safety-first approach from all players. By partnering with uAvionix and including the ADSB-in at practically no cost to the customer, we remove the cost barrier, adding safety to our customers’ UAS solutions.” said Philip Rowse, Hex/ProfiCNC CTO. “We envisage this added situational awareness, and optional auto avoidance behavior will be an important step towards safely shared skies.” (Source: UAS VISION)
17 Apr 19. USPTO Awards AKHAN Key Optics Patent for New Diamond Based IR Antireflective Coating. Patent Covers the System and Method for Diamond-Based Multilayer Antireflective Coatings for Optical Materials, adding to company’s breakthrough Miraj Diamond® Glass Portfolio. AKHAN Semiconductor, a technology company specializing in the fabrication and application of lab-grown, electronics-grade diamond, announced today the issuance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) of a patent covering AKHAN’s next generation diamond based multilayer antireflective coating systems, key in military & aerospace sensor and detector applications, amongst others.
The granted and issued patent, 10,254,445, is a key addition to AKHAN’s breakthrough Miraj Diamond® Glass intellectual property portfolio, and enables new capabilities in optical sensing, detecting, and transmission. Through integration of high-quality diamond multilayer materials, the novel system allows for optical components with ultra-hardness, scratch-resistance, high thermal conductivity, hydrophobicity, chemical and biological inertness, and with high transmittance at a variety of critical angles.
“Due to diamond’s absorption spectra in the medium wavelength infrared region, the material has been historically absent for infrared application use. However, through our novel diamond-based multilayer materials, it is now possible to capture the favorable properties of diamond for more rugged systems use, such as experienced in battlefield conditions,” explains AKHAN Founder & CEO, Adam Khan.
“Previous antireflective coatings have suffered from delamination, degradation, and fluctuating optical transmissivity. AKHAN’s Miraj Diamond® materials provide high transmissivity infrared windows with high reliability,” said AKHAN Chief Technology Officer Bill Alberth. “We look forward to announcing new products featuring this patented technology soon.”
AKHAN’s flagship Miraj Diamond® Glass for consumer display is 6x stronger, 10x harder, and runs over 800x cooler than leading glass competitors like Gorilla Glass by coating standard commercial glass such as aluminosilicate, BK7, and Fused Silica with proprietary lab-grown nanocrystalline diamond. Diamond-based technology is capable of increasing power density as well as creating faster, lighter, and simpler devices for consumer use. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
18 Apr 19. U.S. Offers Japan Secret Info for Development of F-2’s Successor Jet. The United States has proposed disclosing some of the top-secret details of its state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jet to Japan to encourage joint development of an aircraft that will succeed the Air Self-Defense Force’s F-2 fighter, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The ASDF also has some F-35s. The U.S. plan, which was proposed to the Defense Ministry, would open the door to a jointly developed successor jet based on the F-35 and other fighters, which would be one of the world’s leading fighter aircraft.
According to Japanese government sources, the United States has indicated a willingness to release confidential details about the software installed in the F-35 airframe to control parts including the engine and the missiles. If the F-35 software, currently held exclusively by the U.S. side, is diverted to the F-2 successor aircraft, the United States will disclose the source code to the Japanese side.
If the joint development goes ahead, the United States reportedly is prepared to allow components made in Japan to be included with U.S.-made parts that will be used in the F-2’s successor. If these proposals materialize, it would widen the scope for Japanese companies to participate in the aircraft’s development.
The Japanese and U.S. governments started seriously discussing the U.S. proposal at the end of March. The Japanese government intends to decide on the course of the aircraft’s development, including whether to accept the U.S. proposal, by the end of this year. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/The Yomiuri Shimbun)
19 Apr 19. Invisible, Essential: Open Architecture For Army Aircraft. While sexy photos of revolutionary aircraft naturally get the most attention, one of the most important pieces of the Army’s Future Vertical Lift effort is actually invisible. Called the Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), it’s a complex set of software and hardware protocols, to be used by all FVL aircraft, both manned — the FARA scout and the FLRAA transport — and unmanned — the FTUASand AUAS drones. It should allow the Army to upgrade its future aircraft easily — mixing and matching the best offerings from different vendors — as technologies, threats, and missions change.
This year, the Army’s conducting five demonstrations of, in effect, prototypes for MOSA. (The mind-numbing full name is Joint Multi-Role Mission Systems Architecture Demonstration, JMR MSAD). The service has awarded at least seven contracts, three of them for what it’s calling Mission Systems Integrators, although the only competitor to publicly announce its award is Collins Aerospace (a division of United Technologies that includes the former Rockwell Collins). The MOSA demos will wrap up late next year. A proto-prototype of sorts is being developed for the UH-60V “Victor” model of the Black Hawk helicopter.
“We think this is absolutely critical, because we want to be able to field new capabilities very quickly into our aircraft in the future,” Gen. James McConville — the Army’s senior aviator, current vice-chief of staff, and nominee for the next chief — told the Army Aviation Association of America conference this week.
“I used to fly Kiowa Warriors,” McConville told reporters afterward. “It was a great aircraft at the time, [but] there was no open architecture…..If you wanted to change code for the multi-functional display [for example], you’d have to rewrite the entire code [for the whole aircraft] and flight test it, because…. you might impact the flight controls.”
“It was a big deal just to change a screen,” he said, let alone make a major upgrade like a new weapon, sensor, or defensive jammer. That was tolerable when upgrades were infrequent and each subsystem on an aircraft was effectively stand-alone. It’s unacceptable in the modern world, , where technology advances at a frenetic pace and each aircraft has multiple interdependent systems all networked together. What you want, McConville said, is something like the iPhone, where any vendor can offer a new app as long as it meets Apple’s technical standards and Apple itself updates the underlying operating system every few weeks.
“How many people out there have mobile phones that are more than two years old?” Jeffrey White, the Army’s principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, asked the Quad-A conference. So why does it take multiple years just to upgrade an existing aircraft? “We’ve got to build our equipment faster. We’ve got to deliver improvements to the warfighter more quickly, we need to look … introducing upgrades over the network, much like you get upgrades to your cellphone.”
Software upgrades in particular should be swift because they don’t require any physical changes to install. But in a weapons system like Kiowa Warrior, a change in one section of code (say, displays) could inadvertently affect another (say, flight controls). So any upgrade requires not only meticulous debugging of the software, but time-consuming flight tests to prove and certify that the aircraft is still safe.
What’s more, because software and hardware were not standardized, it was often impossible to change them without knowing the original manufacturer’s trade secrets — their proprietary intellectual property. That often led to so-called “vendor lock,” when only that original manufacturer could do upgrades, with no competition on either quality or price.
The solution, much easier said than done, is to break the system into self-contained components — modules — that connect to each other like Legos using a standardized, well-defined set of interfaces — the architecture — and allow all potential competitors to know how those interfaces work — the “open” part. In theory, this allows you to take a single module of software and/or hardware made by one vendor, e.g. the cockpit displays, and replace it with a new and improved module from another vendor. Because each module is basically a black box that plugs-and-plays into the wider architecture, interacting with other modules only in strictly limited ways that everybody knows about, replacing it shouldn’t have unexpected impacts on the rest of the system and shouldn’t require learning anyone’s trade secrets to make things work together.
“We probably don’t need to understand how that box works, we just need to understand what the input is and what the output is,” White told the conference. “No longer is it appropriate to go out and simply ask for the IP for the entire piece of equipment” — a chronic sticking point with contractors, especially small businesses whose intellectual property is often their main asset.
The modular approach applies most obviously to software, but has implications for hardware as well. “We don’t need a whole helicopter in order to prove out a rotor head, a landing gear assembly, or a control feature,” White said. Instead, you can just put the new component, whatever it is, on a current aircraft and see how well it works: “We can fly it, we can test it, and we can get feedback.”
Now, actually developing interface standards to allow easy plug-and-play of new components is not easy. There’s at least a foundation out there, the Future Airborne Capability Environment, which is developed and updated by a government-industry coalition, but FACE may need more refinement and detail.
On the upside, at least one Army aviation program is already implementing these principles, if only in the cockpit: the UH-60V “Victor,” an upgraded version of the UH-60L “Lima” mainly used by the Army National Guard, of which the Army plans to field 760.
“Our first opens systems architecture cockpit is in the UH-60 Victor,” which will soon go into operational testing, said Brig. Gen. Thomas Todd, the Army’s Program Executive Officer for Aviation. “That’s really the pre-runner to MOSA. It’s helping inform MOSA as we speak.”
“We turn changes right now in that cockpit sometimes overnight, software changes,” Todd said. Instead of having to test everything every time you change anything, he said, the modules are “fully partitioned, such that this part of the aircraft doesn’t have to touch that part of the aircraft.”
“You may think that’s relatively simple,” Todd told the conference. “That’s not simple.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Breaking Defense)
17 Apr 19. Frequentis, Sunhillo launch UAS-C system. Frequentis and Sunhillo have jointly developed a UAS-connector (UAS-C) system to securely connect UAS pilots with air traffic control (ATC) units, Frequentis announced on 10 April. The UAS-C converts UAS position data into standard aviation formats and provides a secure virtual radio communication link to exchange two-way voice and surveillance data, connecting UAS pilots seamlessly into existing ATC infrastructure.
UAS-C provides air traffic controllers and command centers with reliable and secure ground-based UAS pilot communication. The UAS pilot uses the same virtual frequency as manned aviation users, minimising the risk of safety infringements. As the communication equipment is located on the ground, UAS-C does not relay information through the UAS vehicle radio.
17 Apr 19. Top New Turbofan Engine to Power China’s Carrier-Based Stealth Fighters: Specialist. The young members of a team of Chinese aero engine designers will be given an award for successfully designing and prototype testing of a new top-class turbofan engine that will help Chinese fighter jets take on their advanced foreign counterparts. Experts said on Wednesday the new engine is likely to be installed on China’s new carrier-based stealth fighter jets. With 124 members who are 35 years old or younger, the 193-person development team at the Gas Turbine Research Institute under the state-owned Aero Engine Corporation of China will receive a provincial award during China’s Youth Day on May 4, according to a statement released by the government of Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on its WeChat account on Monday.
Without disclosing the designation of the engine, the statement said it is a piece of military equipment that will rival advanced foreign fighter jets and represents China’s highest technical level in aero engines. It is one of several major aero engine projects of the country, the statement said.
It took the development team only a year to design the engine, and just six months to finish testing the first prototype, and the manufacturing cycle has been reduced by two thirds, the statement said.
With the new engine, China’s future advanced fighter jets will finally solve the “heart problem,” Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday. “This is great, great news,” he said. The aero engine is often dubbed “heart of aircraft” as it provides the power the aircraft needs.
Military observers said China has made astounding progress in the development of advanced military aircraft, highlighted by the J-20 stealth fighter jet. The industry, however, has been hampered by domestically made engines that previously had sub-optimal thrust and life span. Advanced turbofan engines are difficult to develop, especially the manufacturing of fan blades, which must be built to resist very high temperatures and pressure, Wei noted. The upcoming award is an indication that China has made breakthroughs not only in designing, but also manufacturing, Wei said. Despite the fast pace of development, Wei said the new engine still needs a considerable amount of testing under different situations, before it is confirmed reliable and enters mass production. This turbofan engine is likely to be used on China’s stealth fighter jets in the future, Weihutang, a column affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Tuesday.
Wei said the engine could be related to China’s medium-sized twin-engine stealth aircraft FC-31, which could become China’s next generation aircraft carrier-based fighter jet. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Global Times)
22 Apr 19. Kongsberg, MicroPilot develop single-operator detect-and-avoid system for multiple drones. Kongsberg Geospatial has developed IRIS UxS Fleet Control Station technology to enable multiple drones to be monitored and controlled simultaneously by a single operator and provides real-time calculation of aircraft separation, airspace monitoring alerts and communications line-of-sight prediction to enable detect and avoid for safe BVLOS operations.
According to the company the IRIS FCS integrates a variety of real-time data feeds including ADS-B, local radar and National Airspace Feeds to calculate “detect and avoid” warnings. IRIS provides real-time 2D and 3D visualization of airborne track and weather data, as well as geo-fencing capabilities. IRIS UAS is an airspace situational awareness system developed to provide Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) operators with the necessary situational awareness to safely operate multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS). The platform presents users with 2D and 3D map and terrain data, aeronautical information such as aerodrome locations, obstacles and airspace, and real-time data from sensors, cameras, and weather data sources – all integrated within a single, common operating picture display. The IRIS UxS technology provides enhanced BVLOS situational awareness to MicroPilot autopilot users flying multiple UAS per operator. MicroPilot develops and manufactures autopilots for fixed, rotary wing and hybrid UAVs, including the triple redundant MP21283X.
“Reliable, and innovative operator control solutions supported by real-time airspace visualization is key to expanding BVLOS operations safely and effectively,” said MicroPilot’s President, Howard Loewen. (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
18 Apr 19. French Army eyes robots, change in force size as it prepares for future wars. Innovation and a sufficiently populated Army that can fulfill the service’s strategic needs are key factors in whether France will be prepared for a high-intensity conflict, the military’s strategic thinkers said at a forum held April 16 in Paris.
“Mass,” or the capacity to generate and maintain an ample number of soldiers, is one of eight factors of operational superiority identified by the French Army, according to a speaker at a seminar on how the service will fight in future high-intensity wars. The event was held under Chatham House rules, which means the speaker can not be identified for this story.
A smaller ground force of 77,000 — compared to 220,000 or so in 1996 when conscription was mandatory — could be supported by robots, but French officials insist there will always be a man in the loop.
A senior officer outright rejected the idea of “autonomous killer robots.” He added that future conflicts will likely take place in urban areas and would result in “ferocious attrition of men and materiel,” both of which would be “hyper-connected and thus hyper-powerful.”
However, that would also serve as “their major weakness,” he added, as enemy disruption of IT systems would prove crippling. He identified redundancies as one solution to both materiel attrition and IT issues.
Another suggestion that came out of the event aimed at ensuring operational superiority by numbers involved delegating most noncombat tasks to civilians. That could enable military personnel to concentrate on combat missions.
However, Army personnel attending the seminar argued strongly against employing mercenaries or private security companies in combat roles. Instead they suggested strategic partnerships with privileged partners such as the U.S. and the U.K., or alliances such as NATO.
They also favored local ad hoc cooperation such as the G5 Sahel Joint Force in central Africa and the use of 24,000 French reservists for positions such as linguists and cyber analy. (Source: Defense News)
23 Apr 19. New Chinese combat aircraft engine designed and tested in 18 months. China’s Gas Turbine Research Institute (GTRI) has within 18 months designed and tested a prototype of a new turbofan engine for fighter aircraft, according to a 17 April report published in the state-owned Global Times newspaper.
This suggests that China may have finally resolved the long-standing difficulties that have hampered its production of military aircraft engines and forced it to import Russian-made engines for several of its major aircraft projects.
No details of the engine, including its designation, have been revealed, but official statements claimed that the new engine would “rival advanced foreign fighter jets and represents China’s highest technical level in aero engines”. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
23 Apr 19. Digital revolution: Naval Group, b<>com’s new industrial investor. Naval Group has just joined b<>com, a European innovation center based in France. This partnership brings together the European leader in naval defense and the researchers and engineers of the innovation center with a wide range of expertise. It will help to accelerate technological advances in the field of new digital and communication technologies. The two partners will work together on breakthrough solutions and innovations to reinvent digital solutions for naval defense solutions. The global naval defense market, estimated to have received €40bn in available revenue in 2018, is growing steadily by about 4% each year. Nonetheless, there is fierce competition between European, Chinese, Russian, and South Korean companies. This creates a difficult environment for Naval Group, which is expanding its investments to maintain a technological edge for the benefit of France’s own navy and others. This commitment to b<>com by Naval Group will help to pool ambitions in digital technologies and bring together skills from the worlds of academia and industry. It will help accelerate the pace of innovation and think outside the box to anticipate technological breakthroughs. It will make it possible to maintain a digital advantage in areas that have become essential, like advanced communication networks, software radio, image and sound processing, artificial intelligence, cyberdefense, cognitive technologies, and human factors. The two entities will jointly launch the development of cutting-edge innovation projects that draw upon a wide range of technologies (virtualization, high-speed communication, mobility and IoT exchanges). Implemented within cybersecure digital infrastructure, these technologies are essential to designing the IT systems of ships.
Bertrand Guilbaud, CEO of b<>com, says: “As a neutral player, pioneer, and provider of dual-use technologies, b<>com is delighted to provide Naval Group with its expertise, from advanced communications to image processing to human factors. France, thanks to Naval Group, is at the cutting edge of the strategic market of defense and cyberdefense. We are committed to helping maintain our national sovereignty.”
According to Éric Papin, Director of Innovation and Technological Expertise at Naval Group: “In order to strengthen our position on the international scene, and in order for the French Navy to preserve its technological superiority in combat, we need to anticipate and innovate in order to meet the needs of our clients. By joining b<>com, we know we can count on an ecosystem driven by civilian innovations and dual-use digital technologies. They will enable us to be disruptive in order to develop real digital advances sooner to be integrated onto new or in-service vessels.”
About b<>com
Created in late 2012, the b<>com Technology Research Institute is a tech provider and an innovation accelerator for every business that uses digital to increase its competitiveness.
b<>com brings together multi-cultural disciplines and talents in augmented reality, virtual reality, and immersive media formats, in the fields of applied artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, 5G networks, Internet of Things, cognitive technologies, and e-health.
Thanks to its world-class engineering team, its technology platforms and its unique mix of scientific and industrial knowhow, b<>com offers its clients technology solutions that give them invaluable competitive edge. www.b-com.com
23 Apr 19. Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) is developing a portable device to evaluate bacteria and their potential to cause harm—information that could support the future development of medical countermeasures and improved screening tools. Under the DARPA Friend or Foe program, Raytheon is developing biosurveillance technology that detects bacterial pathogens as soon as or before they threaten the military and citizens. Current biosurveillance strategies are not effective on undiscovered bacterial strains or on bacteria engineered to evade detection. To overcome this problem, Friend or Foe will characterize bacteria quickly by examining its behavior.
“Population growth, global travel, climate change—all of these factors increase the risk of exposure to unfamiliar bacteria,” said Aaron Adler, Ph.D. and principal investigator for the Friend or Foe program at Raytheon BBN Technologies. “Most of those bacteria are harmless or even beneficial, but our goal is to develop a system that lets people know quickly when they are not as a cue to take mitigating action.”
The screening process begins with collecting and isolating a single bacterium in a tiny cube with a porous membrane. Sensor arrays in the cube make initial measurements on respiration, consumption of specific nutrients and metabolite production. Suspect bacteria is then extracted and exposed to synthetic substances that mimic human tissues to test for pathogenicity.
“To get a reliable risk assessment, we need to understand not just the bacteria’s genetic makeup, or genotype, but how it functions – its phenotype,” said Adler. “We’re looking at ways to subject the bacteria to a gauntlet of behavior screenings so we can determine its ability to cause disease.”
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Oxley Group Ltd
Oxley specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic and electro-optic components and systems for air, land and sea applications within the military sector. Established in 1942, Oxley has manufacturing facilities in the UK and USA and enjoys representation worldwide. The company’s products include night vision and LED lighting, data capture systems and electronic components. Oxley has pioneered the development of night vision compatible lighting. It offers a total package incorporating optical filters, equipment modification, cockpit and external lighting along with fleet wide upgrade services including engineering, installation, support, maintenance and training. The company’s long experience of manufacturing night vision lighting and LED indicators, coupled with advances in LED technology, has enabled it to develop LED solutions to replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting in existing applications as well as becoming the lighting option of choice in new applications such as portable military hospitals, UAV control stations and communication shelters.
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