Aerospace and Military News

June 6, 2018

Tiny UAV Keeps Tabs on GPS-Denied Regions

One trend in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military use is an increase in capabilities in smaller aircraft. Perhaps the best embodiment of that trend is the Black Hornet 3 nano-UAV recently launched by FLIR Systems. The Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) had been the world’s smallest combat-proven nano-UAV. The same company’s Black Hornet nano-UAV (see figure) has the capability to navigate in GPS-denied environments for effective operation even in the most challenging battle places, including indoors for surveillance missions. The Black Hornet 3 weighs just 32 g and has been fielded by more than 30 nations. It can cover a distance […]

May 25, 2018

COTS in Space: The Radiation Barrier

COTS in space: the radiation barrier May 16, 2018 By Dan Friedlander Retired following 44 years in component engineering The road from the use of space/military electrical, electronic, and electromechanical (EEE) components in space applications to the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components in space applications is not smooth. Several barriers must be overcome, including: fear of risk, resistance to change, storage, obsolescence, counterfeits, and lead-free barriers. These manmade barriers were challenges also encountered by military users during the successful transition to the use of COTS components in military applications. The main natural space environmental barrier to be overcome is the radiation […]

May 23, 2018

Marines Want Armored Recon Prototypes By 2023

Marines Want Armored Recon Prototypes By 2023: F-35 On Wheels Or FCS Redux? By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: By 2023, the Marine Corps wants prototypes for a radically new scout unit they want to be the ground version of the F-3F-35 5 — scouting ahead into hostile territory, killing key targets, and feeding data back to the rest of the force. Though called the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle, the project has evolved well beyond a straightforward replacement for the aging Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) into a networked family of manned vehicles, ground robots, and drones, collectively capable of not only reconnaissance but also electronic warfare and long-range precision strikes. Marine […]

May 22, 2018

Lockheed Martin selects BAE Systems

Lockheed Martin selects BAE Systems to sustain F-35 electronic warfare systems By Courtney E. Howard Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace NASHUA, N.H. Lockheed Martin officials in Bethesda, Maryland, needed a trusted industry partner to help ensure the readiness of critical electronic warfare (EW) systems on the company’s F-35 Lightning II military fighter aircraft. BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire, won a five-year contract to manage the supply chain and establish the infrastructure necessary to keep systems mission-capable and readily available to warfighters. The EW suite for the F-35, called the AN/ASQ-239 system, provides the pilot with situational awareness and protects the aircraft with advanced […]

May 22, 2018

Massive-MIMO Hybrid Beamforming

Algorithms to Antenna: Massive-MIMO Hybrid Beamforming Hybrid beamforming can be a practical option when it comes to massive-MIMO systems. This post examines the technology and the techniques employed for both multi-user and single-user systems. Rick Gentile I would like to build on my previous blog discussions related to hybrid beamforming, but this time I will look at how hybrid beamforming can be implemented in a massive-MIMO system. To start with, I will focus on hybrid beamforming at the transmit end of a massive-MIMO communications system, including techniques for both multi-user and single-user systems. We can then partition the resulting precoding […]

May 21, 2018

DOD wants drones to deliver blood

DOD wants drones to deliver blood on the battlefield BY ADAM MAZMANIAN Battlefield drones typically deliver weapons or spy out enemy positions. Now the U.S. military is looking for ideas on how to deliver blood and medical products to remote locations to treat wounded troops on the spot. The specs of the solicitation from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental — the ability to deliver a 5-pound package over 100 kilometers in “austere environments” — strongly suggest that they’re looking at an unmanned aerial vehicle system that supports refrigeration or other means of temperature control. “These deliveries, ideally automated, will provide […]

May 17, 2018

Sikorsky completes test program

Sikorsky completes test program, delivers first rugged CH-53 King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter to U.S. Marine Corps EST PALM BEACH, Fla. The U.S. Marine Corps can start replacing its aging CH-53E Super Stallion military helicopterfleet with new CH-53 King Stallion rotorcraft from Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE:LMT), which has delivered the first of an expected 200 rotary-wing aircraft for the Marine Corps’ fleet. The CH-53E first flew in 1974 and entered service with the Marine Corps in 1981. The CH-53K is the new build replacement for the Super Stallion helicopter. The rugged CH-53K helicopter is an all new aircraft with a modern intelligent design intended to […]

May 15, 2018

GaN-on-SiC RF and microwave transistors

GaN-on-SiC RF and microwave transistors for S-band radar applications introduced by Integra Technologies EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Integra Technologies Inc. in El Segundo, Calif., is introducing a pair of 135- and a 130-Watt gallium arsenide-on-silicon-carbide (GaN-on-SiC) RF and microwave transistors for S-band radar applications. The IGT2731M130 is a 50-Ohm matched high-power GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), supplying a minimum of 130 Watts of peak pulsed power, a gain of 13.5 dB and a drain efficiency of 55 percent, at pulse conditions of 300 microseconds at 10 percent duty cycle. It operates at the instantaneous operating frequency range of 2.7 to 3.1 GHz, and is a depletion mode […]

May 14, 2018

Air Force invests in origami antenna technology

Air Force invests $4.8M in FIU origami antenna technology for aircraft, UAS, satellites MIAMI. The U.S. Air Force is investing nearly $5 million in origami, or foldable and reconfigurable, antennas to enable new aerospace and tactical systems for communication and sensing in aircraft and satellite applications. Inspired by the Japanese art of paper folding, origami electromagnetic systems include: reconfigurable, foldable, and deployable multifunctional antennas and antenna arrays, adaptable “smart skins” for communication and sensing, and compact/collapsible wearable antennas. Florida International University (FIU) won a $4.8 million grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to […]