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INSIDER
Weapons Systems

Ursa Major Performs First Successful Hotfire of Hypersonic Draper Engine

Ursa Major announced the successful hotfire of its 4,000-pound thrust closed catalyst cycle hypersonic Draper engine at the company’s Colorado headquarters. The...

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Podcasts
Energy

The Future of eVTOL Battery Technology

Ronnie Tao, Vice President of Business Development for Amprius Technologies, joins the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to discuss the AIBOT battery selection and what to expect in the future development of eVTOL battery technology. He also explains how far most eVTOLs can fly on Amprius and other comparable aircraft batteries today.

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News
Manned Systems

Catering to Off-Highway EVs’ Unique Thermal Need

A rarity only a few years ago, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming part of the daily lives of constantly increasing numbers of drivers. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, passenger EV...

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Editorial
Energy

Tesla Semi “Crushes” SuperTruck 2 in Real-World Efficiency

Usually hosted in Southern California, the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo moved about 265 miles (425 km) north and east for its latest edition, taking place in Las...

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News
Transportation

Kodiak Adapts Autonomous Tech for Military Vehicles

Kodiak Robotics launched its first autonomous military prototype vehicle in December 2023 – a Ford F-150 upfitted with the Kodiak Driver autonomous system. Developed for the Department...

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News
Manufacturing & Prototyping

A Consumer’s View: Perry Parts 3D-Printed Bump Stops

I have always loved off-road racing. I love the innovation, grit and determination it takes to get across the finish line after 250, 500 or even 1,000 miles (402, 805 or 1,609 km) of...

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Briefs
Power

Modine Targets Off-Highway EVs with ‘Plug-and-Play’ BTMS

Deutronic is not alone in developing and integrating thermal-management solutions to meet the specific demands of off-highway EVs. Modine, for example, in 2023 launched a new edition of its EVantage battery thermal-management system with a liquid-cooled condenser (L-CON BTMS). Read on to learn more.

Articles
Connectivity

Digital Twinning and Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information

Creating a digital twin is not just a technical feat; it is a strategic imperative that touches every facet of modern business. From security to sovereignty and from trust to ethics, the decisions made today about digital twin architecture will reverberate long into the future. Read on to learn more.

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Products
Electronics & Computers

New Products

See the new products, including a new family of Rohde & Schwarz power analyzers, DDC’s cyber resilient MILSTD-1553 component, Eizo Rugged Solutions' Talon RGD2443W LCD monitor, Emerson's new ASCO™ Series 148/149 safety valve and motorized actuator, Pixus Technologies' Tier 3 SOSA aligned chassis management module, Epix Inc.’s robot/drone dual camera link grabber, and more.

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Application Briefs
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Lilium Starts Production of eVTOL Jet Batteries

The company describes its battery back as comprised of lithium-ion cells with silicon-dominant anodes that will allow for higher energy, power, and fast-charging capabilities than graphite anode cells. The battery packs are being designed to meet EASA’s aircraft safety requirements.

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Final Delta IV Heavy Rocket Launched

This launch marks the end of an era as it is the final Delta IV Heavy rocket and the end of the Delta program. The NROL-70 mission puts into orbit a national security payload that will deliver critical space-based information to our nation’s warfighters, intelligence analysts, and decision makers.

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile Flight Test

ITE-12 was the next ‘big-step’ in LRASM’s evolution. The successful test was a graduation exercise for the missiles’ latest configuration and lays the foundation for increased capabilities to come.

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Morphing Aircraft Systems

Inspired by natural phenomena, a Purdue research team is developing morphing systems for hypersonic vehicles that respond to their environment.

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

AI Algorithms Pilot X-62A in First Aerial Dogfight

The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have reported another major breakthrough for the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms or “agents” that have been flying their modified F-16 test aircraft known as VISTA X-62A in a series of flight tests since 2022.

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Briefs
Materials

‘Nanostitches’ Enable Lighter and Tougher Composite Materials

To save on fuel and reduce aircraft emissions, engineers are looking to build lighter, stronger airplanes out of advanced composites. These engineered materials are made from high-performance fibers that are embedded in polymer sheets. The sheets can be stacked and pressed into one multilayered material and made into extremely lightweight and durable structures.

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Briefs
Manned Systems

New Research on Noise Reduction for Next Generation Aircraft Engines

A study published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, reveals for the first time how noise is generated and propagated from these engines, technically known as boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fans.

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Briefs
Manufacturing & Prototyping

A New Approach to Assessing the Quality of Aerospace Components

In a study, published in the Journal Waves in Random and Complex Media, researchers from the University of Bristol have derived a formula that can inform the design boundaries for a given component’s geometry and material microstructure.

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

NRL Research Physicists Explore Fiber Optic Computing Using Distributed Feedback

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers have outlined a novel contribution in fiber optics computing in a paper recently published in Communications Physics Journal that brings the Navy one step closer to faster, more efficient computing technologies.

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

NASA’s Optical Communications Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles

This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future, enabling higher-data-rate communications of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

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Articles
Communications

Pioneering Space Communication with Terrestrial Know-How

For design engineers venturing into the non-terrestrial domain, it is important to partner with a company that not only understands the importance of extensive and rigorous testing, but also possesses the capability for efficient mass production of components.

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

How SpaceVPX is Influencing the Design of Next Generation Spacecraft Avionics

SpaceVPX is an embedded computing standard based on bridging the VMEBus International Trade Association (VITA) OpenVPX standards to space applications. OpenVPX is a set of embedded computing system standards that are widely used in safety critical aerospace and defense platforms such as vehicles and weapons.

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Articles
Defense

Image Sensors and Cameras Based on Colloidal Quantum Dots for Defense Applications

This article reports on the image sensor technology and the VS20 camera product developed at Emberion. The article describes the image sensor design comprising the sensor stack based on a p-i-n photodiode implementation with PbS QDs sandwiched between thin-film hole transport (HTL) and electron transport (ETL) layers as well as the CMOS ROIC architecture and pixel front-end interfacing the photodiode stack.

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Articles
Green Design & Manufacturing

Aitiip Integrates Freeform Injection Molding to Lower Weight and Reduce Production Costs

Aitiip is a leading Spanish research and development institute and serves companies in the aeronautics, automation, industrial, and packaging sectors. The institute possesses strong platforms for the characterization of materials and processes and is known as a powerful integrator of technologies, which is constantly on the lookout for the next transformative technology.

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Articles
Energy

EV Energy Management Powers Up

Future electric vehicles will be more efficient, more powerful, and will be able to hold more energy in their batteries than today’s EVs. Those big “mores” require countless small improvements beyond the headline component — batteries. Read on to learn more.

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Products
Design

New Products

See the new products, including Nexperia's latest Energy Balance Calculator, StoreDot's new I-BEAM XFCTM concept, Bourns Inc.'s latest miniature resettable thermal cutoff device series, Rohde & Schwarz's wireless battery management system technology, Weidmuller USA's rugged battery connectors, Littelfuse Inc.'s overtemperature detection platform, and more.

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Briefs
Materials

Cobalt-Free Electrodes Achieved with Nickel Ions

A team of researchers from Japanese and French universities has developed a practical nickel-based electrode material that opens new avenues to cobalt-free batteries for electric vehicles. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Green Design & Manufacturing

Recyclable ‘Water Batteries’ That Won’t Catch Fire

A global team of researchers and industry collaborators led by RMIT University has invented recyclable ’water batteries’ that won’t catch fire or explode. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Energy

Testing the Engineering Limits for eVTOL Battery Power

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are taking cleaner transportation to the skies by creating and evaluating new batteries for airborne electric vehicles that take off and land vertically. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Materials

Next-Generation Binder for Lithium-ion Batteries

In a recent study published in the journal ACS Applied Energy Materials, researchers have utilized poly(vinylphosphonic acid) (PVPA) as a binder for a micro-SiO electrodes, achieving superior performance compared to conventional cells. Read on to learn more.

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