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Communications

To 6G and Beyond: Penn Engineers Unlock the Next Generation of Wireless Communications

In the early 2010s, LightSquared, a startup promising to revolutionize cellular communications, declared bankruptcy. The company couldn’t figure out how to prevent its signals from interfering with those of GPS systems. Now, Penn Engineers have developed a new tool that could prevent such problems from ever happening again: an adjustable filter that can successfully prevent interference, even in higher-frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

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Application Briefs
Manned Systems

The New Airbus Wingman Aircraft

Airbus presented a new prototype Wingman concept aircraft at the 2024 International Aerospace Exhibition ILA in Berlin. Read on to learn all about it.

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Application Briefs
RF & Microwave Electronics

Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System

Hensoldt, Lufthansa Technik Defense, and Bombardier Defense provided a significant program update on the highly-specialized modification work on the Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System (PEGASUS) aircraft at the 2024 Berlin Air Show. Read on to learn more.

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Application Briefs
Defense

Developing the UK’s First Hypersonic Missile

Ninety total organizations – large and small – from across industry and academia have secured a place on a £1 billion transformational Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) agreement set up to rapidly develop advanced hypersonic missile capabilities for the U.K. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Materials

Testing Military-Grade Adhesive in Extreme Loading Conditions

Military performance requirements for adhesives have been traditionally derived to fulfill niche defense needs in harsh operational environments with little consideration for dual-use commercial potential. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Streamlined Microcomb Design Provides Control With The Flip of a Switch

Researchers at the University of Rochester describe new microcomb lasers they have developed that overcome previous limitations and feature a simple design that could open the door to a broad range of uses. Read on to learn more.

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Researchers Demonstrate the First Chip-Based 3D Printer

Imagine a portable 3D printer you could hold in the palm of your hand. Researchers took a major step toward making this idea a reality by demonstrating the first chip-based 3D printer. The prototype chip has no moving parts, instead relying on an array of tiny optical antennas to steer a beam of light. 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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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
Semiconductors & ICs

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
Electronics & Computers

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
Materials

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
AR/AI

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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Articles
Manned Systems

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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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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Application Briefs
Software

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
Manned Systems

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

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
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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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

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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Briefs
Robotics, Automation & Control

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
Power

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
Aerospace

‘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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Application Briefs
Data Acquisition

UAV In-Flight Software Upgrades

During a recent demonstration, Collins Aerospace and Parasanti proved they could use UAVs to install software upgrades on other UAVs to update them in-flight.

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Products
Semiconductors & ICs

New Products

See the new products, including Rohde & Schwarz' R&S FSPN phase noise analyzer and VCO tester, Sherwin-Williams' universal clearcoat: Aerospace Clearcoat, SWIR Vision Systems' Acuros GO 6 MP SWIR camera, Delta Electronics' M∞Vair 30 kW Wireless Charging System, Spectrum Control's Space Grade EMI filters, American Portwell's newest member of its APTNS network computing hardware platform product family, and STMicroelectronics' new devices from the second generation of its industrial microprocessors, the STM32MP2 series.

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Articles
Materials

Aerospace Production: Overcoming Challenges in Composite Machining

Composite materials play an important role in aerospace manufacturing. The light weight, durability and ability to create complex shapes from molds make these materials ideal for frames and structural components that enable lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

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Articles
AR/AI

Understanding the Limits of Artificial Intelligence for Predictive Maintenance

This report is the third in a five-volume series addressing how AI could be employed to assist warfighters in four distinct areas: cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, wargames, and mission planning, with predictive maintenance in focus.

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Articles
Aerospace

Explaining MOSA from the Team that Led the Army Aviation Mission Computing Environment Task Order

In 2023, Parry Labs was awarded two tasks under the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium’s (AMTC) Other Transactions Agreement to lead a multi-vendor team to collaboratively define the Army’s Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) requirements for computing and software operating environments for all future Army Aviation procurements.

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Articles
Materials

Pushing the Limits: Engineering Advanced RF Interconnects to Meet the Challenges of Hypersonic Missile Development

Times Microwave Systems has developed a wide range of emerging technologies that eliminate the gap between standard material limitations and hypersonic missile demands.

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