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Aerospace

The Role of FPGAs in Next- Generation Secure A&D Systems

Electronics system security is a growing and ever-present concern in all applications areas, but in aerospace and defense (A&D) systems, security is a must. As such, the ICs used in these...

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Articles
Aerospace

Micromachining and Material Processing with Amplified Picosecond Lasers

Short pulsed lasers are presently an important tool for manufacturing a variety of devices from smart phones to photovoltaics. When wielded correctly, these lasers can...

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Engine

Schiebel Technology, Inc. Manassas, VA (540) 351-1736 www.schiebel.net Schiebel recently conducted the successful first flight of a heavy-fuel-powered CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS (Unmanned Air System). After extensive...

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INSIDER
Defense

Military Evaluates Vertical-Lift Aircraft Designs

The military services expect to unveil performance specifications this summer for a new joint vertical-lift aircraft, Maj. Gen. William T. Crosby told congressmen. Crosby, director of the Army's...

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Articles
Test & Measurement

Improving Battlefield Connectivity for Dismounted Forces

The warfighter couldn’t take it anymore. His team’s mission was to sweep villages, collect fingerprints, photograph irises, and compare these biometric indicators against a registry...

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Articles
Photonics/Optics

Laser Detection System Technology

While most ordnance is now laserguided, there is still much work to be done on the defensive detection of laser designators. Hence the growing need for advanced laser-warning systems (LWS). While multiple...

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Application Briefs
Aerospace

AWACS Real-Time Operating System

LynuxWorks, Inc. announced recently that the Mission Systems and Sensors Division (MS2) of Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY, selected the LynxOS real-time operating system (RTOS) and Luminosity Integrated...

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Articles
Aerospace

Architecture of the Air Force Satellite Control Network

The Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) is a worldwide network of ground stations that supports a variety of users from NASA to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The...

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Articles
Aerospace

Using Standardized Test Methods to Develop Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Traditional test methodologies employ testing as part of the validation phase of a project. While testing plays an important role for validation and quality control, it can...

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Articles
Aerospace

Minimizing Thermal Resistance with Direct Attach Heat Spreaders

As commercial and military electronics applications continue to “push the envelope” with higher powers and smaller packaging requirements, it is becoming more critical to...

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INSIDER
Defense

Navy Tests Sensor-Equipped UAVs

The Naval Research Laboratory Vehicle Research Section has successfully completed flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program. The final demonstration took place at the Yuma Proving...

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Articles
Aerospace

Modern Military Energy Storage Technology

The risk of human casualties associated with fuel convoys, combined with the long-term cost issues of unreliable technologies, has the military exploring greener, more sustainable options with the goal...

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Articles
Electronics & Computers

Choosing a Capacitor for Use as a Switch-Mode Power Supply Filter

Input filter caps need to be able to supply a quick burst of energy and to suppress noise generated in the switch circuit. Important considerations for the input filter cap are...

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Articles
Aerospace

Inside the Navy’s Quiet Water Tunnel Facility

When water flows over an acoustic sensor, non-acoustic pressure fluctuations caused by turbulence can decrease the signal-to-noise ratio and make it difficult to sense incoming acoustic waves. The...

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News
Software

Army Tests High-Tech Helicopter Simulator

The Army is using a new helicopter simulator, called the Non-rated Crew Member Manned Module (NCM3), to train helicopter crews on the rear of both the CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk. Through specially created virtual reality glasses, which fit the same as night vision goggles, soldiers can practice and...

Articles
Aerospace

Surviving The Embedded Design Thermo-Mechanical Envelope

The Embedded usage model is characterized as one that is operated at the extremes of available performance. Knowing that the targets of the thermal design power usage mode are only...

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Articles
Aerospace

Using Fiber Metal Abradable Seals in Aerospace Turbine Applications

Limiting leakage in aerospace turbo-machinery has been a focus of engineers ever since the advent of the turbine. An increasing number of companies are finding that fiber metal...

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Articles
Aerospace

Five Approaches to Cooling Military Electronics

Seventy-one degrees C is the temperature of a steak done medium-well. It is also the temperature of an oven used to test thermal characteristics of military electronics. Electronic components in...

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Articles
Electronics & Computers

Prototyping with Multi-Layer Boards

As electronic components continue to move increasingly into surface- mount packages exclusively, prototype manufacturing firms are seeing a shift in the fabrication and assembly work needed to implement...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Making Unmanned Ground Vehicles Operate More Autonomously

The US Army has announced plans to increase the autonomy of its Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). “We are moving along that spectrum from tele-operating to semi-autonomy where you can...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Using Java in Avionics and UAV Applications

Though developers of avionics software are among the most conservative in the software engineering community, and rightly so, Java is beginning to penetrate even this very specialized industry. The...

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Articles
Aerospace

Surveillance Technology Offers 3D Security Monitoring

A new, versatile imaging technology quickly gives users accurate three-dimensional depictions of objects being tracked. The image system, developed by Visidyne, Inc. (Burlington, MA),...

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Articles
Aerospace

Automating Radiation Effects Mitigation with FPGA Synthesis

FPGA designers of aerospace and defense applications have long wrestled with radiation effects. More recently, due to shrinking technology nodes, concerns have arisen about...

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Articles
Aerospace

Designing COTS Optics Into Defense Projects

When settling in to design a new optical device for a defense application, it is often desirable to use Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) optical components wherever possible. COTS optics offer many...

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Articles
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Thermal Management Techniques for Military Embedded Computers

As military programs continue to place an ever growing reliance on embedded computer systems, developments in rugged computer design must continue to advance to keep pace with this...

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Articles
Test & Measurement

Fiber Optic Gyroscope Technology Improving Weapons Systems Performance

Autonomous vehicles require gyroscopes for navigation and stabilization of the platform in demanding battlefield, aerospace and undersea environments. Autonomous vehicles...

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Articles
Aerospace

Using Multi-core Processing to Deliver Better Intelligence

The rapidly evolving and changing asymmetric threats confronting the U.S. military are dramatically escalating demands for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Even...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Designing Future Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

So far, defense companies have done a credible job fielding Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), or other water-borne robots to address critical capability...

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Articles
Aerospace

Improving Military Communications Through COTM

Avital component for any military organization is the ability to communicate, share information and provide support for large, mobile groups of personnel anytime, anywhere. Satellite technology is...

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