Uncertainties in materials and component manufacturing processes are a primary cause of cost escalation and delay during the development, testing and early production of defense systems. In addition, fielded military platforms may have unanticipated performance problems, despite large investment and extensive testing of their key components and subassemblies. These uncertainties …

Research in military mission planning is  an important field. Today military operations rely on increasingly complex joint and multinational environments. This calls for innovative concepts, doctrine, and technologies to support the emergence of new planning and execution systems that are more flexible, adaptive, inter-operable, and responsive to a time-varying and …

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Biological Technologies Office is seeking research-and-development concepts to help address Department of Defense requirements and other national security requirements. A FedBizOpps notice posted in April 2019  stated that BTO’s R&D scope covers a range of science and technology subject matters such as medicine, bioengineering, human-machine …

There is virtually no part of a modern defense system that is not impacted in some way by optics and photonics, even when the system is not optically based. Modern defense systems are migrating toward optically based imaging, remote sensing, communications, and weapons.   Silicon photonics uses photons to detect …

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), also known as unmanned underwater vehicle, conducts its survey mission without operator intervention. Their autonomy allows AUVs to be used for missions where a surface vehicle or manned submersible would be at risk, such as mine countermeasure (MCM),  under-ice operations or underwater survey missions such as …

Bacteria underpin much of our world, acting behind the scenes to affect the health and behavior of animals and plants. They help produce food, provide oxygen, and even reshape the environment through a vast array of biological processes. They come in a phenomenal number of strains—many still unknown—and thrive in …

The introduction of the electronic voting machines in India at the turn of the century  had aided in  reducing instances of capturing of polling stations and stuffing of ballot boxes by mobs hired by political parties. Using data from state elections, researchers Sisir Debnath, Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi studied the …

Military is integrating Smartphones and tablets into their military operations, to enhance situational awareness and as backup communication in denied situations. Marines are considering airborne operations with tablets, Air Force looks at maintenance efficiencies, they have also widely used for training and education. They are also using ruggedized cases to …

Today’s terrorist landscape is more fluid and complex than ever and the threat landscape is less predictable. The United States and our allies face an increasingly complex terrorist landscape, populated by a diverse array of actors employing new technologies and tactics to advance their agendas. The terrorist threat to the …

REEs are a series of chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust that are essential components of many technologies, including electronics, computer and communication systems, transportation, health care, and national defense. Rare Earths Elements (REE) are incorporated into many sophisticated technologies with both commercial and defense applications including smartphones and …