Defense & Military

The United States Air Force core missions of rapid global mobility and global strike share a need for timely and accurate wind knowledge for successful mission execution. Uncertainty in the winds between aircraft and ground can cause large errors in many of these operations. To mitigate threat risk and improve …

In recent years, a number of groups have begun researching and building vehicles that can smoothly transition from water to air and back again.   Among these new platforms are the Naviator, a multicopter unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from Rutgers School of Engineering, a quadrotor called CRACUNS built by Johns …

Historically, the United States has built its military capabilities on highly capable, multi-function platforms. These platforms have been expensive and have had long development times, but have incorporated sophisticated military technologies that potential adversaries have not had the ability to access or counter. This strategy has been highly successful, leading …

Biological weapons achieve their intended effects by infecting people with disease-causing microorganisms and other replicative entities, including viruses, infectious nucleic acids and prions. The chief characteristic of biological agents is their ability to multiply in a host over time.   Viral pathogens pose a continuous and shifting biological threat to …

Directed-energy weapons are among a handful of maturing disruptive or asymmetric technologies that could confer game-changing technological advantages both as a superior defensive capability and as an effective electronic attack option. US Navy’s 30-kilowatt Laser Weapon System (LaWS) on USS Ponce is the first laser weapon to have attained Initial Operating …

China is developing ever-advancing anti-access, area denial capacity and capabilities, through deployment of long-range aircraft equipped with anti-ship cruise missiles, submarines, surface ships with long-range missiles, and land-based ballistic missiles, putting into risk, any carrier operating within 1,000 miles of the Chinese coast. It is also employing advanced integrated air …

The United States Army of 2030 will operate in a highly non-linear and complex operational environment, will likely be dominated by decreasing domestic budgets and reduced force structure; increased velocity and momentum of human interaction and events; potential for adversarial capability overmatch; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; spread of …

White House officials are drafting a presidential directive from President Trump that calls on his newly appointed defense secretary to take a more aggressive approach to attacking ISIS fighters in Syria. The New York Times reported  that Trump is expected to make his first visit to the Pentagon Friday and will …

A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of cells, which can hold one or more missiles ready for firing. Typically, each cell can hold a …