Critical & Emerging Technologies

Traditionally, we have designed machines to handle well-defined, high-volume or high-speed tasks, freeing humans to focus on problems of ever-increasing complexity. In the 1950s and 1960s, early computers were automating tedious or laborious tasks. It was during this era that scientists realized it was possible to simulate human intelligence and …

Laser attacks targeting pilots and air crews are a major concern across the world with most attacks reported to take place during take-off and landing. According to figures from the US Federal Aviation Authority, there were 6,753 laser illuminations reported in 2017. Until recently, the expense of lasers had limited their use …

Spectrum congestion is a growing problem. It increasingly limits operational capabilities due to the increasing deployment and bandwidth of wireless communications, the use of net-centric and unmanned systems, and the need for increased flexibility in radar and communications spectrum to improve performance and to overcome sophisticated countermeasures.   Ongoing wireless …

Navies of various countries have announced making their warships and submarines  propelled with an electric propulsion system. Instead of driving the ship’s propellers directly, diesel engines turn electric generators, which in turn power electric motors that drive the propellers. This arrangement enables diesels to be placed away from the shafts and …

Supercomputers have  become essential for National Security, for decoding encrypted messages, simulating complex ballistics models, nuclear weapon detonations and other WMD, developing new kinds of stealth technology, and cyber defence/ attack simulation. Because of the expense, supercomputers are typically used for the most intensive calculations, like predicting climate change, or …

NCW is theory of warfare in the information age which hypothesizes that forces which are networked will outperform forces that are not. NCW is an ‘integration of sensors, decision-makers, weapons platforms and support capabilities to enable agility’ providing ‘interoperability and collaboration within and between services’.   According to U.S. Defense …

For NATO forces, the Electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) is an essential part of military operations, so much so that many Allied leaders now see the EME as an operational environment and a part of the battlespace where friendly forces manoeuvre in time, location, and spectrum to create electromagnetic effects in support …

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor. The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over “conventional” (typically diesel-electric) submarines are considerable. Nuclear submarines are more powerful than diesel-powered submarines because nuclear reactors powering them can run for years without the need for refuelling. Nuclear propulsion, being completely …

Recent advances of high power solid state lasers promises necessary laser power levels required for the Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) systems. However, inefficiencies of the laser components still generate too much waste heat to be managed by conventional liquid cooling systems, especially in an airborne platform where compactness, light-weight and …