Defense & Military

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 …

Situational awareness of potential hostile targets and of friendly forces is considered to be a key component in obtaining and sustaining military superiority over adversaries.  Airborne Early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft provides a real-time picture of friendly, neutral, and hostile air and maritime activity under all kinds of weather …

As the focus of the US Army shifts from low intensity conflicts against guerrillas, non-state actors, and terrorists to near peers like Russia, China and North Korea which have mechanized ground forces, the Army is trying to boost its conventional firepower, both in lethality and range.   The United States …

Biomedical sensors present an exciting opportunity to measure human physiologic parameters in a continuous, real-time, and nonintrusive manner by leveraging semiconductor and flexible electronics packaging technology. These sensors incorporate a broad range of advances in microelectromechanical (MEMS), biological and chemical sensing, electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram (EMG), and electroencephalogram (EEG)-based neural sensing …

Russia is seeking to further bolster its sub-surface capabilities, with new generations of conventional and nuclear propulsion submarines, which promise to be significantly more difficult to detect and track for western naval forces. This includes the Yasen, Lada, Borei and Kalina classes of submarines. Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation (UAC) has announced …

Russia is seeking to further bolster its sub-surface capabilities, with new generations of conventional and nuclear propulsion submarines, which promise to be significantly more difficult to detect and track for western naval forces. This includes the Yasen, Lada, Borei and Kalina classes of submarines. Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation (UAC) has …

United States opened a new line of combat against the Islamic State, directing the military’s eight-year-old Cyber Command for the first time to mount computer-network attacks that are now being used alongside more traditional weapons. In 2009, US established, USCYBERCOM for more effective and coordinated efforts for conducting cyberspace operations. Cyber Command, …

Israel is a high-tech superpower and one of the world’s top weapons exporters with approximately $6.5 billion in annual arms sales. Since 1985, for example, Israel is the world’s largest exporter of drones, responsible for about 60 percent of the global market, trailed by the US, whose market share is under …