Category Air Force & Aviation

USAF’s ISR dominance strategy for A2/AD environments based on disruptive technologies and the use of multi-role, cross-domain ISR collection capabilities

ISR

The U.S. military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia. This implication by the National Defense Strategy Commission stands in contrast to the past several decades during which the…...

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Single-crystal turbine blade technology for aero engines, dominated by US now mastered by China and India

In 2018, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)  named the Pratt & Whitney single crystal turbine blade an historic mechanical engineering landmark. These blades, which can be found in many modern, high-performance gas turbines (a.k.a. jet engines)—including the ones powering…...

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AFRL’s Golden Horde program—developing networked, collaborative, autonomous (NCA) systems like swarming drones or “fire and forget” weapons

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Current weapons generally fly a pre-designated mission. If the enemy does something unexpected, preprogrammed weapons are ineffective, and additional weapons may be required to complete the mission. Networked, collaborative and semi-autonomous weapons are advantageous since they observe and react to…...

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New Airport Security technology breakthroughs combatting increasingly complex threat environment

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Commercial aviation plays a central role in our daily lives and is an essential part of the national economy. More than 100,000 flights take off and land every day across the world. More than billion passengers go by air every…...

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Militaries developing Lethal, extremely maneuverable, Autonomous and stealthy Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV)

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The  armed drones like MQ-1 Predator and its larger  cousin, MQ-9 Reaper, dual intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance-strike platforms have been highly successful against non-state actors as part of the counterterrorism fight. A MQ-1 Predator UAVs armed with Hellfire missiles have…...

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Fluidic Propulsive System most silent propulsion for future Drones & Aircraft

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In traditional aircraft design, airframes and engines are designed separately and bolted together. This leads to inefficiencies due to additional drag. The approach also leads to propulsive inefficiencies via non-distributed propulsion. Hovering and VTOL requirements introduce even more complexity, size…...

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Japan plans F-35A and F-35B induction, indigenous stealth fighter and Hypersonic Weapons to counter Chinese J-20 deployment

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The security environment of  Japan and the whole region is threatened by expanding military and assertiveness of China and the testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by North Korea.   Tensions between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands…...

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Militaries race to develop Very Long Range Air-to-Air missiles with features like large ‘no-escape zone’, AESA Radar, EO/IR Imaging, Network centric data links and hypersonic speeds

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Over the past few decades, advances in electronic sensors, communications technology, and guided weapons may have fundamentally transformed the nature of air combat.  One of critical technologies was superior situational awareness (SA) when a pilot has a better understanding of…...

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Militaries continue to enhance Short and Medium Range Air-to-Air missiles for achieving superiority in Dogfights

Over the past few decades, advances in electronic sensors, communications technology, and guided weapons may have fundamentally transformed the nature of air combat.  One of critical technologies was superior situational awareness (SA) when a pilot has a better understanding of…...

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More Electric aircraft (MEA) and All Electric Aircraft to reduce carbon emissions, enhance energy efficiency and enable stealthy missions

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The civil global aviation market has experienced considerable economic growth in recent years and will keep increasing. It is estimated that around 1300 new international airports will be required, and the commercial aircraft fleet will double by 2050, with a…...

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