Revolutionary DARPA X-65 Plane With No Moving Control Surfaces

Next Big Future  October 11, 2023 The Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program aims to design, build, and flight test a novel X-plane that incorporates Active Flow Control (AFC) as a primary design consideration. The X-65 has no external moving parts. No flaps. No rotors. No elevators, rudders, stabilators. The flight can be improved while also reducing costs, and wear and tear on the aircraft. The smoother surface should help improve the X-65s stealth characteristics. Crane seeks to optimize the benefits of active flow control by maturing technologies and design tools, and incorporating them early in the […]

US Space Force is Deploying Hundreds of New Military Satellites by 2026

Next Big Future  June 30, 2023 On June 28 the Space Development Agency released a final request for proposals for its next procurement of 100 satellites as the agency continues to build out a military constellation in low Earth orbit. The Transport Layer Tranche 2 also includes 72 Beta satellites for which SDA already has requested bids. The U.S. Space Force is building a layered network of military satellites. The proliferated warfighter space architecture includes a Transport Layer of interconnected communications satellites and a Tracking Layer of missile-detection and warning sensor satellites. The first highly inclined plane of the T2TL-Alpha […]

Russia launches classified military satellite

Phys.org  November 25, 2021 According to the Russian defense ministry, a Soyuz rocket carrying a classified payload blasted off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia in the early hours of Thursday morning. It is believed to be part of the Kremlin’s early warning anti-missile system. It did not provide further details. According to the Spaceflightnow website, which covers space launches, the launch could be delivering a Tundra satellite. Russia has previously launched Tundra satellites in 2015, 2017 and 2019, according to Interfax…read more.

What drove the invention of military technologies?

Phys.org  October 20, 2021 An international team of researchers (UK, Canada, Russia, USA – Field Museum of Natural History, Evolution Institute, Austria) analyzed the evolution of key military technologies in a sample of pre-industrial societies world-wide covering almost 10,000 years of history using Seshat: Global History Databank. They empirically tested previously speculative theories that proposed world population size, connectivity between geographical areas of innovation and adoption, and critical enabling technological advances, such as iron metallurgy and horse riding, as central drivers of military technological evolution. They found that all these factors are strong predictors of change in military technology, whereas […]

Agreement brings Soldiers, academia together to solve military challenges

EurekAlert  June 8, 2021 Under a new Congressional initiative called the Catalyst-Pathfinder program the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command partners with the XVIII Airborne Corps to create close working relationships between Soldiers and universities to solve military challenges. The goal is to harness the creativity and technical skills of academic institutions and help the Army to quickly create better solutions to real problems. Catalyst frames Soldier problems in a manner suitable for academia to identify research and emerging technologies to solve them. Pathfinder executes pilot programs, rapidly accelerating the delivery of technologies to address complex Army problems. Universities in […]

German Sachsen Frigate to Test a New Naval Laser Weapon

Defense Update  November 26, 2020 The laser source demonstrator can be employed in various projects to study military applications of high-power laser. The first project of the new laser will be a trial phase onboard the F219 Sachsen Class – the lead ship of this class. It consists of twelve nearly identical 2kW fiber laser modules with close to diffraction-limited beam quality. A beam combiner – a subassembly that turns multiple beams into a single beam through dielectric grid technology – couples the twelve fiber-laser beams to form a single laser beam with excellent beam quality. Spectral coupling technology offers […]

China 2035 Plan is Half as Many Aircraft Carrier Groups as USA

Next Big Future  July 21, 2020 China plans to build at least six aircraft battle groups by 2035, two aircraft carrier groups for each area (Yellow Sea, East and South China seas). They developed the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) chip which enables high-efficiency electric energy conversion systems for electromagnetic aircraft launchers. China is expected to launch its next-generation aircraft carrier within a year and construction on a sister ship for the new giant vessel has been hastened. They are not nuclear powered and should be roughly equal to the UK Queen Elizabeth 2 aircraft carriers. Their fifth aircraft carrier should […]

MegaCyberTruck for 3500 Mile Range and JLTV Replacement

Next Big Future  May 25, 2020 The premium tri-motor version of the Cybertruck will have 700 miles of range. A megacybertruck would have five times the batteries and could operate for 3500 miles on one charge. This would be ten times the range of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). Tesla could create a 1-megawatt hour version of the Cybertruck that would have 3500 miles of range and have JLTV level armor. The Cybertruck weighs 5000 to 6500 pounds and 14000 pounds of payload capacity. The JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) weighs 10,000 pounds. Extra weight would for the megacybertruck […]

Russia Conducts Direct-Ascent Anti Satellite Weapon from Plesetsk

Defense Update  April 22, 2020 Russia has been engaged in direct ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) anti-satellite weapon tests in the past months. On April 15, a missile launch from the Plesetsk test site on the arctic circle. Russian media sources reports said the missile tested called ‘Nudol’ has reached over 7,000 m/sec, thus positioned in the ‘hypersonic‘ category. Prior to the test, large airspace along the missile’s flight path was closed, with an area typical for a two-staged missile. Other tests of anti-satellite weapon systems were previously conducted under the “Sistema A-235 / RTTS-181M Nudol” program which has been tested at […]

Russian Air Force Begins Testing MALE Strike Drones

Defense Systems  November 2, 2019 The user testing follows the manufacturer test phase and state trials culminated with weapons tests with several drones deployed to Syria. Following those tests, the Ministry of Defense is expected to make the final procurement decision. In the strike-reconnaissance configuration, Orion-E can carry four missiles. The Russian Air Force plans to deploy MALE drones in a mixed formation of manned and unmanned reconnaissance and attack platforms. These are expected to use MALE drones such as long loitering but slow Orion, and fast, long-range strike aircraft such as the S-34…read more.