Award Data

High Energy Laser (HEL) systems provide many benefits on the battlefield, such as speed of light engagement, precision engagement with limited collateral damage, graduated response (lethal and non-lethal effects), and low cost per shot. Recent developments in phased array HEL technology is enabling the integration of HEL systems on small ground-based platforms. To support these HEL systems, a high ...

A semi-empirical software tool for parameter-based helicopter noise modeling is proposed. The software tool incorporates first-principles models for various helicopter noise sources and calibrates the parameters to match scaled acoustic measurements taken from wind tunnel experiments and/or flight tests for a variety of flight conditions. The tuned models are used to predict the acoustic state of ...

As autonomous vehicles become more prevalent in day-to-day military and industry operations, the technology surrounding functionally-safe autonomous subsystems must become increasingly reliable. A vehicle’s kinetic energy must be safely dissipated during a stop. Steering and braking must be done intelligently to maintain vehicle control and mitigate vehicle wear and tear. There are many factors ...

Defense against chemical weapons is a critical DoD requirement. An effective defense requires the development of unique respirator systems that prevent inhalation of chemical warfare (CW) agents. In addition, the protective equipment exposed to CW agents must not pose a residual hazard after use in the battlefield. Existing respirator canisters remove CW agents, but they do not self-decontaminate ...

Multi-purpose canines (MPCs) attached to Army Special Operational Forces (ARSOF) units play pivotal roles in small unit tactics as a force multiplier. The ARSOF canine handler’s inability to effectively communicate with the MPC in non-line of sight (non-LOS) scenarios limit ARSOF Soldier maneuverability, survivability, lethality and unit tactical advantage. Current techniques for off-leash direc ...

An innovative modeling utility is proposed for designing rotor blades for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) with reduced acoustic signatures. Emphasis will be placed on modeling the performance and noise characteristics of small propellers and rotors operating at low tip speeds and low Reynolds numbers; typical of the platforms that fall under the Group 1 UAS category defined by the US Department of D ...

Hydrogen gas (H2) has many benefits as an alternative energy source for fossil fuels, including environmental and energy supply benefits. Hydrogen can be used to produce electricity in fuel cells and hydrogen internal combustion engines (hydrogen energy density: ~140 MJ/kg). Producing H2 at the point-of-need is especially attractive to mobile Military operations. The cost of JP-8 when fully burden ...

According to Jane’s, “High Frequency (HF) communication systems are witnessing a resurgence as forward deployed and small unit teams seek to overcome emerging challenges associated with operating in Command and Control Denied or Degraded Environments (C2D2Es)”. According to senior service personnel from across the NATO special operations community, HF communications are being considered by m ...

We propose developing a small pitch probe card with a pitch down to 5 µm that will have minimal thermally induced deformations over an operational temperature range of 77 to 300 Kelvin. The probe card design will contain eight probe points initially, but the number of points can be increased or decreased as needed by the customer. The pitch can also be specified anywhere from 5 µm and up. The pr ...

As adversarial threats are developing longer range capability, HEL systems must counter these developments by achieving lethal effects at longer ranges. Adaptive Optics (AO) is a key technology that enables longer range engagements by compensating the effects of atmospheric turbulence. Guidestar Optical Systems, Inc. (Guidestar) has developed two innovative concepts for AO system architectures tha ...