Award Data

The goal of this program is to develop high-speed interceptor communications solutions that are hardened to space and nuclear radiation, including high altitude nuclear explosions (HANEs). As part of this program, AET will specifically investigate the use of advanced diamond technology for communications applications. The approach of AET, Inc. is to first identify a communication system architectu ...

Power electronic converters are essential in every MDA vehicle, with use in critical systems ranging from electric power management applications, to power distribution, to on-board servo motor/actuator drivers. Advancing state-of-the-art power electronics technologies through the use of SiC semiconductors will produce significant savings across the board in almost all areas of MDA power management ...

The overall objective of the pellet production automation program is to develop alternative methodologies for: 1) precise powder measurement, 2) powder preparation for transfer into the die cavity, 3) uniform powder dispersion. Pellet production is currently a rate limiting step in the production of thermal batteries. The chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of the powders are different e ...

The Airborne Laser (ABL) is a key component of the US government's overall ballistic missile defense systems. In an operational scenario, the ABL's sensor system will detect and track enemy's boosting missile, determine its position and destroy it with a high energy laser. The ABL's sensor system also identifies the launch location and predicts the impact location, which is communicated to other a ...

The extremely long and multiple polishing steps represent one of the critical challenges for affordable, volume production of high quality 100 mm SiC wafers. As SiC is relatively chemically inert and mechanically hard, aggressive polishing methods involving very hard particles have been used to achieve high removal rates, but such methods create a high degree of sub-surface damage and scratches. T ...

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has a responsibility to provide a capability for notifying government and military officials of the potential consequences of falling debris and the primary and secondary effects of ballistic missile engagements over the United States and coalition territories. The MDA needs advanced consequence mitigation (CM) technologies which provide post-intercept debris fall ...

Currently one of the outstanding challenges is the affordable, volume production of epi-ready, 100 mm SiC wafers that are scratch-free and have atomic-scale surface finish. As SiC is relatively chemically inert and mechanically hard, aggressive polishing methods involving very hard particles have been used to achieve high removal rates, but such methods create a high degree of sub-surface damage ...

Components used in missile propulsion and control systems such as Throttling Divert and Attitude Control Systems (TDACS) are susceptible to damage and degradation under the harsh operating conditions. Notwithstanding such conditions, a monolithic variant of the “NZP” ceramic has been successfully utilized by Aerojet for TDACS components in MDA’s GMD and SM3 missiles. For more advanced soli ...

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is charged with developing a Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) to defend against missile attack on the United States or its allies. Performing this mission will require integration of a wide variety of different data sources to facilitate rapid and intuitive threat identification and response. The CloudWall toolset is envisioned to provide a scalable and ex ...