The big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas recently drew A&D eyeballs with chatter over autonomous cars, UAVs and the technology tie-in with the Pentagon’s Third Offset.
Australia has gone public on its airborne electronic intelligence program. In ordering two adapted Gulfstream business jets, it could hardly avoid doing so.
It might look like fun and games, but virtual reality head-mounted displays and specialized software will become key to keeping aircraft flying and technicians trained.
Ahead of new budget talks in late 2016, German Aerospace Center DLR and the European Space Agency are evaluating the cost of continuing support for the International Space Station beyond 2020, even as the other four space station partners pledge to fund the orbiting science lab to 2024.
With the goal of eliminating the arrays for nonstructural aerials on current intelligence-gathering aircraft, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is developing spray-on and load-bearing conformal antennas.
Accurately predicting the maximum-lift performance of transport aircraft is still a challenge, so Airbus and DLR are working to improve computational tools and wind-tunnel testing.
Virtual reality. Crowd-sourcing weather data. Co-pilots on the ground. Changes are coming to flight operations, maintenance and training. Executive Editor Jim Asker and Avionics and Safety Editor John Croft discuss the next-generation hardware and new techniques that will boost safety and save money.
