Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) demonstrated the ability to communicate in real time with a submerged submarine at classified speeds and depths.
This capability, which addresses one of the most significant shortfalls in submarine communications, was exhibited for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy during an at-sea trial of Raytheon’s Deep Siren Tactical Paging (DSTP) system.
The U.K. Ministry of Defence reported that Deep Siren demonstrated “the first step toward a transformational capability that will change the way we operate submarines in the future.”
The evaluation, which took place during the U.K. Royal Navy’s TAURUS 09 deployment, follows U.S. Navy testing conducted in 2008 that culminated with a successful military utility assessment.
Raytheon is also currently working on airborne certification of Deep Siren, which will allow the system’s buoys to be deployed via aircraft.
“The Deep Siren system is a vital command and control communications link that provides never-before available capability,” said Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems Integrated Communications Systems. “This system once again demonstrated its utility and reliability, proving that we are ready to move forward with production.”
Military commanders use tactics and strategy in combat to inflict as much damage on the enemy while trying to risk as few personnel and resources as possible. This principle was at the heart of the development of the RQ-1 and MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
These high-tech aircraft, controlled by a crew miles away from the dangers of combat, are capable of reconnaissance, combat and support roles in the hairiest of battles. In a worst-case scenario, if a Predator is lost in battle, military personal can simply “crack another one out of the box” and have it up in the air shortly — and that’s without the trauma of casualties or prisoners normally associated with an aircraft going down.
In this article, we will look at the Predator UAV’s flight system, sensors, weapons and crew, and how the military is using Predators to keep personnel safer both in the air and on land.
Engine: 1 x LHTEC T800 turboshaft, driving both the coaxial rotor and the six-bladed pusher propeller Power 1000 – 1250 kW (1300 – 1680 shp)
Performance: Max. cruise speed (max.): 460 km/h (250 kts) Range 1300 km These may have changed.
Blades: Eagle Aviation Technologies is to provide the blades. http://www.eagleaviationtech.com/
Propeller: Aero Composites, Inc. will build the six-bladed propulsor. http://www.aerocomposites.com/
Fly-by-Wire: These technologies include an integrated Fly-by-Wire system that allows the engine/rotor/propulsor system to operate efficiently, with full control of rotor rpm throughout the flight envelope, I.e. Variable speed rotors.
The Sikorsky X2 TECHNOLOGY™ demonstrator aircraft will incorporate several new technologies and demonstrate them in a flight environment. These technologies include an integrated Fly-by-Wire system that allows the engine/rotor/propulsor system to operate efficiently, with full control of rotor rpm throughout the flight envelope, high lift-to-drag rigid blades, low drag hub fairings, and Active Vibration Control. In addition, the aircraft will be used as a ‘flying wind tunnel’ to determine the main rotor to propulsor aerodynamic interaction, shaft angle optimization for performance, and blade tip clearance for a range of maneuvers. This will allow optimization of the X2 TECHNOLOGY™ suite for future products.
Sikorsky Aircraft reports that it has successfully ground tested the drive and pitch control for the six-bladed pusher propeller behind its high-speed X2 advancing blade concept (ABC) technology demonstrator.The 23 January ground test follows three flight tests in which Sikorsky expanded the compound helicopter’s flight envelop to 30kt forward speed with the propulsor disconnected. First flight of the LHTEC T800-801-powered helicopter occurred on 27 August.
Does your robot seem to be acting a bit neurotic? Maybe it’s just their personality. Recently, a team of researchers has designed computer-coded genomes for artificial creatures in which a specific personality is encoded. The ability to give artificial life forms their own individual personalities could not only improve the natural interactions between humans and artificial creatures, but also initiate the study of “The Origin of Artificial Species,” the researchers suggest.
The first artificial creature to receive the genomic personality is Rity, a dog-like software character that lives in a virtual 3D world in a PC. Rity’s genome is composed of 14 chromosomes, which together are composed of a total of 1,764 genes, each with its own value. Rather than manually assign the gene values, which would be difficult and time-consuming, the researchers proposed an evolutionary process that generates a genome with a specific personality desired by a user. The process is described in a recent study by authors Jong-Hwan Kim of KAIST in Daejeon, Korea; Chi-Ho Lee of the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, Korea; and Kang-Hee Lee of Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., in Suwon-si, Korea.
“This is the first time that an artificial creature like a robot or software agent has been given a genome with a personality,” Kim told PhysOrg.com. “I proposed a new concept of an artificial chromosome as the essence to define the personality of an artificial creature and to pass on its traits to the next generation, like a genetic inheritance. It is critical to provide an impression that the robot is a living creature. With this respect, having emotions enhances natural human-robot interaction for human-robot symbiosis in the coming years.”
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) demonstrated the ability to communicate in real time with a submerged submarine at classified speeds and depths.
