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  May 7, 2019 | International, Naval, Security

  Coast Guard commandant talks domestic challenges and threats in the Arctic

  By: Jeff Martin and Geoff Ziezulewicz From home port inspections to transiting the Taiwan Strait, down to Antarctica and through riverine waterways, the Coast Guard has arguably the most diverse mission set of the armed services. But despite these responsibilities, the Coast Guard remains a red-headed stepchild of sorts, a military branch that falls under the Department of Homeland Security. That designation resulted in a lack of payment for Coasties during the 35-day government shutdown of December 2018 and January 2019. But in a chat during the 2019 Sea-Air-Space conference, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said his service is back on track, even as it grapples with the same readiness challenges faced by other services. He also opined on why the Arctic matters more than ever, as well as the difference between the current heavy icebreaker and the coming polar security cutter. The Coast Guard was hit hard during the government shutdown. What is the service doing to recover? The shutdown was a shutdown. Obviously going 35 days without pay was tough on our members. Not having appropriations challenged us from a readiness standpoint. I think we have recovered. Some of the things like boat maintenance periods, dry dock availabilities, we lost some calendar days on that. That's tough. But going forward, the Coast Guard's ready to do the nation's business. What's the main message you try to convey to lawmakers on Capitol Hill regarding the last shutdown's impact on the Coast Guard? I've been on the same message since I did my Hill visits before my confirmation hearing in April 2018. The Coast Guard's challenge is readiness. In a budgeting environment we've been flatlined for the good part of eight-plus years. The president rolled out a conversation about national security. It's fantastic and good for [the Department of Defense], they got a 12 percent [funding] bump in 2018. Being in DHS, we weren't part of that conversation. We are a capital-intensive organization like the other armed forces, and we've got some bills. We've got some maintenance we've been kicking the can on, so since before I even assumed the duties of commandant I've been having this conversation about the readiness of the Coast Guard and testified recently about being at a readiness tipping point. We just need to enhance the understanding, the fact that it's a readiness conversation. We need to take ownership of it, and I need to convince folks that this is important for the nation. Your predecessor hammered the need for icebreaker capacity. Where is the Coast Guard at regarding its next icebreaker? Two weeks ago today, we award the contract to [VT Halter Marine] down in Mississippi to build the first polar security cutter. We used to talk about heavy icebreakers, now we talk about a polar security cutter. We just rolled out in April what we call the Arctic Strategic Outlook. It's a refresh on what was our Arctic strategic plan in 2013. We talk about the Arctic through a different lens now. We talk about the Arctic as a competitive space. We've seen China, we see Russia investing extensively. China built icebreakers in the time since we updated our strategy. China's been operating off the Alaskan Arctic for a good part of the last six years on an annual basis. We're championing increased capabilities in the Arctic, we're championing better communications, better domain awareness, we're talking about innovation, we're talking about resiliency, we're talking about rule-based order. I want to see the Arctic remain a peaceful domain. China's a self-declared Arctic state. They're not one of the eight Arctic nations, so for me, for the service, its presence equals influence. Right now, with one 43-year-old heavy icebreaker, Polar Star, that ship is basically a one-trick pony. It goes down to [McMurdo Station, the U.S. scientific outpost in Antarctica] every year and does the breakout, so the National Science Foundation can maintain their operations down there. The first polar security cutter, which probably hits the waterfront late 2023, 2024, is going to be almost a one for one. It's when we get to the second or third polar security cutter that we start to have some capacity. And again, presence equals influence. I'd like to see us in the Arctic, I'm not saying a fully annual basis, but on a lot more persistent presence up there. That's where we need to be as a nation. What's the difference between today's heavy icebreaker and the future polar security cutter? It's a designation change, it's the lexicon of adding “security” to the title. We thought it was more artful to capture the reflecting reality in how we talk about that ship. I think that narrative helped raise the bar in understanding. https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-navy/2019/05/06/coast-guard-commandant-talks-domestic-challenges-and-threats-in-the-arctic

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  July 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  These super-small drones no longer need a battery

  By: Kelsey D. Atherton To be a fly on the wall, an observer must be ubiquitous, unobtrusive and quiet. What if, instead, the observer was just a tiny fly-sized robot, independently powered, able to travel like its insect inspiration? That's one possibility from the long line of work on the RoboBee series of miniature flying machines, the latest of which recently flew independently under its own photovoltaic power. RoboBee is a long-running project of the Harvard Microrobotics Lab and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. The end goal is ultimately controlled swarms of insect-sized flying machines, with visions of these swarms performing everything from plant pollination to surveillance. These are ambitious aims, and all have been hindered to this point by a fundamental constraint on the form: the robots are too small to carry batteries. Much of the flight design uses a tethered power supply, allowing the designers to craft Piezoelectric motors that expand and contract as electrical current passes through the muscle-like membranes. This created wings that could flap and propel the robot upward, but it wasn't until recently that the robot could do it on its own power supply. RoboBees are smaller than any drone currently employed by the U.S. military, minute enough to make the palm-sized Black Hornet feel gargantuan. Without a sensor payload, it'd be a novelty, but the military has already invested in cheap, expendable sensor-carrying drone gliders for tasks such as meteorological data collection. Should this power supply enable RoboBees to support a meaningful sensor package, they could be used in a similar fashion, scattered as sensors that can flap their way into a new position. Holding six solar power cells on a stick, and with a second set of wings, the vehicle successfully flew under its own power, even if only for the briefest of moments. The researchers' documentation of their project was published in scientific journal Nature June 26, appearing under the title “Untethered flight of an insect-sized flapping-wing microscale aerial vehicle.” The whole RoboBee weights 259 milligrams, or less than a paperclip, and under special lights was able to generate enough lift to support an additional payload of 70 mg, which could be used for lightweight sensors, control electronics, or larger power supply in the future. Fitting sensors to a craft the small is likely a challenge, but also essential for the promise of the device. There is also the small matter that, even using photovoltaic cells, the robot needs an alien sun to fly. “The Robobee X-Wing needs the power of about three Earth suns to fly, making outdoor flight out of reach for now,” stated the summary from Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “Instead, the researchers simulate that level of sunlight in the lab with halogen lights.” Should the sensors exist, and the device become capable of outdoor flight, microrobotics could become a ubiquitous part of modern life, performing functions alongside insects and relaying sensor information back as an unseen intelligence platform. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/robotics/2019/07/08/these-super-small-drones-no-longer-need-a-battery/

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  May 13, 2022 | International, Land

  Lockheed, aiming to double Javelin production, seeks supply chain 'crank up'

  Lockheed Martin aims to nearly double production for Javelin anti-tank missiles from 2,100 to 4,000 per year, but it needs the supply chain to '€œcrank up,'€ said its chief executive, Jim Taiclet.