INNOVATIONS

Air Force Arsenal

With 162 bombers, 2,286 fighter/attack aircraft, and 203 helicopters in total active inventory—not to mention 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)—the U.S. Air Force is well-equipped to do some serious damage to the enemy. Our elite STEM civilian workforce researches and develops the next generation of weapons technology.

Wind Tunnels

U.S. Air Force wind tunnels put aircraft, propulsion systems, and space craft through their paces. Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world. The center operates 58 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, space environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges, and other specialized units. Twenty-seven of the center’s test units have capabilities unmatched elsewhere in the United States; 14 are unique in the world. Facilities can simulate flight conditions from sea level to an altitude of 300 miles and from subsonic velocities to Mach 2.0.

RPAs

Remotely piloted vehicles (RPAs), known as Predator and Reaper, have flown in on the winds of change. In 2010, for the first time in its history, the Air Force bought more RPAs than manned air vehicles.

These highly sophisticated aircraft for combat and reconnaissance are highly sought-after weapons systems, so too are the unsung pilots and intelligence analysts directing these RPAs from sites sometimes half a world away.

Whether noiselessly observing an unsuspecting enemy or watching over our soldiers, these pilots’ abilities and psyches are every bit as engaged and challenged as those of their comrades in traditional aircraft.

Test Pilots

In the 1950s, test pilots were being killed at the rate of about one a week, but the risks have dropped to a fraction of that, thanks to the maturation of aircraft technology, better ground-testing and simulation of aircraft performance, and, lately, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to test experimental aircraft features. Still, piloting experimental aircraft remains more dangerous than most other types of flying.

Rockets

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NASA successfully launched a nine-foot rocket 1,300 feet over the skies of Indiana using an environmentally friendly, safe propellant composed of aluminum powder and water ice (ALICE). ALICE has the consistency of toothpaste when made and can be fit into molds and cooled to -30° C, 24 hours before flight.

The concept has really taken off with researchers for several reasons. When optimized, ALICE could have a higher performance than conventional propellants; it can be used both for flight on Earth and in long-distance space missions; and it can theoretically be manufactured on distant planets – the moon or Mars, for example – instead of having to be transported to those distant locations.

SPACE WEATHER

The Coriolis satellite that carries Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Solar Mass Ejection Imager, or SMEI, has successfully detected and tracked 360 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and shown the practicality of forecasting the effects on Earth of these hazardous space weather phenomena.

Since 2003, SMEI cameras have captured nearly full sky images of great sensitivity every 103 minutes; there is no other celestial record of this length, field of view, continuity, sensitivity, and cadence.

SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

U.S. Government data received from satellites have increased 100,000-fold in the last decade due primarily to the addition of nearly 50 new instruments to the nation’s exploratory toolbox.

Currently, scientists are studying information that satellites are gathering on how our solar system affects the weather. In addition to heating the land, the sun’s energy can create weather disturbances and drive ocean currents. Researchers monitoring the amounts of solar energy reaching the earth theorize that it is small increases in the sun's total energy output over the last century that’s responsible for climate change.

With increasingly sophisticated satellites at their disposal, scientists will be able to make deeper observations and improve predictions about changing climatic conditions.

NANO TECHNOLOGY

While nanoscientists study matter on an atomic and molecular scale, nanotechnologists develop materials and devices 100 nanometers or smaller in one or more dimensions. (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or the comparative size of a marble to the earth; a meter is about three feet.)

Since it began in the 1980s, their work has advanced on two tracks – controlling self-recognizable/self-assembling molecular components and scaling down larger entities without atomic-level control. The seemingly infinite number of potential applications will impact multiple fields: robotics, medicine, electronics, and geo-engineering are just a few. AFCS is pushing the leading edge of research and development in this fascinating field.

WORLD'S FASTEST ROUTER

The U.S. Air Force recently completed testing on a new “flying wireless router” system that will help give ground forces and pilots real-time tactical information in the field.

The main difference between this router and a typical one you might be using at home is that it is attached to fighter planes. It is essentially a software upgrade called Net-T, for “network tactical,” and is designed to facilitate almost instantaneous communication between commanders, ground troops, and fighter aircraft. This new development provides real-time information like videos, images, maps, coordinates, or any file type from the forward-deployed elements without relying on satellite, radio, or other forms of traditional communication. It is setting the stage to provide beyond line-of-site command and control capability to warfighters in the air, sea, and on the ground.

SUPER COMPUTING

The game console’s price-to-performance ratio inspired one AFCS research team to place an order for 1,700 of them to go with the 336 they already have. The system will use 300 to 320 kilowatts at full bore and about 10 percent to 30 percent of that in standby, when most supercomputers are using 5 megawatts. However, much of the time the cluster will only be running the nodes it needs and it will be turned off when not in use. By taking advantage of a growing gaming market, the price performance is just $2 to $3 per gigaFLOPS.

The research team has been able to take advantage of about 60 percent of the PlayStations’ performance ability. Once complete, they are expecting to have a unit capable of 500 teraFLOPS or 500 trillion operations per second.