• AFRL Commercializes Advanced Silicon Carbide Fibers

    Working under contract with ATK-COI Ceramics, Inc. (ATKCOIC), San Diego, California, and in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), AFRL engineers commercially established an advanced silicon carbide (SiC) fiber technology for use in gas turbine engine components

  • U.S. Air Force Marathon to showcase C-5 Galaxy

    The official aircraft of the eleventh annual United States Air Force Marathon is the C-5 Galaxy. The C-5 is one of the largest aircraft in the world and the largest air lifter in the Air Force inventory. The C-5 -- C stands for Cargo -- has tremendous payload capability and provides Air Mobility

  • AFRL Tests Show LADAR Can Potentially Remedy Helicopter Brownout Problem

    Air Force Special Operations Command incurs significant damage to aircraft and--even worse--loss of life as a result of helicopter brownout, a problem wherein dust recirculated by the rotorwash causes pilots to lose visual cues during takeoffs and landings in dry regions. AFRL engineers identified

  • AFRL-Sponsored Researchers Study Sleep Deprivation

    AFRL-sponsored researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University completed successful studies of sleep-deprived subjects observed to sustain alertness and effective cognitive functioning after taking modafinil. The drug causes wakefulness, using distinct pathways that scientists

  • Air Force Office of Special Investigations urges vigilance

    As a result of the 9-11 terrorist attack, the Air Force implemented an antiterrorism program called "Eagle Eyes," directed by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Much like a neighborhood watch, the Eagle Eyes program is an aggressive Air Force-wide neighborhood watch program that

  • AFRL Develops Alternatives for Maritime Control

    Researchers from AFRL and Mustang Technology Group, a radar technology company based in Allen, Texas, are providing the Air Force (AF) a simple and affordable approach for attacking seaborne threats. The AFRL/industry team developed a low-cost seeker known as the FALCON EYE, a small, all-weather,

  • AFRL Program Helps Reduce Cost of Focal Plane Arrays

    AFRL researchers completed their involvement in the F-35 Infrared Focal Plane Array (FPA) program, contributing expertise that led to a decrease in cluster defects and the insertion of larger-scale indium (In) antimonide (Sb) wafers into the arrays. The FPA is a significant component of infrared