• AFRL Successfully Tests Automated Refueling Subsystem

    AFRL completed a successful flight test of an automated aerial refueling ( AAR), inner- loop control laws (IL CLAWS) system. A flight control computer (FCC) hosted the IL CLAWS system, which interfaced with the Calspan Learjet variable stability system (VSS) using discrete, analog signals. As part

  • AFRL Designs Tapered Ground Plane for SUAV

    AFRL scientists designed, built, and tested a tapered ground plane design. The team used an important in-house facility--namely, the Radiation and Scattering Compact Antenna Laboratory--as a resource for testing verification. The improved ground plane reduces the susceptibility of a Global

  • AFRL Demonstrates Transparent ZnO Electronics

    AFRL scientists demonstrated transparent microelectronic circuits using nanocrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) transistors. Large-area electronics for electromagnetic, chemical, and mechanical sensors, as well as large-display electronics, can be more useful in compact system applications such as unmanned

  • AFRL Commences GE VAATE Core Compressor Testing

    AFRL engineers began testing General Electric's (GE) long-range strike (LRS) Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engine (VAATE) core compressor at AFRL's Compressor Research Facility (CRF). These tests will further develop the front three stages of the dual-use core compressor to increase part

  • AFRL Presents Latest Display Technologies at SPIE Conference

    AFRL's Advanced Visualization and Interactive Displays team presented its latest research and development advancements on large, tiled displays during the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) Defense and Security symposium. The team presented techniques for expanding the datawall's

  • Handheld Laser Eliminates Costly Waste Streams

    AFRL scientists and engineers, working with Air Force Materiel Command, identified and tested several portable handheld laser devices that can remove paint from small-area aircraft surfaces and individual aircraft components without the use of hazardous chemical strippers or abrasive blast media.

  • AFRL Conducts Successful Micro-Meteoroid Impact Tests

    AFRL scientists, partnering with Sandia National Laboratories, replicated a micro-meteoroid's collision with a satellite. The effort, which involved ground-based replication of a cosmos-based event, proved a daunting challenge for the team, but perseverance--along with a strategy change--overcame

  • AFRL Research Helps Relieve Pain for Wounded Forces

    Wounded Airmen and soldiers being airlifted from the Iraqi battlefield have not previously had an effective pain control system available to them during transport. To address this critical need, AFRL scientists completed electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) research that subsequently qualified the

  • AFRL Releases New TBONE Capabilities

    AFRL engineers successfully completed a 46th Test Squadron, combined test force, risk reduction test (RRT) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The RRT served to incrementally test newly developed capabilities for the Theater Battle Operations Network-Centric Environment (TBONE) and integrate them into