Naval Research Laboratory personnel have introduced a new fiber optic sensor technology that can be integrated with an in-situ structural health monitoring system to provide autonomous monitoring of structural parameters including acoustic emission, temperature and strain. The U.S. Navy said Wednesday NRL researchers think data gathered from the intrinsic optical fiber sensor can help …
Read More »Rear Adm. David Hahn Named Naval Research Chief
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. David Hahn, formerly special assistant to the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, has been named chief of naval research at the service branch, the Defense Department announced Friday. He will succeed Rear Adm. Mathias Winter, who has been appointed deputy director of the Joint Strike Fighter …
Read More »USPTO Issues Patent for Naval Research Lab’s Seawater Carbon & Hydrogen Extraction Process
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent for the Electrolytic Cation Exchange Module‘s seawater carbon and hydrogen extraction process developed by the Naval Research Laboratory’s material science and technology division. NRL researchers designed E-CEM to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas, materials needed to produce synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels, the U.S. Navy …
Read More »Naval Research Lab Concludes Arctic Sea-Ice Characterization Research Project; Joan Gardner Comments
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists have assessed ice thickness, strength and other parameters in Alaska’s North Slope in order to determine the evolution and physical structure of ice in the Arctic Ocean as part of the Navy’s five-week research effort. The team of scientists performed the study on an ice …
Read More »Navy, Penn State Researchers Develop Collaborative Soaring, Data Sharing Algorithms for UAS
The Naval Research Laboratory has partnered with the Pennsylvania State University’s Air Vehicle Intelligence and Autonomy Lab to demonstrate algorithmic methods for telemetry data exchange between two soaring unmanned aerial vehicles. NRL said Wednesday its Autonomous Locator of Thermals algorithm and AVIA’s AutoSOAR autonomous soaring algorithm worked to enable two …
Read More »FCW: Zero-Day Bug Hits Naval Research Lab’s Unclassified Network
A Naval Research Laboratory-run unclassified network was a target of hackers who used a zero-day exploit to access the network, FCW reported Thursday. Sean Lyngaas writes U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Bruington, the NRL’s commanding officer, said the laboratory has worked to mitigate the exploited vulnerability after its discovery of the breach. “It …
Read More »Raymond Gamache: Naval Research Lab Could Deploy New Body Armor in 2016
Raymond Gamache, a lead scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory, has said the lab could deploy a new body armor for soldiers in 2016 after two years of development, DoD News reported Friday. Gamache, the research physicist who oversaw the armor’s development phase, exhibited a fabric for the torso and …
Read More »ONR’s Matthew Klunder: Shipboard Laser Weapon Completes Operational Tests
The Office of Naval Research has concluded a three-month operational demonstration in the Persian Gulf of a shipboard laser weapon system that was integrated with the existing defense systems of the U.S. Navy‘s USS Ponce. David Smalley reports Wednesday that LaWS destroyed moving at-sea and airborne targets, including a small boat and an unmanned aerial vehicle, during …
Read More »Naval Research Lab Builds Sensor-Software Pack for Pilotless Helicopters; Matthew Klunder, Kevin Killea Comment
The Naval Research Laboratory has developed a sensor and software pack for pilotless helicopters and will demonstrate the technology at a Washington conference this week, Reuters reported Saturday. David Alexander writes that Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, NRL chief, described the 100-pound sensor and software as tools a Marine can learn …
Read More »Navy to Power Ships Using Seawater-Extracted Fuel
The Department of the Navy plans to produce more than 50 percent of its jet fuel for ships from alternative sources by 2020 as part of efforts to achieve renewable energy goals, National Journal reported Friday. Marina Koren writes the Naval Research Laboratory is developing a technology for extracting gases …
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