News & Events

Night vision technology captures available electromagnetic radiation outside the portion of the spectrum visible to the human eye.

There are 2 primary technologies that are used for night vision devices: image intensification and thermal imaging.

Image intensification (I2) is best for seeing details like maps, because it works by intensifying the existing light spectrum. Low levels of ambient light pass through a photocathode that converts the light photons to electrons, then amplifies them. Sensitivity levels to various infrared, ultraviolet and visible spectrum wavelengths vary with the exact device. They then hit a phosphor screen (read: “TV screen”) where they are converted into visible light (read: “picture”).

The phosphor screen is colored green because the human eye can differentiate more shades of green than other phosphor colors. Like cameras, night vision devices have various image magnifications. The distance at which a human-sized figure can be clearly recognized under normal conditions ...

The CPTT is a full-fuselage device that is used to train flight engineers on the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The AFS process integrates real and virtual environments in an image processor.

This enables the student to view both the interior cabin environment and the simulated outside world in a composite picture sent to the student’s helmet-mounted display. "This is an innovative approach that allows students to train on 'real time' cargo air drops, parachute drops and emergencies, including wing fires, hydraulic leaks and engine smoke," said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president of Training Systems & Services.

"This modification opens the door to future upgrades that could enable simulated mission operations with separate cockpit flight simulators, where the CPTT could 'fly' with the cockpit simulator on a common mission." The team's latest effort is part of an ongoing development program for the CV-22 CPTT, which also includes trainer concurrency, ...

The US Army has undertaken a complete redesign of its T-10 parachute, which it has used since the 1950s. The new T-11 parachute has a new square design and a number of advantages over the T-10: a larger canopy, slower descent rate, and greater carrying capacity.

After 3,200 test jumps, the Army is moving ahead with T-11 procurement to get the parachutes into the field.

The US Army is paying up to $200 million to buy between 45,000 and 50,000 T-11 parachutes from 3 firms: Aerostar International in Sioux Falls, SD (W911QY-09-D-0036), Airborne Systems North America in Santa Ana, CA (W911QY-10-D-0003), and BAE Systems in Phoenix, AZ (W911QY-10-D-0001).

The new parachute features several improvements over the T-10: an upgraded harness that fits the smallest and largest soldiers and allows integration with modern equipment; a 28% larger more, stable canopy that enables a 49% slower rate of descent; a redesigned reserve ...

As the Marines themselves note, “body armor can be traced back to before the Roman Empire, when war was waged with sword and spear and the battlefield rang with the clash of steel on steel.” In time, its protection became so formidable that an armored, mounted warrior feared few enemies. A string of reverses from Crecy on into the age of gunpowder led to a growing offensive ascendancy, however, and led to hundreds of years of warriors who headed into battle without any armor.

In recent decades, modern technology began to offer new materials with remarkable properties, as Kevlar and flak jackets appeared that could stop some shrapnel and low-end bullets. Special Forces experiments eventually led to designs that added plate inserts of metal, or of increasingly advanced ceramics. Which brings us to the present day, where soldiers from advanced militaries are once again heading into battle with 30-50 ...

Photo-Stealth and Photo-Real camouflage systems incorporate photographic digital detailing that can match terrain so vividly that vehicles, weapons, equipment and engineered structures seemingly disappear into the surrounding battlefield environment, far outstripping the painted-on concealment.