A team of scientists working under an Air Force Office of Scientific Research-funded effort may have found a “simple, reliable, and cost effective” way to manipulate a laser beam to sustain high data rates under a variety of conditions, reports Maria Callier of AFOSR. Their wave optics simulation could prove useful for space communications, optical tracking, and other Air Force applications. “If successful, our work can lead to free space communication systems that can carry high bandwidth data, that are almost impossible to intercept,” said team leader David Voelz with New Mexico State University.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…