Is it possible to harness the energy from sunlight and heat to power military aircraft? Scientists from four universities will team up to investigate and answer that question with the help of a $6 million grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. University of Washington researchers will join colleagues from the University of Colorado, University of California at Los Angeles, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute to focus on these two non-fossil energy sources, along with vibration as a third, but less promising, source. AFOSR officials say the five-year effort will seek to advance USAF air vehicle systems, but also explore applications to spacecraft.
BAE Systems is building a new slate of compact electronic warfare tools for small airborne platforms that could coordinate with fighters, work with helicopters, or augment legacy aircraft with outdated, hard-to-update EW suites.
