Air Force Research Lab’s Phillips Technology Institute at Kirtland AFB, N.M., is working with the University of New Mexico and other federal government and industry organizations to create a center of excellence that would focus on the use of Field Programmable Gate Arrays for space and defense applications. According to a July 29 AFRL release, FPGAs are “state-of-the-art electronic chips that can be programmed after manufacture to perform a variety of tasks” with application in almost anything from cell phones to satellites. Congress already has provided $1.6 million for the FPGA Mission Assurance Center, where students are being trained to adapt the commercial chips to use in space and military environments. (AFRL report by Eva Blaylock)
Earlier this spring, the 388th Fighter Wing proved just 12 Airmen can operate an F-35 contingency location, refueling and rearming the fighters at spots across Georgia and South Carolina. The demonstration, part of exercise Agile Flag 23-1, marks yet another proof of concept for the Air Force’s plan to send…