Artículos de revistas sobre el tema "Precision guided munitions industry"

The use of precision-guided artillery rounds has increased in recent years, but analytical models within simulations that enable effect analysis and tradeoff analysis between precision and conventional munitions are lacking. This paper develops an analytical model of precision-guided fragmentation munitions effects for low-resolution simulations. A modification of the commonly used Carlton Damage Function, called the Klopcic Hybrid approach, is implemented within a baseline simulation that addresses the Carlton Damage Function’s shortcomings and implementation issues. A designed experiment using a range of parameters accounting for many weapon types is then performed using a space filling design whose results are used in constructing an empirical model. The baseline simulation for the magnitude of target location error, a trait not normally modeled in simulations but critical in the determination of precision munition use, is addressed. A response surface is developed that analytically models the nonlinear behavior of the dependent variable. Defendable and traceable response functions are developed for varying precision munition types and target location error ranges that are flexible to a broad range of munition capabilities.

The paper covers the role and mission of high-precision non-nuclear weapons on short-/medium- and long-range delivery systems. The author makes an attempt to forecast the precision guided munitions prospects in terms of operational deployment and conceptualization, compares military and political potential of conventional and nuclear weapons. The paper also outlines key problem areas of political and technical nature impeding the further development of high-precision weapons programs.

With the wide application of all kinds of precision guided munitions, the rhythm of combat become faster, the environment of battle field become more complicated. It brings a great challenge to the battle damage assessment. the basic principle of battle damage assessment based on detection information is analyzed. Pretreatment and reliability analysis of battle field information and target function damage are elaborated. Single function damage analysis and target damage assessment of the Aircraft-borne guidance ammunition technical area are realized, based on target function damage analysis and fuzzy multivariate theory analysis. With the widely application of all kinds of precision guided munitions, the cost of combat grow rapidly，the rhythm of combat become faster, the environment of battle field become complicated， the damage effect to the target of the evaluation has brought an unprecedented challenges. At present , our army damage effect evaluation of target research has just started, there is no perfect theory system and mature evaluation method, so, target damage effect evaluation model and the method has important practical significance, on account of the scene to collect information on target is the important basis of damage effect evaluation, therefore, how to use all kinds of target damage information damage effect evaluation decision target efficiently collecting from battlefield is the primary problem studying damage effect evaluation.

Due to power-after-launch mode of guided munitions of high rolling speed, initial attitude of munitions cannot be determined accurately, and this makes it difficult for navigation and control system to work effectively and validly. An in-flight self-alignment method aided by geomagnetism that includes a fast in-flight coarse alignment method and an in-flight alignment model based on Kalman theory is proposed in this paper. Firstly a fast in-flight coarse alignment method is developed by using gyros, magnetic sensors, and trajectory angles. Then, an in-flight alignment model is derived by investigation of the measurement errors and attitude errors, which regards attitude errors as state variables and geomagnetic components in navigation frame as observed variables. Finally, fight data of a spinning projectile is used to verify the performance of the in-flight self-alignment method. The satisfying results show that (1) the precision of coarse alignment can attain below 5°; (2) the attitude errors by in-flight alignment model converge to 24′ at early of the latter half of the flight; (3) the in-flight alignment model based on Kalman theory has better adaptability, and show satisfying performance.

Does Israel have the ability to conduct a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities similar to its 1981 strike on Iraq's Osirak reactor? The Israeli Air Force has significantly upgraded its equipment since the early 1980s, but the Iranian nuclear complex is a much harder target than was the Osirak reactor. Iran has three facilities that are critical for nuclear weapons production: a uranium conversion facility, an enrichment facility, and a heavy-water production plant and associated plutonium production reactor. This article analyzes possible interactions of Israel's improved air force, including the addition of F-15I aircraft and U.S.-supplied conventional “bunker-buster” precision-guided munitions, with the Iranian target set and air defense systems. It concludes that Israel has the capability to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure with at least as much confidence as it had in the 1981 Osirak strike. Beyond the case of Iran, this finding has implications for the use of precision-guided weapons as a counterproliferation tool. Precision-guided weapons confer the ability to reliably attack hard and deeply buried targets with conventional, rather than nuclear, weapons. Intelligence on the location of nuclear sites is thus the primary limiting factor of military counterproliferation.

The implementation of 155 mm self-propelled howitzers ‘Krab’ into the Missile and Artillery Forces significantly improve their capabilities. Apart the howitzer, the battalion fire module ‘Regina’ consists of specialized command, reconnaissance, support and ammunition vehicles. The caliber of the howitzer adjusted to NATO standards allows for the application of the common ammunition, including precision-guided, with the range up to 40 km, which will enable striking the important targets in the enemy’s rear combat zone. An artillery battalion (battery) equipped with the self-propelled howitzer ‘Krab’ owing to usage of the precision-guided munitions during the engagement will gain unprecedented capabilities with regards to impacting a target. Moreover, the battalion will be able to successfully fulfill tasks, which until recently could be executed by a general-military commander with the support of anti-tank reserves, tank subunits, special forces or tactical surface-to-surface missiles. The paper proposes organizational structures of the ‘Krab’ artillery battalion, variants of order of battle and methods of fire tasks execution.

Electronics packages in precision guided munitions are used in guidance and control units, mission computers, and fuze-safe-and-arm devices. They are subjected to highg-loads during gun launch, pyrotechnic shocks during flight, and highg-loads upon impact with hard targets. To enhance survivability, many electronics packages are potted after assembly. The purpose of the potting is to provide additional structural support and shock damping. Researchers at the US Army recently completed a series of dynamic mechanical tests on a urethane-based potting material to assess its behavior in an electronics assembly during gun launch and under varying thermal launch conditions. This paper will discuss the thermomechanical properties of the potting material as well as simulation efforts to determine the suitability of this potting compound for gun launched electronics. Simulation results will compare stresses and displacements for a simplified electronics package with and without full potting. An evaluation of the advantages and consequences of potting electronics in munitions systems will also be discussed.

In the modern warfare, the trajectory of flight vehicle was required to have the ability to be adjusted in specified shape to increasing the penetration force. This paper deals with the guidance law and data fusion system to impact a target in specified direction for precision guided munitions. A three-dimensional guidance law is designed by combining the optimal guidance law and terminal acceleration tuning methodology. A new configuration of Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is employed to obtain the range and angle information from INS and infrared seeker to improve the survivability of guidance system in the circumstance with strong electromagnetic interference.

Abstract Concept of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) analyses and describes processes of major changes in military-strategic dimension, which provide possibilities especially for states to enhance their military power and establish superiority over their opponents. Contemporary, development of new (weapon) technologies (e.g. precision-guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles) and doctrines (e.g. network centric warfare, system-of-systems) represents such opportunity. Outer space in this context represents relatively new dimension of warfare with increasing importance for strategical thinking of all main state actors (e.g. China, Russia, and the U.S.). This paper deals with relation between RMA and outer space. The aim of this paper is to analyses how outer space and space technologies influence contemporary/future RMA and vice versa.

Abstract The term Revolutions in Military Affair (rma) was originally coined by the Soviets realizing that the US planned to utilize electronics and computers to improve both its weapons and battle management. Other such revolutions were caused by the emergence of aircraft, submarines, mechanized warfare, precision-guided munitions (pgms), unmanned vehicles and Net-Centric-Warfare. Beside its effect on fighting, military technology also affects the public and its leadership. Several technological developments, such as rockets and drones, cyberwarfare, and homemade explosives and chemical and biological weapons, are already changing current concepts and conduct of warfare through their direct effect on warfighting and by their potential effect on the public and its leadership. Consequently, rmas should be analyzed in terms of the linkages between the rear, where chaos can be created, and the front, where the armed forces typically operate.

Precision guided munitions are often driven with the help of a special kind of laser beam, pointing onto the target of interest which can be a ground based stationary target or a moving one. The laser source which is popularly known as target designator is a key element in this and plays a vital role in performing any laser guided bombings. In this paper a testing methodology and evaluation technique is described for such a portable high energy laser source. The parameters of the designator are tested in laboratory environment as well as verified in field conditions. The measured and tested parameters are laser source energy, pulse repetition frequency, laser wavelength accuracy and pulse width. A laser guided bomb seeker is also used to test with and verify different designator parameters specially the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) in field conditions. The PRF is generally set in the seeker manually and the designators are fired onto a target for different PRFs and energy levels. If the PRF of the seeker matches with that of the designator then it locks onto the target and if different it does not. In this experiment one more designator is also fired onto a different target within the field of view of the seeker with the same parameters except the energy level. The seeker changes its position to the target having higher energy density provided pulses are within its detection window.

The manufacturing industry has identified a new megatrend of mass customization, which is one of the essential goals of Industry 4.0. This megatrend requires the realization of manufacturing that can respond quickly and flexibly to various changing production requirements and ensure the achievement of various quality criteria. However, the manufacturing cannot be realized by conventional manufacturing systems in which reconfigurations need to be performed by skilled engineers. This paper proposes a new reconfigurable manufacturing system concept based on an ultra-flexible transfer system. Particularly, an autonomous mobile robotic manipulator, consisting of a high-performance automated guided vehicle module and a collaborative robotic manipulator module, represents a key component of the system concept. In this context, the focus is on the cooperative control between the modules of the autonomous mobile manipulator, which is essential for high-precision processes (e.g., machining, assembly, measurement, inspection), and its wide operating area. The experimental results confirm that the proposed cooperative control improves the positioning performance of the autonomous mobile manipulator, including the time required for positioning and the positioning accuracy.

This paper proposes and implements a lightweight, “real-time” localization system (SORLA) with artificial landmarks (reflectors), which only uses LiDAR data for the laser odometer compensation in the case of high-speed or sharp-turning. Theoretically, due to the feature-matching mechanism of the LiDAR, locations of multiple reflectors and the reflector layout are not limited by geometrical relation. A series of algorithms is implemented to find and track the features of the environment, such as the reflector localization method, the motion compensation technique, and the reflector matching optimization algorithm. The reflector extraction algorithm is used to identify the reflector candidates and estimates the precise center locations of the reflectors from 2D LiDAR data. The motion compensation algorithm predicts the potential velocity, location, and angle of the robot without odometer errors. Finally, the matching optimization algorithm searches the reflector combinations for the best matching score, which ensures that the correct reflector combination could be found during the high-speed movement and fast turning. All those mechanisms guarantee the algorithm’s precision and robustness in the high speed and noisy background. Our experimental results show that the SORLA algorithm has an average localization error of 6.45 mm at a speed of 0.4 m/s, and 9.87 mm at 4.2 m/s, and still works well with the angular velocity of 1.4 rad/s at a sharp turn. The recovery mechanism in the algorithm could handle the failure cases of reflector occlusion, and the long-term stability test of 72 h firmly proves the algorithm’s robustness. This work shows that the strategy used in the SORLA algorithm is feasible for industry-level navigation with high precision and a promising alternative solution for SLAM.

In order to effectively meet the new requirements raised by the international shipbuilding convention and specification for shipbuilding enterprises, and to quickly improve enterprise innovation capability, this article analyzes the modern shipbuilding characteristics and compares them with the lean production methodology. In China, the shipbuilding enterprise development is guided by the Shipbuilding Industry Standard Conditions assessment rules from the Ministry of Industrial and Information Technology of China. This article proposes establishing an efficient merchant shipbuilding system based on the lean production methodology and the construction technology capability indices in the Shipbuilding Industry Standard Conditions. This article focuses more on the hull construction and merchant ship production processes, instead of the entire engineering, procurement, and construction shipbuilding management. It elaborates key system technologies including value stream analysis, efficient shipbuilding production design, efficient shipbuilding project management, efficient shipbuilding precision management, and efficient full factory management. The efficient shipbuilding system has been implemented in a Chinese merchant shipbuilding enterprise to significantly improve productivity and reduce shipbuilding cycle time.

AbstractCurrently, networking has not progressed in the treatment room. Almost every medical device in the treatment room operates as a stand-alone device. In this project, we aim to develop a networked operating room called “Smart Cyber Operating Theater (SCOT)”. Medical devices are connected using Open Resource interface for the Network (ORiN) technology. In this paper, we describe the concept of the SCOT project. SCOT is integrated using the communication interface ORiN, which was originally developed for industry. One feature of ORiN is that the system can be constructed flexibly. ORiN creates abstracts of the same type of devices and increases the robustness of the system for device exchange. By using ORiN technology, we are developing new applications, such as decision-making navigation or a precision guided treatment system.

Thickness-shear transducers for guided wave testing have been used in industry for over two decades and much research has been conducted to improve the resolution and sensitivity. Due to a geometric feature of the current state-of-the art transducer, there is an out-of-plane component in the propagation direction of the fundamental shear horizontal mode which complicates the signal interpretation. In such case, complex signal processing techniques need to be used for mode discrimination to assess the structural health with higher precision. Therefore, it is important to revise the transducer design to eliminate the out-of-plane components in the propagation direction of fundamental shear horizontal mode. This will enhance the mode purity of fundamental shear horizontal mode for its application in guided wave inspection. A numerical investigation has been conducted on a 3 mm thick 2 m circular steel plate to understand the behaviour and the characteristics of the state-of-the-art thickness-shear transducer. Based on the results, it is noted that the redesigning the electrode arrangement will suppress the out-of-plane components on the propagation direction of the fundamental shear horizontal mode. With the aid of this information current state-of-the-art transducers were redesigned and tested in laboratory conditions using the 3D Laser Doppler Vibrometer. This information will aid future transducer designers improve the resolution of thickness-shear transducers for guided wave applications and reduce the weight and cost of transducer array by eliminating the need of additional transducers to suppress spurious modes.

The non-woven materials industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world with the ability to produce materials in less time, specifications, and better prices. nonwoven materials are defined as a web of guided or random fibers that are bonded by friction, interlacement or adhesion. In this research, the rotary electrospinning system was used and a prototype was made to study the process and the complete visualization in terms of the correlation of the electrostatic forces to the formation of nanofibers by preparing polymeric solutions and exposing them to the electric field between the positive electrode (the serrated cylinder) and the Grounded electrode (plate) and produced high-precision fibers with a diameter (185nm) at 25 kV, whereas the installation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was with different concentrations and the formed fibers possessed an effective surface and deposited on a collector electrode forming nonwoven webs and high productivity is the most important feature of this system compared with the traditional electrospinning system.

Ultra precise positioning techniques that support nanotechnologies led by the semiconductor industry mainly require precision of nanometer order. Currently, it is piezoelectric elements that are most often used for positioning control of this order. Piezoelectric elements, however, are deficient in strokes and durability. In this research, we propose to use for ultra precise positioning control pneumatic bellows instead of piezoelectric elements, because the durability of pneumatic bellows is well proven. Specifically, we manufacture an elastic-hinge-guided, fine-motion stage which is driven by pneumatic bellows. In addition, we have developed a mathematical model for this fine-motion stage as well as its dynamic characteristics. We review feedback control to achieve ultra precise positioning, using the developed stage and mathematical model. As a result, we have succeeded in developing a fine-motion stage with longer strokes than ones driven by piezoelectric elements, though it is inferior in response. Positioning accuracy of the pneumatic-bellowdriven stage is ±5 [nm], which is tantamount to that achieved by piezoelectric elements.

Recently, more personalized travel methods have emerged in the tourism industry, such as individual travel and self-guided travel. The service models of traditional tourism limit the diversity of service options and cannot fully meet the individual needs of tourists anymore. The aim is to integrate sparse tourism information on the Internet, thereby providing more convenient, faster, and more personalized tourism services. Based on the shortcomings of the traditional tourism recommendation system, a deep learning-based classification processing method of tourism product information is proposed. This method uses word embedding in the data preprocessing stage. The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is used to process review information of users and tourism service items. The Deep Neural Network (DNN) is used to process the necessary information of users and tourism service items. Also, factorization machine technology is used to learn the interaction between the extracted features to improve the prediction model. The results show that the proposed model can maintain an excellent precision of 64.2% when generating personalized recommendation lists for users. The sensitivity and accuracy of the recommendation list are better than other algorithms. By adding DNN, the word embedding method, and the factorization machine model, the precision is improved by 30%, 33.3%, and 40%, respectively. The model accuracy is the highest with 40 hidden factors, 100 convolutions, and a 100+50 combination hidden layer. Compared with traditional methods, the proposed algorithm can provide users with personalized travel products more accurately in personalized travel recommendations. The results have enriched and developed the theory of tourism service supply chain, providing a reference for constructing a personalized tourism service system.

Purpose In rural regions, mining is an activity that employs many people due to the fact that the barriers to entry are sometimes trivial, with very low technology, capital fund, and no specialized skills required. Many people including children are engaged in artisanal mining in Ivory Coast because they can earn higher incomes in mining than through other traditional activities such as agriculture, which is the main activity in the country. Artisanal mining contributes to reduce abject poverty prevalent in the country and it offers many others opportunities. However, this activity has many negative social impacts. Local people including miners are risking their lives everyday as they are exposed to unsanitary conditions, prostitution, chemical contaminants, and alcoholism, and also due to the large degradation of lands. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach All the data collected during this study were analyzed before some of it was corrected. For data analysis and interpretation, the authors used Word and Excel and other software, and other statistical tools for maps, graphs, and tables. Findings The main objective of this paper is to understand how artisanal gold mining in the Ivory Coast affects local livelihoods and the environment. Research limitations/implications This study was carried out during the author’s study in China. The data collection between the two countries was too difficult due to the long distance. Many times the network was not reliable for any call and discuss with miners when we are not in the country. The hesitation of miners to give real information to the authors was also a main problem because most of them are illegal miners. Some of the guided questionnaires stayed without feedback for almost three months. The production was sold on a day-to-day basis by the miners in the illegal mining sites, so the authors could not obtain with precision the monthly and annual production to calculate income of the miners. Originality/value Some key recommendations for addressing artisanal mining activities in order to have a good option for sustainable management of mineral resources in the country are proposed.

SummaryPresent day robot systems are manufactured to perform within industry accepted tolerances. However, to use such systems for tasks requiring high precision, various methods of robot calibration are generally required. These procedures can improve the accuracy of a robot within a small volume of the robot's workspace. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the use of a single camera 3D computer vision system as a position sensor in order to perform robot calibration. A vision feedback scheme, termed Vision-guided Robot Control (VRC), is described which can improve the accuracy of a robot in an on-line iterative manner. This system demonstrates the advantage that can be achieved by a Cartesian space robot control scheme when end effector position/orientation are actually sensed instead ofcalculated from the kinematic equations. The degree of accuracy is determined by setting a tolerance level for each of the six robot Cartesian space coordinates. In general, a small tolerance level requires a large number of iterations in order to position the end effector, and a large tolerance level requires fewer iterations. The viability of using a vision system for robot calibration is demonstrated by experimentally showing that the accuracy of a robot can be drastically improved. In addition, the vision system can also be used to determine the repeatability and accuracy of a robot in a simple, efficient, and quick manner. Experimental work with an IBM Electric Drive Robot (EDR) and the proposed vision system produced a 97 and a 145 fold improvement in the position and orientation accuracy of the robot, respectively.

Purpose The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD-turned-entrepreneur regarding the commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Howie Choset, Chief Technical Officer at the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Motivated by applications in confined spaces, Dr Choset created a comprehensive program in modular, high degree(s) of freedom (DOF) and multirobot systems. This research led Dr Choset to cofound three companies. In this interview, Dr Choset shares some of his personal and business experiences of working in academia and industry. Findings Dr Choset received his Bachelor of Science, Engineering (BSE) degree in computer science and his Bachelor of Science, Economics (BSEcon) degree in business from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. Dr Choset received his Masters and PhD from Caltech in mechanical engineering and robotics in 1991 and 1996. Since 1996, Dr Choset has been a Professor of Robotics at CMU and Director of the CMU Biorobotics Lab. He is also the Director of CMU’s undergraduate major and minor of Robotics. Along with his students, Choset formed several companies including Medrobotics (2005) for surgical systems; Hebi Robotics (2014) for modular robots; and Bito Robotics (2017) for autonomous guided vehicles. In 2017, Choset co-led the formation of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, which is a $250m national institute advancing both technology development and education for robotics in manufacturing. Choset is a founding editor of the journal Science Robotics and is currently serving on the editorial board of International Journal Robotics Research. Originality/value Motivated by collaborating with his students and colleagues, Dr Choset continues to make fundamental contributions in design, motion planning, path planning and estimation with the goal of bringing the precision of computer science and applied mathematics to the realities and uncertainties of mechanical systems. Choset’s work has been supported by both industry and government. Medrobotics Corp., a medical robotics company based on Choset’s snake robots, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory clearance for both colorectal and otolaryngology procedures in the USA.

AbstractDuring the First World War, warfare became more totalitarian and was backed by an economic conflict waged with increasingly harsh methods. In the combatant nations munitions rapidly became an essential “raw material”, with the increasing demand being met either by the expanding domestic arms industry or by munitions imports from neutral countries. The Swiss watch, metal and engineering industries enjoyed a strong international reputation and had a strong focus on exports: by the end of 1914 they began manufacturing precision detonators for artillery projectiles, and rising quantities of these products were sold to both sides. This paper examines what volume Swiss munitions exports assumed during the First World War, how this was compatible with Swiss neutrality and looks at the arguments used to criticise or justify this trade over the course of the war.

Potted Guidance Electronics have been widely used in precision guided munitions. In the current generation of projectiles, soft potting materials have been sufficient to protect the electronics from the G-forces of gun launch at approximately 15 kG while sustaining uncontrolled extreme low temperature storage environments at different locations around the world. With on-going development of long-range precision guided munitions, stronger and hardened potting materials will be needed to survive gun-launch accelerations of 30 kG and higher. In the case of uncontrolled storage environments, the daily temperature fluctuations can act to dislodge/fail electronic components due to the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatches between the potting materials and the electronic components. In this paper, a new protective layer method is presented, which consists of two tightly fitted preformed polymer layers, acting to mitigate the CTE mismatches, while only producing insignificant degradation of the supporting structure during extreme high-G projectile launch. The effectiveness of this new method is demonstrated by using finite element based modeling and simulation methods to examine a simplified potted electronics example. In the first step, the example was simulated with and without protective layers during an accelerated temperature cycling (−67 °F to 185 °F), and found that the protective layers were able to mitigate the CTE mismatch problem. During second step, the example compared dynamic responses between potted electronics with and without protective layers during a high-G, ∼15 kG, gun-launch simulations; results also showed that the degradation of the supporting structure introduced by protective layers during gun launch was insignificant.

AbstractIn the era of precision medicine, digital technologies and artificial intelligence, drug discovery and development face unprecedented opportunities for product and business model innovation, fundamentally changing the traditional approach of how drugs are discovered, developed and marketed. Critical to this transformation is the adoption of new technologies in the drug development process, catalyzing the transition from serendipity-driven to data-driven medicine. This paradigm shift comes with a need for both translation and precision, leading to a modern Translational Precision Medicine approach to drug discovery and development. Key components of Translational Precision Medicine are multi-omics profiling, digital biomarkers, model-based data integration, artificial intelligence, biomarker-guided trial designs and patient-centric companion diagnostics. In this review, we summarize and critically discuss the potential and challenges of Translational Precision Medicine from a cross-industry perspective.

Potted electronics are becoming more common in precision-guided artillery due to demands for increased structural-robustness. In field artillery applications, the potted electronics are inactive for most of their lifetime. Projectiles may be stored in a bunker without environmental (temperature and humidity) controls for up to 20 years. In contrast, the electronics for most commercial applications tend to be active for most of their lifetime and the operating environment is more predictable. This difference makes the thermal management task for the artillery application challenging. The ability to accurately analyze these designs requires the use of fully coupled thermal-stress transient-analysis with accurate material properties over the full temperature range. To highlight the thermal-stress transient effects, the potted configuration of a typical electronics assembly is analyzed. The thermal analysis indicates that significant stresses can develop in critical locations as a result of temperature cycles. The structural dynamic responses of unpotted and potted assemblies, subjected to gun-launch environments, are also compared. The results indicate that for the potted design, the dynamic response of the processor board is attenuated by the potting material.

AbstractElectro-optically guided weapons are the most potent and widely used munitions on land-based, aerial and ship-borne platforms because of their proven precision strike capability. Two such guided weapon categories include the IR guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles and laser guided bombs and missiles. The efficacy of the mission is critically dependent on the successful deployment of the weapon. This not only necessitates that periodic functionality check be carried out on these weapons, it should also be possible to perform functionality check also known as serviceability check even after they are strapped on to the launch platform. Serviceability check in the strap-on condition ensures a much higher hit probability. This paper presents the design and development of a portable electro-optic device that generates IR signatures in 3–5-µm band having the desired amplitude and spectral shape to match the IR signatures of target aircraft. A prototype was built using the proposed concept. The prototype was characterized in terms of its output amplitude and wavelength spectrum. The prototype was used to perform serviceability check on IR seekers of foreign origin. Test results are presented in the paper.

Potted electronics are becoming more common in precision-guided smart munitions designs due to the requirements for miniaturization and structural-robustness. In most of these applications, the potted electronics are inactive for most of their lifetime and may be stored without environmental (temperature and humidity) controls for up to 20 yr. The uncontrolled environment for smart munitions however makes the thermal management task especially difficult due to the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch that can exist between the potting material and the electronic components. In this paper, we will do the following: (1) present a methodology being developed for reducing the thermal stresses to the potted electronics used in uncontrolled environments by encapsulating the circuit board assembly (CBA) with a thin polymer layer which has been precisely formed to conform to the imprecisely shaped, as-populated, CBA. The protective polymer layer will be both flexible and soft enough to protect the CBA components from damage caused by thermal expansion mismatches, but not degrade the structural support that the potting provides during high-g force projectile launches, (2) discuss how the protective polymer layer methodology can also be used to lessen in-circuit board crosstalk, improve shielding from external RF interference, control tin-whisker growth, and enhance moisture barrier properties and thermal management for CBAs, and (3) demonstrate how to improve the smart munitions survivability under extreme high-g applications through the use of syntactic foams and material characterization before and after accelerated temperature-cycling and thermal-aging tests.

Abstract This article examines how a religious cultural paradigm deriving from the Humanism of the West affects the modern art and science of War. It was in the framework of a religified Humanism, in which man ‘stole’ God’s capabilities and properties, that the worldview of man-god was created. This worldview permeated the development of military strategy, thereby facilitating its transformation in the worldview of a commander-god; this is the same worldview which today threatens to reach extremes, assisted by technological evolution allowing the development of robust C4ISR networks Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. The acronym today is C5ISR, with the addition of Combat Systems. interconnected with precision guided munitions (PGMs) of various configurations. The article then examines the influence of Western intellectualism, which is a basic element of Western Christianity, over the development of modern theories and perceptions on military strategy and the risks that can arise for future Western armies from this impact. As an antidote to this influence, the article suggests a new perception on military strategy which emphasises adaptability and flexibility and is based on a cultural paradigm from the Orthodox Christian Faith.

Manufacturing capability (MC) analysis is a necessary step in the early stages of supply chain formation. In the contract manufacturing industry, companies often advertise their capabilities and services in an unstructured format on the company website. The unstructured capability data usually portray a realistic view of the services a supplier can offer. If parsed and analyzed properly, unstructured capability data can be used effectively for initial screening and characterization of manufacturing suppliers specially when dealing with a large pool of suppliers. This work proposes a novel framework for capability-based supplier classification that relies on the unstructured capability narratives available on the suppliers' websites. Four document classification algorithms, namely, support vector machine (SVM ), Naïve Bayes, random forest, and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) are used as the text classification techniques. One of the innovative aspects of this work is incorporating a thesaurus-guided method for feature selection and tokenization of capability data. The thesaurus contains the formal and informal vocabulary used in the contract machining industry for advertising manufacturing capabilities. A web-based tool is developed for the generation of the concept vector model associated with each capability narrative and extraction of features from the input documents. The proposed supplier classification framework is validated experimentally through forming two capability classes, namely, heavy component machining and difficult and complex machining, based on real capability data. It was concluded that thesaurus-guided method improves the precision of the classification process.

The article is about the generations of war and expounds on Hybrid wars. Its connection to the model of generational divisions is detailed. Today, as well, with the Cold War is over, the hyperactivity of the US in the military-political arena has brought forth a similar storm. The American war machine is in a victory march. At the same time a variety of ideas and theories of war are brought forth and being discussed. There are differing views on how generations of war should be classified. In my opinion, the main spheres of human development, such as that of commerce, economics, politics, science, education and culture, are the main determining factors. Taking into consideration the various factors, wars have been divided into the following six generations. Fifth generation warfare's necessity became apparent during fourth generation wars. The main elements in question were automated control systems and precision-guided armament. Along with new political, economic and social developments, these ensured new victories. Again, in this generation, armies chose to avoid operations that required large scale mobilization, and instead tried promptly sending small groups into battle, avoiding large-scale preparatio. The issues in the fields of war, as well as the issue of waves of communication, reached their peak. This generation, once and for all, confirmed the importance of force accumulation on any platform, anywhere in the world. Fifth generation wars brought armies to a point where they retired from classical combined arms warfare; Electro-Fire Battle is more commonly applied. Trenches and engineered structures are nearly extinct. This was yet another example of believing in the superiority of quality over quantity. The effects of information became a decisive factor. These were the wars of the digital media industry.

The western world has an enthusiasm for blondes that amounts to a cultural fetish. As a signifier the blonde is loaded: blondes have more fun, blondes are dumb, blondes are more sexually available, blondes are less capable, less serious, less complicated. The blonde is, in modern day patriarchy, often portrayed as the ideal woman. The Oxford Dictionary defines a Goddess as a female deity or a woman who is adored for her beauty. The Blonde Goddess then is the ultimate contemporary female, worshipped for her appearance, erotically idolised. She may be a Playboy bunny, the hot girl on the beach or the larger than life billboard, but everywhere her image haunts mere mortals: the men who can’t have her and the women who can’t be her. During the second wave of feminism the Blonde Goddess was vilified as an unrealistic illusion and exploitive fantasy and our enthusiasm for her was roundly challenged. She was a stereotype, feminists cried, a site of oppression, a phoney construct. Men were judged harshly for desiring her and women were discouraged from being her. Well beyond hair colour and its power as signifier the very notion of Goddessness, of being adored for one’s beauty, was considered repressive. Women were called upon to refuse participation in blondeness (in its signifying sense) and Goddessness (in the sense of being revered for attractiveness) and men were chastised for being superficial and chauvinistic.Nevertheless, decades later, many men continue to lust after her, women (and increasingly younger girls) work ever harder at being her — bleaching, shaving, breast augmenting and botoxing — and the media promotes endless representations of her. If the second wave thought the Blonde Goddess would give up the ghost easily it was mistaken but what their enthusiastic critique did enable is the birth of a new type of Blonde Goddess, one generally considered to be stronger, more empowered and a better role model for the 21st century Miss. Though the likes of Mae West hinted at this type of Blonde Goddess well before Madonna it was not until Madonna’s generation that she went mainstream. There have been many Blonde Goddess “It girls” — Jean Harlow, Jayne Mansfield and Debbie Harry (singer of the band Blondie) to name a few, but two in particular stand out as the embodiment of these types; their bodies and identities going beyond the image-making machinery to become a kind of Blonde Goddess performance art. They are Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. The enthusiasm for blondeness and Goddessness routinely gives rise to faddish cultural enthusasisms. In Monroe’s day her curvaceous figure was upheld as the model female form. After Madonna appeared with her bangles and layered tops girls all across America and around the world dressed like her. Drawing on Angela Carter’s feminist readings of De Sade in The Sadeian Woman and envisioning Monroe and Madonna, two of the most fêted examples of Blonde Goddessness in history, as De Sade’s Justine and Juliette reveals their erotic currency as both couched in patriarchal gender relations and binding us to it. Considering Monroe and Madonna with the Marquis De Sade characters Justine and Juliette in mind illustrates that Goddessness as I’m defining it here — the enthusiasm which with women rely on beauty for affirmation and men’s enthusiastic feeding of that dependence — amounts to a feminine masquerade that disempowers women from a real experience of femaleness, emancipation and eroticism. When feminists in the 60s and 70s critiqued the Blonde Goddess as the poster-child for good old-fashioned sexism it was women like Monroe they had in mind. What feminists argued for they largely got — access to life beyond the domestic domain, financial autonomy, self-determination — but, as a De Sadian viewing of Madonna will show, we’re still compromised. While many feminists, most notably Andrea Dworkin, rejected the Marquis De Sade, notorious libertine and writer, as a dishonourable pornographer, others, such as Luce Irigaray and Angela Carter, felt he accurately reflected the social structures and relations of western civilisation and was therefore fertile ground for the exploration of what it is to be a woman in our culture. Justine and Juliette are erotic novels that recount the very different fortunes of two dissimilar sisters. They are beautiful (of course) and as such they are Goddesses, even while being defiled and defiling. Monroe and Madonna are metaphorical sisters in a man's world (and it was an infamous touch of video genius when Madonna acknowledged as much by doing Monroe in the video for “Material Girl” early on in her career). Yet one is a survivor and one isn't. One is living and one is long dead. Monroe is the Blonde Goddess as victim; Madonna is the Blonde Goddess as Villain. Monroe cast a shadow; Madonna has danced with the shadow. Both Marilyn and Madonna assumed a feminine masquerade so successful, so omnipotent, that they became not just Goddesses, desired by men, admired by women, and emulated by girls, but the most iconic and celebrated Blonde Goddesses of their age. It was, and in Madonna’s case still is, a highly sexualised masquerade that utilises and promotes itself as a commodity. Both women milked this masquerade to achieve notoriety and wealth in a world where women are disadvantaged in the public sphere. Some read this kind of exploitation of erotic desire as a mark of subjugation while others see it as a feminist act: a knowing usage of means toward a self-possessed end, but as Carter will help demonstrate, masquerade is, either way, an artificial construct and our enthusiasm for trading in it comes at a high price. Monroe, the sexy, fragile child-woman, was the firstborn of the sisters. Her star rose in the moralistic fifties, and by all accounts she spent most of her time in the limelight frustrated by her career and by the studio’s control of it. She was “owned”, and she rebelled against it, fleeing to New York City to study acting at the renowned Actors Studio. She became a devoted student of method acting, a technique that encourages actors to plumb their emotional depths and experiences, though her own psychological instability threatened her career. She was scandalously difficult to work with: chronically late, forgetful, and self-indulgent; and she died alone, intoxicated and naked. Conspiracy theories aside, it seems likely that a cocktail of mental disturbance, man trouble, and substance addiction led to her premature death by overdose in 1962. Monroe’s traditional take on blondeness and Goddessness embodied the purely feminine masquerade and translated to the classic Justine trajectory.Madonna can be thought of as Monroe’s post-modern younger sister, the next generation of Blonde Goddessness. Known for her self-determination, business savvy and self-control Madonna’s self-parody and decades long survival and triumph in a male dominated industry is remarkable. Perhaps this is where the sisters differ most: Madonna challenges the dominant semiotic code of traditional gender roles in that she combines her feminine masquerade with masculinity, witness the pointy cone bra worn with pinstripe trousers and monocle on the “Blonde Ambition” tour. Madonna is the new blonde — shrewder, more forceful, more man-like. She plays girly in her feminine masquerade, but she does so self-consciously, with a wink, as the second sister who has observed and learned the lesson of the first. In Carter’s exploration of the characters of Justine and Juliette she notes that when the orphaned girls are turned out of the convent to fend for themselves, Justine, the sister whose goodness and innocence is constantly met with the brutality and betrayal of men, "embarks on a dolorous pilgrimage in which each preferred sanctuary turns out to be a new prison and all the human relations offered her are a form of servitude" (39). During Monroe’s pilgrimage from foster care, to young wife, to teen model, to star she found herself trapped in an abusive studio system that could not nurture her and instead raped her over and over again in the sense that it thwarted her personal aspirations as an actor and her desire for creative autonomy by overpowering her with its demands. Monroe did not own her own life and sexuality so much as function as a site of objectification, a possession of the Tinsel Town suits. In her personal life she was endowed with the “feminine” trait of feeling; she was, like Justine, "the broken heart, the stabbed dove, the violated sepulcher, the persecuted maiden whose virginity is perpetually refreshed by rape” (Carter 49).In real life and in most of her characters Monroe was kind hearted, generous, caring and compassionate. It is this heart that Justine values most; whatever happens to the body, no matter how impure it becomes, the heart remains sacred. The victim with heart is morally superior to her masters. In a suffering that becomes second nature, "Justine marks the start of a kind of self-regarding female masochism, a woman with no place in the world, no status, the core of whose resistance has been eaten away by self-pity” (57).Conspiracy theories and rumors of Monroe's suffering and possible murder at the hands of the Kennedys (cast as evil Sadian masters) abound. Suicide attempts, drug dependency, and nervous breakdowns were the order of the day in her final years. The continuing fascination with Monroe lies in the fact that she was the archetypal sullied virgin. Feminine virtue and goodness require sexual innocence and purity. If Monroe’s innocence (a feature of films like Some Like it Hot) was too often confused with stupidity she made the most of it by cornering the market on bimbo roles (Gentleman Prefer Blondes is her ultimate dumb blonde performance). But even those who thought she couldn’t act realised that her appeal was potent because her innocence was infused with the potentiality of an uncontainable libidinous energy. Like Justine, Juliette was a woman born into a man's world, but in her corruption Juliette decided beat men at their own game, to transcend her destiny as woman at any cost. Carter says of Juliette: She is rationality personified and leaves no single cell of her brain unused. She will never obey the fallacious promptings of her heart. Her mind functions like a computer programmed to produce two results for herself — financial profit and libidinal gratification. (79)Indeed, it could be said that it is financial profit and libidinal gratification that most defines Madonna in the public’s eye. She is obscenely rich and often cited for her calculated re-inventions and assertive sexuality (which peaked in the early nineties with the album Erotica and the graphic Sex book). Madonna, like Juliette, is a story-teller. Even if she isn’t always the author of her songs she creates narrative interplay using song, fashion, and video. Like Juliette Madonna takes control of her destiny. She heads her own production company and is intimately involved with the details of her multi-faceted career. Like Monroe Madonna is said to have slept around strategically in her pre-stardom years, but unlike Monroe she was not passed around. The men in Madonna’s life early in her career were critical to advancing it. From Dan Gilroy, who helped form her first rock band, the Breakfast Club to DJ John "Jellybean" Benitez, who remixed tracks on her debut album Madonna took every step up the ladder of success guided by a precision instinct for self-preservation and promotion. She was not used up as she used others. Her trail leaves no sign of weakness, just one envelope-pushing accomplishment after another, with a few failures along the way, most notably in film. Though very different central to both Monroe and Madonna’s lives and careers is a mega-watt erotic appeal, an appeal that has everything to do with their respective differential repetitions of being blonde.In Eroticism Georges Bataille defines eroticism as the fusion of separate objects involving the play of discontinuity and continuity. In Bataille’s work these words have a specific and unconventional meaning. Discontinuity describes our individuality, our separateness from each other, a separateness that reigns in our social and work-a-day lives. Continuity refers to dissolution of separateness that is most associated with death but which is also experienced by way of exalted living through a taste of transcendence. Bataille posits three types of eroticism: physical, emotional and religious and he claims that they all “substitute for the individual isolated discontinuity a feeling of profound continuity” (15).Here Bataille meets De Sade. In the Introduction to Eroticism Bataille speaks of De Sade’s assertion that we come closest to death (continuity) through the “licentious image.” Further, Bataille declares that eroticism is not just an enthusiasm; it is the enthusiasm of humankind. “It seems to be assumed that man has his being independently of his passions,” he says. “I affirm, on the other hand, that we must never imagine existence except in terms of these passions” (12). He goes on to state that our enthusiasm/eroticism is not just an aspect of our being, but its driving force: “We are discontinuous beings, individuals who perish in isolation in the midst of an incomprehensible adventure, but we yearn for our lost continuity. We find the state of affairs that binds us to our random and ephemeral individuality hard to bear.” (15).Human beauty is, Bataille suggests, measured by its distance from the animal — the more ethereal (light and unearthly) the female shape and texture, and the less clear its relation to animal reality, the more beautiful — the erotic moment lies in profaning that beauty, reducing it to its animal essence. Perhaps this is another reason why blondeness matters and signifies sex, conferring as it does a halo, an ethereal “light” which evokes the sacredness of continuity while denying the animal (the hairy and base reality of the body). This is the invitation The Blonde Goddess makes to defilement, her begging to be reduced to her private parts. Juliette/Madonna subverts her blonde invitation to be profaned by actively taking part in the profanation. Madonna has openly embraced gay culture, S & M, exhibitionism, fetishism, role-play and religious symbolism placing herself centre stage at all times. Justine/Monroe attracted erotic victimisation while Juliette/Madonna refused it by sleight of hand, and here again De Sade can help make sense of this. The works that illustrate this difference between Justine/Monroe and Juliette/Madonna most clearly are The Misfits and Truth or Dare. The Misfits is a beautiful and delicate film, written by Monroe’s then husband, Arthur Miller. The role of Roslyn is rumored to be based on Monroe's own character and her relationship with its three metaphorically dying cowboys reveals an enchanting and pale Justine broken by the dysfunctional and dominating masculinity around her. In contrast, Truth or Dare is a self styled documentary of Madonna’s “Blonde Ambition” tour. It portrays Madonna striking a pose as the tough-talking Queen of the castle, calling the shots, with a bevy of play-thing pawns scuttling beneath her. But, opposite as these characterisations are, some sameness emanates from the two women in these works. Something haunts the screen and it is this: the sisters’ unavoidable cultural roots as women. Even as Madonna sucks on a bottle in faux fellatio, even as she simulates masturbation on stage or scolds her messy young dancers there is something melancholic about her, a vague relationship to Monroe. And here Carter helps solve the mystery: "She [Juliette] is just as her sister is, a description of a type of female behavior rather than a model of female behavior and her triumph is just as ambivalent as is Justine's disaster. Justine is the thesis, Juliette the antithesis” (79).In other words, in Carters’ view Justine/Monroe as heart personified maintains the traditional role of woman as body, as one belonging to the private sphere who pays dearly for entering public life, while Juliette/Madonna as reason personified infiltrates the male dominated territory of culture. Unlike Monroe, Madonna gets away with being a public figure, flourishes even, but as Carter’s Juliette, this victory has required her to betray herself in some way. It is “ambivalent” and Madonna doesn’t quite get off scot free. Madonna has been progressive in that she moved away from the traditional feminine role of body in a forbidding industry, but even though her lucrative maneuvering is more sophisticated than Monroe’s careening, she walks a fine line. In De Sade the sexuality of a libertine is a male identified desire in which women are objectified and exploited. Madonna’s trick is to manifest in feminine masquerade then take an ironic turn in objectifying and exploiting herself in what amounts to a split persona, half woman, half man. In other words she seduces herself under our gaze, and she dares to enjoy it. Ultimately, neither sister can escape the social structure into which she was born. Monroe, who was unable to live as a real woman, lives on as a legend, a Blonde Goddess in the eternal feminine masquerade. Madonna is reborn every time she re-invents herself but it’s hard to tell, with all the costume changing, who the real Madonna is. It was the unactualised real woman that the second wave tried to free by daring to suggest that she existed and was valuable beyond signification and Goddessness and that she had a right to her own experience of enthusiasm/eroticism rather than being relegated to the role of being the “licentious image” for the male gaze. The attack on the Blonde Goddess underestimated the deeply rooted psychic/emotional conditioning at play on both sides of the Blonde Goddess game. Here we are in a new millennium in which the ‘pornified’ Blonde Goddess is everywhere but even if she’s more unfettered and sexually active that deeply rooted conditioning remains. For Carter neither Justine nor Juliette is a worthy role model for the women of today and it would seem to follow that neither are Monroe nor Madonna. However, Carter does speak of “a future in which might lie the possibility of a synthesis of their modes of being, neither submissive nor aggressive, capable of both thought and feeling” (79). Blondeness as a signifier and Goddessness as a function inhibit an experience of shared enthusiasm and eroticism between men and women. When Bataille speaks of nakedness he means eroticism as the destruction of the self-contained character that gives rise to an experience of continuity. This kind of absolute nakedness is impossible for those trapped in the cycle of signification and functional relations. I suggest that the liberation project of the second wave of feminism stalled when in our desire to not be Justines we simply became more akin to Juliette. Blondeness as a signifier is still problematic, and Goddessness of the kind I have spoken of here — women’s attachment to using beauty to garner adoration in place of an innate sense of self and worth and men’s willingness to patronise it — is still rampant and both the Justine and Juliette feminine masquerades produce a false economy of enthusiasm and eroticism that denies the experience of authenticity and the true potential of relationship. The challenge now is one that most needs to be met not in the spotlight but in the privacy of our own beings and the forum of our lives as the struggle for synthesis continues in those of us, female and male, blonde, brunette, redhead, black or grey-haired, who long for an experience of ourselves and each other that transcends masquerade. ReferencesCarter, Angela. The Sadeian Woman. London: Virago Press, 1979.Bataille, Georges. Eroticism. London: Marion Boyars Publishers, 1987.Madonna. Erotica. Warner Bros, 1992.———. “Material Girl.” Like a Virgin. WEA/Warner Bros, 1984.——— and Steven Meisel. Sex. Warner Bros, 1992. The Misfits. Dir. John Huston.. MGM, 1961. Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wilder, Billy. MGM, 1959. Truth or Dare. Dir. Alek Keshishian. Live/Artisan, 1991.