Military Users Research Articles

Design and Development of Low-Profile Multi-Band Antenna Fed by SIW Cavity Resonator Using Twin Apertures

AbstractA novel design of compact, linearly polarized and low-profile planar antenna which is electrified by Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) resonator has been developed for multi-band applications of X-band spectrum. Radiating patch has been excited through two closely spaced longitudinal apertures of identical length but non-identical width, incorporated in SIW resonator. These apertures are responsible for multiple operating bands. The achieved fractional bandwidths are 1.29 %, 0.49 % and 1.60 % having resonant frequencies at 10.07 GHz, 10.85 GHz and 11.82 GHz respectively for |S11| ≤ -10 dB. The measured peak gain for first, second and third operating band is 6.54 dB, 6.86 dB and 7.68 dB respectively. The proposed antenna is a highly selective antenna for various applications of X-band microwave spectrum. This band has been particularly selected for military communication because it provides a trade-off between the characteristics (i. e. interference and rain resilience, data rates and remote coverage) of different frequency bands which are particularly suited to the needs of military users. It is very much suitable for secure communication i. e. to deny unauthorized access to sensitive unclassified information and prevent disruption of telecommunication. A comparative analysis of antenna’s parameters has been examined by Ansys HFSS and results are verified through experimental outcomes.

Deploying Portable Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to Military Users for the Identification of Toxic Chemical Agents in Theater.

The use of portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an important capability that has been available commercially for almost 25 years. These systems have been used within a variety of different industries, including their extensive use by environmental scientists for the analysis of hazardous air pollutants. Recently, these systems were deployed to conventional military forces for use in theater to detect and identify toxic chemicals including chemical warfare agents (CWAs). The challenges of deploying such complex analytical instruments to these military users are unique. Among other things, these organizations have considerable and variable mission strains, complex and difficult logistics and coordination needs, and variability in user backgrounds. This review outlines the value portable GC-MS systems offer to these warfighters in theater, discusses some important aspects of the design of portable systems that makes their deployment to this type of end user possible, and proposes methods that can be used to overcome challenges to successful deployment of portable GC-MS to non-scientists working within hostile environments.

Special Issue: Advancing Statistical Methods for Testing and Evaluating Defense Systems

The DoD acquires highly complex systems that must be tested and evaluated before they are fielded to military users and used in actual operations. The statistical challenges are vast. Analysis challenges include non-normal data, messy and missing data, functional outcomes, limited data, and data from various types of activities that needs to be combined into a single evaluation. Additionally, these tests are often expensive and are conducted on ranges with limited availability. The systems are operated by military users and their time is valuable and hard to acquire. For all of these reasons, every data point that is requested from a test is scrutinized and evaluated. The tools and methods of experimental design have proven very useful in this regard. The articles in this journal highlight a collection of recent research from the consortium. They show the breadth of research necessary. The articles included showcase advances in experimental design for multiple response variables and space filling designs for simulation experiments that allow for the estimation of second-order effects. Bayesian methods highlighted addressing challenges for multiphase reliability assessments, accelerated reliability growth testing, and profile monitoring for nonlinear profiles. Model validation is addressed through a case study showing the usefulness of wavelets. Unique analysis challenges and their links to experimental designs are addressed in articles on split-plot reliability experiments and D-optimal designs for logistic regression with separation. Finally, one article address practical sample size challenges for testers and answers the canonical question of “How much testing is enough?” A unique aspect of this special issue of the journal is that we included reviewers from both the statistical academic community and those practicing statistics in DoD. I am extremely grateful for their suggestions and reviews, which further improved this special issue. The result is a diversity of research that showcases the depth and breadth of statistical challenges faced in the Defense context. However, they will also provide useful for anyone who works with complex systems or emerging technologies.

An energy efficient IPv6 packet delivery scheme for industrial IoT over G.9959 protocol based Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)

Nowadays, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) achieves substantial attention in the research as well as the industrial area. WSN integrates with various protocols to give the variety of application-based services related to healthcare, habitat monitoring, smart city, military usage and disaster management etc. By providing different applications and services, it composites with the terms Internet-of-the things (IoT). However, when these measures are collaborated with the industrial revolution, it becomes Industrial Internet-of-the things (IIoT). In this way, it provides high scalability by the support of the large number of Internet users with the usage of IPv6 instead of IPv4. It is essential that the working modules and protocol to be energy efficient. The reason is, a lifetime of a deployed sensor is directly related to its draining short-term battery. By following, these point into account, various protocols are utilized and tested by IIoT based WSN. Although, these all do not give satisfactory performance in terms of the appropriate data rate to provide the high speed to run the various categories of applications and services in IIoT. Therefore in this paper, we select G.9959 protocol instead of IEEE 802.15.4 and compared the IPv6 packet delivery rate with respect to energy and latency. Furthermore, an analysis is performed to see the effect on energy when the bandwidth moderates. Further, extensive simulations were made, and related results showed that our proposed scheme has better performance compared with other schemes in our simulated scenarios.

LoRaWAN-technológia felhasználási lehetőségei a katonai alkalmazások tükrében

Thanks to today’s automation trends the machine to machine (M2M) technologies came into view. The characteristics of them they do not need any human intervention. The LoRaWAN technology is one of them, and it based on Chirp modulation. It is been able to organize the sensors to star topology network, and to cover wide areas. I research the application opportunities of LoRaWAN in the point of military usage. I explore the advantages and disadvantages of this technology in the point of military deploying. The research is supported by the UNKP-18-3-IV-NKE-27 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities.

Method for Assessment of MIlitary and Economic Efficiency of Combined Logistics System for Military Users Outside Russian Federation in Context of Emergency Response

Method for Assessment of MIlitary and Economic Efficiency of Combined Logistics System for Military Users Outside Russian Federation in Context of Emergency Response

Первые действующие псевдокосмические аппараты для военных и гражданских пользователей

Первые действующие псевдокосмические аппараты для военных и гражданских пользователей

Virtual prototyping of medieval weapons for historical reconstruction of siege scenarios starting from topography and archaeological investigations

Chronicles of sieges to castles or fortresses, using “machinae”, can often be found in historical sources. Moreover, archaeological excavations of castles or fortresses has brought to light rocks or projectiles whose carving suggests a military usage. Nevertheless, chronicles and discoveries alone, are seldom enough to propose a faithful reconstruction of these machines. Therefore, the aim of this research is the development of methodologies for reconstructing virtual scenarios of sieges, starting from the scarce information available. In order to achieve it, a procedure for the virtual reconstruction of the siege machine has been set up, focusing on typology and dimensions of the machines, also investigating possible fire positions according to topography. The entire procedure has been developed using the siege of Cervara di Roma’s Rocca as a case study. Late medieval chronicles (end of 13th Century) report the siege brought by the papal army in order to restore the jurisdiction on the Cervara’s stronghold, following the insurrection of a group of vassals headed by a monk named Pelagio. The discovery, in the area of the Rocca, of a stone that could have been used as a projectile confirms what reported. The proposed methodology is composed of two parts. The first one is connected to the study of the “internal ballistics”, to understand the performances and to build virtual models of siege machines. The second part is the study of the “external ballistics”, then to the positioning and shooting ability of possible machines, analysing the topography of the area. In this paper, we present the feasibility of this methodology through the preliminary results achieved correlating internal and external ballistics.

Thwarting Location Inference Attacks in Database-Driven Spectrum Sharing

The use of geolocation databases (GDBs) for enabling spectrum sharing has been mandated by the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S. TV band and the 3.5 GHz band, and it is very likely to be adopted for spectrum sharing in other bands as well. Although using GDBs is a practical approach for enabling spectrum sharing, it raises a potentially serious operational security problem, especially when some of the primary users (PUs) are federal government entities, including military users. In this paper, we show that malicious queries can readily infer the locations of PUs by making multiple queries to the database even if the database’s responses to queries do not directly reveal such information. To address this issue, we propose a perturbation-based optimal obfuscation strategy that can be implemented by the GDB to preserve the location privacy of PUs. The proposed obfuscation strategy is optimal in the sense that it maximizes PUs’ location privacy while ensuring that the expected degradation in the secondary users’ utility due to obfuscated responses does not exceed a threshold. Using results from extensive simulations, we demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed scheme in countering location inference attacks, including the inference strategy described in the paper.

Miniaturized Triple seven Shaped Microstrip patch Antenna for X band Satellite Communications

Objective: In digital world, the X band or Super High Frequency is widely used by military forces in Satellite Communication for beyond line of sight communications. X band is most preferable band for military users as antenna able to operate at frequency bands which is suitable for military user’s needs. Methods/Statistical Analysis: A Compact triple seven shaped microstrip patch antenna is considered. By employing two rectangular slots that can change the conventional rectangular slot into seven shaped patch, the antenna able to operate in single band in the X band satellite communication. However, in order to meet military radio spectrum the frequency range is specified at 8 to 12 GHz and wavelength range is about 3.75 to 2.5 cm. Findings: The proposed antenna consists of Rogers RT/duriod 5880 substrate material with the dimension of 50mm X 50mm and triple seven shaped radiating patch with microstrip feed line having the length and width of 0.8mm X 5mm. The compact triple seven shaped microstrip patch antenna resonates at the frequency of 11.4 GHz with -29.03dB return loss. The proposed antenna gain is 2.24dBi. The simulated results show that the proposed antenna operates with stable gain, good return loss, VSWR and consistent radiation efficiency. The good agreement is achieved and it is more suitable for X band applications. Application/Improvements: The applications of the X band are Radar communication, satellite Communication, wireless computer networks and military forces. Keywords: Entangled States, Separable States, Quantum Channels, Quantum Teleportation

A self-searching optimal ADRC for the pitch angle control of an underwater thermal glider in the vertical plane motion

An underwater thermal glider is efficient when it takes a stable zigzag-gliding in the vertical plane. To increase its endurance, improving the control and energy efficiency over the pitch angle adjustment is necessary. Firstly, the working and control principle of the thermal glider is given, and the mathematical motion model is built on this principle for a performance test. Secondly, based on the Tracking Differentiator and Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) theory, a self-searching optimal control method is proposed. With this method, the external disturbance can be compensated by adjusting the reference in advance, which makes the required control signal optimized and small. Finally, this method is used for the pitch-keeping control of the glider during the descent and ascent, or the posture transition control between the descent and ascent. The results show that the control system has a good steady and dynamic performance under a simulated ocean current and noise disturbance, as well as an adaptive effect. The control signal to keep and track the trajectory is much smaller. Thus, by assistantly adjusting the reference in advance, this method takes much less energy to resist the disturbance than by only changing the control output and adjusting the actuator with the ADRC or PID. Since the thermal glider carries a limited power, saving energy means an increased endurance. Theory is a guide before practice. This will have a great significance in the marine survey or military usage. Besides, the control algorithm is also simple. All these make it a better control strategy.

Presumed structural and functional neural recovery after long-term abstinence from cocaine in male military veterans

Cumulative evidence suggests that cocaine use could alter the structure and function of different brain systems. However, the extent to which the altered brain structure and function possibly recover over time after cocaine abstinence remains less clear. The present study examines 39 male military veterans with different stages of cocaine addiction and long-term abstinence (from 1 year up to 30 years) and evaluates plausible changes in brain structure and function of specific brain regions that sub-serve addictions. These include the striatum that is involved in cocaine reward; the lateral prefrontal cortex (especially the dorsolateral PFC) that plays a major role in inhibitory control; the insula, which has been implicated in craving; and the medial orbitofrontal (OFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) shown to play key roles in foresight and decision-making. The results suggest that there are differences in both brain structure (gray matter volume, GMV) and function between cocaine USERS and CONTROLS, with USERS showing plausible relative strengthening in neural systems for processing reward and craving, and relative weakening in neural systems involved in inhibitory control and decision-making. Examination of possible neural changes after abstinence suggests that presumed recovery occurs mostly in neural systems related to reward, craving, and inhibitory control, but to a lesser extent in neural systems related to decision-making. Given the limitations of the data in terms of a small sample size, as well as the lack of certainty about occasional use in the abstinent group, these results may be considered as preliminary. However, they are compelling in that they suggest that male military veterans cocaine USERS are indefinitely at a higher risk compared to CONTROLS for making lapses in judgment and decision-making leading to possible relapse, if reward salience and craving become more intense. Understanding the neurobiology of long-term cocaine abstinence in vulnerable populations and beyond could help devising better therapeutic strategies that prevent relapse.

The Incentive Mechanism Coordination Model of the Military Enterprises-Led Supply Chain

Because of the inconsistent objectives of decision-makers and asymmetric information, the efforts and enthusiasm of the military supply chain members will not only affect their own benefits, but also produce adverse selection and moral hazard problems, and even affect the supply chain stable operation. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a reasonable and effective coordination rules and procedures, namely the incentive mechanism, in order to achieve the goal of supply chain system to meet the needs of military users. To stimulate the motivation and enthusiasm of each the supply chain member, and the military supply chain overall revenue also achieve the maximization, The paper applies the incentive mechanism design & game theory, designs a transfer payment incentive mechanism model between the supply chain channel members according to the order quantity size, tries to change the expected profit objective function of the incented object, makes them to choose the optimal effort level coincided with the military supply chain total expected revenue, establishes a long-term cooperative partnership each other based on mutual trust and information sharing, gives full play to their respective advantages, achieves the supply chain collaboration efficiency improved purpose, and ultimately realizes the goal to improve the military logistic support capability. This study method mainly refers to the use of certain means to regulate economic interests to stimulate and restrain the decision-making behavior of military enterprises and warehouses, enhance and mobilize their motivation and enthusiasm. The study conclusion has important reference value to improve the coordination level of army and local and the military logistic support effectiveness.

The Prams of the Southern Russian Military Fleet of the XVIII century (History of Creation and Military Usage of the «Floating Boxes»)

The Prams of the Southern Russian Military Fleet of the XVIII century (History of Creation and Military Usage of the «Floating Boxes»)

Looking inside

looking inside

Traffic density monitoring using passive radars

Today the main applications of ground based passive coherent location (PCL) systems are in the domain of air traffic surveillance–air target detection, tracking, and localization. Interest in using PCL radars in these applications is expressed primarily by military users, mainly because of the great advantages of silent and covert operation that passive radars provide. In this regard, passive radars benefit from the fact that they operate by using emissions already present (e.g. FM radio, DAB, DVB-T, GSM, Wi-Fi, etc.) rather than their own. Other advantages of passive radars relate to the possibilities of stealth target detection and gap filling in areas not covered by active radars. Another huge advantage of the passive radar lies in the fact that there is no need for requirements for spectrum allocation or powerful transmitters. Consequently, as the aforementioned points make passive radars great representatives of “green” technology, one can install them in “sanctuaries”–specific or specialized places such as high-density urban areas, sites located in the vicinities of hospitals, and/or other places where electromagnetic emissions are limited by law because of the risk of interference or simply through the public's fear of electromagnetic fields. Also, it is worth mentioning that PCL systems can be cheaper than active ones as the passive radar does not have its own transmitter and typically consists of a simple radio receiver with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, and uses a commercially available PC as a computation.

Toward a Single European Sky

To meet rising traffic projections over the next 20 years, Eurocontrol must develop Europe's first uniform air traffic control standards. This case illustrates the usefulness of management science methods for obtaining agreement and commitment among stakeholders. Excerpt UVA-QA-0736 March 26, 2010 Toward a Single European Sky On the journey toward an integrated air traffic management system in Europe by 2020, the key date was January 24, 2007. On that day, the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program held a stakeholder forum in Geneva to encourage the entire air transport community to commit to performance targets for future European air traffic management (ATM) systems. For the first time in European air traffic management history, the SESAR consortium brought together all major stakeholders in European aviation, including airspace users, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airport operators, safety regulators, military organizations, and research centers. In all, the forum comprised 76 people representing 30 stakeholder groups. Eurocontrol The primary objective of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic management (ATM) organization, was the development of a seamless, pan-European ATM system. Eurocontrol developed, coordinated, and planned the implementation of European ATM strategies and their associated operational plans in collaboration with national authorities, air navigation service providers (ANSP), civil and military airspace users, airports, manufacturers, professional organizations, and relevant European institutions. Eurocontrol's core activities spanned the entire range of gate-to-gate air navigation service operations, from strategic and tactical-flow management to controller training, from regional control of airspace to the development of leading-edge technologies and procedures. In 2007, Eurocontrol had 38 member states and was headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The agency had approximately 2,400 staff located in seven European countries and reported to the transport and defense ministers in the European Commission. . . .

The Role of R&D in an Acquisition Program

The U.S. Army has a poor reputation for bringing new ground vehicles from the Science and Technology (S&T) phase to deployment. However, a counterexample is the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), which successfully passed through the acquisition gauntlet. The Research and Development (R&D) forerunner to the JLTV was the Future Tactical Truck System (FTTS) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) that was initiated with TARDEC serving in the role of Technology Developer. Two utility variant prototypes were built as part of that program and were evaluated in a Military User Assessment in 2007. PM JLTV was stood up in 2006 and adopted technologies and personnel from the FTTS program. Both the organizational construct and the use of prototypes early on in the vehicle development cycle are considered key successes of the JLTV program, particularly the close collaboration of the PM with other groups including the OSD, TRADOC, and ASA(ALT) as well as their counterparts in the USMC. This paper documents the important role of R&D in the acquisition process.

GPS-Dependent Systems: Vulnerabilities to Electromagnetic Attacks

The GPS is a satellite navigation system that provides location and time information. Such a system currently supports critical applications for military, civil and commercial users worldwide and is accessible to any operator by using a single GPS receiver. However, although being too dependent on GPS signals, just a few of these applications present some kind of countermeasure to electromagnetic attacks, showing a high level of vulnerability to intentional attacks. In this paper, we pose questions and situations related to security and vulnerability of different kinds of platforms/vectors and systems which directly afflict the situational awareness of operators. Experiments were made with different general GPS receivers as a function of distance and incidence angle,showing that they fail to work even at low jamming powers (−25 and 0 dBm at 10 m). More complex GPS systems, such as aeronautical receivers, were also tested, losing completely the tracking at −30 dBm, when a 0° (levelled) and 10 m far electromagnetic jamming signal is incident on its antenna. A specific open source, free software (JammPy) allows extending these experimental results, providing a roadmap and estimating how much jamming power is necessary to cause damage to these systems.

Assessing the Dengue Diagnosis Capability Gap in the Military Health System

Dengue, one of the most widespread infectious diseases, has affected U.S. military readiness throughout history. We explored the dengue diagnosis capability gap by circulating a questionnaire among military end users to determine in what capacity diagnostic test results are needed and how these results would be used at various roles of care in the Military Health System. Results were used to generate target product profiles for potential diagnostic tests. We determined that at far-forward locations, diagnostic tests need to be rugged and easy to use and are primarily needed to inform medical evacuation decisions. In mobile or fixed hospitals, diagnostics can be less portable but must be accurate enough to inform patient care decisions reliably. We then evaluated the suitability of using rapid diagnostic tests and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays based on published performance characteristics, and we used a model to determine positive and negative predictive values in certain simulated deployments. In far-forward settings, a rapid diagnostic test comprising both antigen- and antibody-based detection can fulfill the capability gap with reasonable accuracy, whereas at higher roles of care immunoglobulin M-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was determined to be the most suitable option.