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Lockheed Martin buys helicopter maker Sikorsky
Don't look now, but Lockheed Martin just became an even larger aerospace powerhouse. The aircraft maker has acquired helicopter maker Sikorsky (best known for the UH-60 Blackhawk) for $9 billion. The two have already been partners on programs like the MH-60, but this gives Lockheed its very own rotary-wing team. If a customer wants something that flies, the company will have it covered. The buyout is poised to close by late 2015 or early 2016, provided everything goes smoothly.
GPS gets a satellite launch for its 20th birthday
GPS was declared fully operational two decades ago, and what better way to celebrate your 20th birthday than with a rockin' party satellite launch. The US Air Force's Space Command (probably) toasted with military-grade champagne after firing a shiny new GPS satellite into orbit on an Atlas V rocket from Florida. GPS IIF-10 is the seventieth piece of navigation hardware that's been sent into space as part of the program that's been running sine 1978 and has been available for everyone to use since 1995.
The NSA wants to identify phone users by their finger swipes
For the National Security Agency, the fingerprint reader on your smartphone just isn't secure enough. Lockheed Martin has confirmed to Nextgov that the intelligence outfit is testing Mandrake, an identification system that verifies who you are based on the way you swipe your finger across the screen. The technology measures not only the shape of your movements, but the acceleration and speed. It can tell whether you draw in broad, fast strokes or tend to be cautious. Lockheed doesn't know whether or not the NSA is deploying Mandrake in the field, but it wouldn't be shocking. Given that it's possible to fake fingerprints, gesture-based authentication may the best way of proving that the right person really is present.
US Navy fighter jets will carry an autonomous anti-ship missile
The US Navy may have a robotic ace in the hole when it fights enemy warships in the future. It's planning to put Lockheed Martin's autonomous LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) on the F/A-18 Super Hornet by 2019, giving jet fighters a weapon that tracks and wipes out targets mostly or entirely on its own. Most of the missile's details are secret, but it's smart enough to dodge obstacles on the way to vessels as far as 200 nautical miles out -- and that's the unclassified range, which suggests that it's more capable in practice. There are also versions of LRASM in the works that will launch from ships, submarines and other aircraft, so this intelligent projectile could soon be a mainstay of the US military.
Unmanned cargo chopper shows off its search-and-rescue talents
For three years between 2011 and 2014, the unmanned Kamen K-Max 1200 helicopter delivered more than 4.5 million tons of supplies to the most dangerous and far-flung US Forward Operating Bases throughout Afghanistan. It followed that feat up in 2014 by demonstrating its ability to coordinate with other UAVs in forest fire suppression operations. And in March of this year, the semi-autonomous helicopter once again proved that it can integrate operations with land-based drones to locate, identify and evacuate people stranded in desolate areas -- all without putting more lives at risk.
F-35 pilots are seeing double, but it's the plane that's drunk
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be stealthy, powerful and expensive, but the plane's greatest threat isn't the enemy. Instead, engineers have discovered a software glitch that gives these new super fighters the technological equivalent of double vision. F-35s are equipped with Advanced Sensor Fusion, a system that's designed to collate sensor data from all of the planes and combine them into one big picture. If you have 10 jets zooming around, all of the allied pilots and commanders will, theoretically, be able to see everything that's going on.
Lockheed Martin's laser can stop a truck from over a mile away
Lasers have staggering range, can attack land or air-based targets and are dirt-cheap to fire, making them ideal for a military with one eye on the budget. Now, Lockheed Martin has worked out that the technology could also be used for stopping a car without resorting to lethal force. The company has been testing out a new fiber-optic laser, called ATHENA, which was able to burn through the engine manifold of a truck that was over a mile away.
You can buy Lockheed Martin's experimental cruiser for just $180,000
Ladies and Gentlemen, Pacific Coast Yachts is delighted to offer you an exclusive opportunity to purchase a unique piece of maritime history for a rock-bottom price. After being pressed into service in 1996, Lockheed Martin's experimental naval vessel, the Sea Slice, is now being offered into private hands. Yes, it may look like a catamaran, folks, but this craft actually uses Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull technology, where the ballast is kept beneath the water for enhanced stability. In fact, friends, the Sea Slice is significantly more stable than other vessels of its size, making it perfect for entertaining guests on deck.
NASA's Orion capsule begins its 3,600-mile journey into outer space
NASA's Orion capsule has blasted off on the farthest journey into space anyone has ever attempted since the last Apollo moon mission. In fact, a Delta IV rocket will propel it to an altitude of 3,600 miles, roughly 14 times that of the International Space Station's -- and for good reason. NASA and Lockheed, which has been building the vessel for years, are betting on it to become the space agency's go-to vehicle for manned, deep-space missions. Thus, the capsule needs to undergo rigorous testing in the right conditions in order to ensure the safety of the astronauts it'll ferry to the moon, and even Mars. Update: We've embedded NASA's replay video of Orion's successful launch below. The main engines will fire again at around 8:50 AM (EST) to boost Orion to 3,600 miles.
Watch an unmanned helicopter put out fires with help from a drone
Fighting wildfires is sometimes a daunting prospect with manned aircraft; pilots can't always fly around the clock or cover every patch of land. They won't have to if Lockheed Martin's efforts pan out. It recently demonstrated a tweaked version of its unmanned K-MAX helicopter that can work in tandem with a quadrotor drone, Indago, to stamp out fires with relatively little human intervention. As you'll see in the clip below, Indago serves as a forward scout that marks any hotspots. After that, K-MAX swoops in with a bucket to douse the flames. It fetches more water on its own, too.
Lockheed Martin's 360-degree laser turret gets cleared for take-off
Lockheed Martin has an affinity for lasers -- that much is apparent. Not satisfied with simply having ground-based energy weapons, though, the outfit has recently tested its airplane-mounted death ray over the skies of America's High Five, Michigan. The Aero-optic Beam Control (or ABC, as its friends are fond of saying) was recently run through its paces to prove airworthiness, among other things. The kicker here is that the laser can rotate 360 degrees and eliminate targets from basically any direction. Yeah. Lockheed says that the turret's been designed to engage bogies at basically any position and there's tech in place to counterbalance any turbulence caused by the protruding sphere (pictured above). The trials aren't done just yet however, and they'll only increase in complexity to further prove the system's military-aircraft mettle as time wears on. So, you know, enjoy hiding out in your secret lair while it lasts.
NASA's massive Space Launch System rocket takes off in 2018
Upstarts like SpaceX might get most of the attention, but let's not forget that NASA -- you know, the folks who actually put 12 guys on the moon -- isn't done pushing to explore the heavens just yet. Case in point: the agency is working on a whopper of a rocket called (unimaginatively enough) the Space Launch System that'll eventually propel a manned Orion capsule in Mars' direction, and officials just green-lit that massive booster for development. The formulation phase is over folks, time to build this crazy thing. There is, however, a downside. You see, the SLS was originally slated to make its first official test flight with an uncrewed Orion capsule in December 2017, but it's looking at this point like that inaugural launch will actually take place nearly a year later. Yeah, we can hardly wait either, but it was going to be a long while before all the development and infrastructure fell into place anyway -- NASA associate administrator Robert Lightfoot reaffirmed in a statement that we won't be flinging humans at the red planet until the 2030s. Think you can beat that, Mr. Musk?
Lockheed Martin to track space junk from the Australian Outback
In the movie Gravity, masses upon masses of floating debris hurtled through space at alarming speeds and collided with the heroine's space shuttle, killing her crew. Space junk isn't just something made up for the movies, though -- it's a real issue that's costing space agencies a whole lotta money. As such, Lockheed Martin has teamed up with Australian company Electro Optic Systems to build a space object tracking facility in western Australia, which the latter has been planning for years. While the U.S. Air Force's debris-tracking Space Fence (also developed by Lockheed Martin) uses radar systems, this one will use an optical technology like those found in telescopes to zoom in on objects, and lasers to calculate their speed and distance from Earth.
Lockheed Martin's FORTIS exoskeleton helps US Navy with heavy lifting
While it may not be a full suit of high-tech gadgetry like Iron Man dons, the US Navy is set to test exoskeletons from Lockheed Martin. In the first contract to employs the company's strength-boosting garb for industrial use, two FORTIS exoskeletons will help carry heavy loads for the trial period. The lightweight unpowered option lends endurance by using the ground to help bear the mass. During the testing phase, the company hopes to further develop the tech for use at Navy shipyards where a smattering of heavy tools are needed for maintenance. "By wearing the FORTIS exoskeleton, operators can hold the weight of those heavy tools for extended periods of time with reduced fatigue," said Adam Mill, director of new initiatives at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
First satellite with high-resolution public imaging launches on August 13th
If you've been wondering just when a company would take advantage of the US' relaxed rules for accurate satellite imaging, you now have a date to mark on your calendar: Lockheed Martin has set the launch of DigitalGlobe's high-resolution WorldView-3 satellite for August 13th. You won't see results from it right away, but its creators can start selling extra-sharp pictures (with detail down to the 10-inch level) six months after the craft is up and running. The data should lead to much nicer imagery in online mapping services from companies like Google and Microsoft (both of which are DigitalGlobe customers), although it's not just cosmetic. Higher-res photos will help track large farms, spot mineral deposits and otherwise deliver a clearer view of our planet that has previously been limited to the government -- don't be surprised if it's easier to spot landmarks on a map without using markers.
US claims Chinese exec used hackers to steal warplane data
The US isn't done throwing the book at alleged Chinese industrial spies. The Department of Justice has charged a Chinese executive living in Canada, Su Bin, with stealing sensitive info for Boeing and Lockheed Martin warplanes like the C-17 cargo hauler and F-22 fighter. Reportedly, Su partnered with two people to hack into the aircraft makers' networks and either pass along or sell any secrets to interested parties in China. Unlike other targets of the DOJ's wrath, though, it appears that Su was more concerned about profit than helping any government intelligence efforts. While he was handing over data to state-owned aviation firms, he complained of "stingy" buyers and was willing to take a long time to hash out a deal -- not exactly the hallmarks of a government-backed spy.
Meet NASA's commercial space capsule contenders
Sure, the Dragon V2 is the latest (and greatest) spacecraft from SpaceX, but it's not the only capsule that may one day schlep astronauts to the International Space Station. In fact, Elon Musk's firm is just one of three private outfits currently competing in a NASA program for commercial launches with their own vehicles. We've surveyed the space capsule landscape and have whipped up a primer on the future crafts that may wind up taking humans to space.
Watch Lockheed Martin's laser weapon take down boats from a mile away
It's good that Lockheed Martin's ADAM laser can shoot down drones and rockets, but there are threats much closer to Earth -- say, small boat crews bent on destroying large warships. Never fear, though, as we now know that ADAM can take care of those targets as well. Lockheed has successfully wielded the weapon against small boats, burning holes through their rubber hulls from a full mile away. The laser's automatic infrared tracking makes targeting a piece of cake. Even with the pitching of the waves, it's easy to aim at a specific point on a vessel.
Mars One to send unmanned probe to Mars, broadcast mission live on earth in 2018
Sending humans to Mars is a multi-step process, and today, the Mars One project -- you know, the folks who aim to colonize the Red Planet and fund the mission, in part, by televising the whole thing -- has outlined its plans for a preliminary mission to check things out before shooting folks into space. It's partnered up with long time aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin and European satellite firm SSTL to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2018. Lockheed will provide a mission concept study to update its Phoenix lander that went to the fourth rock from the sun back in 2008, while SSTL is going to figure out how to build a communications relay satellite system capable of sending live broadcasts of the probe's doings back to earth. The lander will be equipped to test out technologies needed to make human settlement possible, but part of its mission is currently undefined. You see, Mars One is going to hold a contest next year, soliciting ideas from university and school-age students as to what types of other activities the probe should perform. Additionally, the plan is for the public to help direct the lander, too -- those who back the Mars One project on Indiegogo will get to vote on some mission decisions down the line. Oh, and if you were planning to be among the first wave of settlers when the manned missions start, you'll have to wait an extra two years, as that launch date's been pushed back to 2025.
Visualized: F-35B fighter's vertical landing, in the dark (video)
The jury's still out on Lockheed Martin's F-35B fighter. The aircraft is expected to cost the US more than $1.5 trillion over its lifetime, and it's been described as being too heavy and too sluggish -- one critic has gone so far as to call the jet a "dog." One thing's for sure, though: the F-35 looks mighty impressive, especially when it's landing vertically on an aircraft carrier. In the dark. Click past the break for a look at Lockheed's trillion-dollar light show, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
