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USC finds that D-Wave's quantum computer is real, maybe
D-Wave has had little trouble lining up customers for its quantum computer, but questions have persisted as to whether or not the machine is performing quantum math in the first place. University of Southern California researchers have tested Lockheed Martin's unit to help settle that debate, and they believe that D-Wave's computer could be the real deal -- or rather, that it isn't obviously cheating. They've shown that the system isn't based on simulated annealing, which relies on traditional physics for number crunching. The device is at least "consistent" with true quantum annealing, although there's no proof that this is what's going on; it may be using other shortcuts. Whether or not D-Wave built a full-fledged quantum computer, the resulting output is credible enough that customers won't feel much in the way of buyer's remorse.
Lockheed Martin wraps up functional testing of next-gen GPS III satellite systems
Lockheed Martin flipped the switch on its first (still Earth-bound) GPS III satellite earlier this year, and it's now announced that it's completed functional testing on the satellite's key electronic systems. In a press release, the company says those systems, ranging from navigation and control to communications, are all "functioning normally and ready for final integration with the satellite's navigation payload," and that the satellite remains on track for deliverly to the Air Force in 2014. As previously detailed, the satellites themselves are promising to deliver a range of improvements over current GPS technology to civilian and military users alike, including three times greater accuracy and an eight-fold increase in anti-jamming capabilities, which Lockheed Martin says is designed to "outpace growing global threats that could disrupt GPS service."
Production F-35B performs first vertical takeoff, won't do it often (video)
For the first time ever, a production-grade Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II has performed a vertical takeoff (VTO) maneuver, followed by a short hover at low altitude and vertical landing. Though the US Marines had required such a function from the outset of the program (which has already been performed by prototype F-35Bs) it can only be used for very short jaunts. That's because the $300 million jet, like the Harrier before it, can't carry any armaments or much fuel in such a configuration -- meaning almost all of its takeoff and landings will be of the non-vertical, short variety instead. Meanwhile, the Air Force said it'll deploy the F-35A variant a year earlier than predicted in mid-2016, according to Reuters, giving the much beleaguered program a double-shot of good news. Head after the break to catch the rather dramatic video.
Lockheed Martin's ADAM laser blasts enemy rockets with its HEL beam
Enemy rockets go up. ADAM makes'em go down... safely and in a grand explosion of fire. That's the name of Lockheed Martin's Area Defense Anti-Munitions system, or badass laser for short (to us, anyway), created to intercept and "negate" airborne rockets and drones. The aerospace company's been testing its portable, prototype system -- built with off-the-shelf parts -- since last summer, successfully proving ADAM's capability in detecting aerial threats at a distance of 5km or more and then obliterating those targets with its finely trained laser, or HEL beam (no, really), once they're within a 2km range. But why waste time with words when the the company's own slo-mo video paints a more vivid, shock and awe-some picture. Check it out after the break.
Lockheed Martin's technology hub brings startups closer to government needs
Wondering who would be the first to concoct a Kickstarter for governmental wishes? We suppose it's Lockheed Martin. Today, the aforementioned outfit has launched an initiative "aimed at expanding its collaboration with Silicon Valley companies to meet the diverse technology needs of the federal government." Called the Lockheed Martin Silicon Valley Alliance, the hub will reportedly "provide the federal government with greater visibility into innovative technology solutions developed locally," even going so far as to suggest that a game developer could use their resources in order to improve the realism of a military simulation system. It sounds as if Lockheed will end up being the middleman between aspiring companies and entities like the Department of Defense and NASA, essentially ensuring that whatever is built meets federal requirements. Those interested in venturing down such a rabbit hole can give the source link a look, but as always, we'd caution you to register at your own risk.
Operational F-35B fighter jet's first vertical landing was years, billions in the making (video)
Lockheed Martin's F-35 program has been a political whipping boy seemingly forever, but a production VTOL 'B'-variant of the pricey supersonic jet finally did what it was made for: a vertical landing. That happened nearly three years to the day after the estimated $304 million (each!) jet's first mid-air hover test, at which point the Pentagon pegged the cost at $83 million. Inflation aside, the US Marine's variant seemed to make a fine, if solid three point landing and Lockheed Martin says it's made considerable strides in the flight testing program over the last couple of years, despite all the overruns and delays. Hopefully that means the US Marines, Britain's Royal Air Force et. al. will be able to deploy that capability on their F-35B's soon -- ie, before they're already obsolete. Check the video after the break. Update: As commenter daveschroeder pointed out, this is the first vertical landing of a production version of the F-35B. Test copies of the fighter (with test pilots aboard) have been performing the feat since late 2011, so we've tweaked the article to make that point clear.
Lockheed Martin powers up its first GPS III satellite, stays on track for 2014
It's been awhile since we heard much about Lockheed Martin's GPS III satellite family beyond mention of an early prototype. The next-gen positioning system just took a big step forward with word that the company has successfully powered up the first production craft of the bunch, Space Vehicle One. Flicking the switch clears it for testing and keeps the GPS III program's 2014 launch window within view. More importantly, the activation takes us one step closer to improved GPS accuracy for civilians and soldiers alike.
NASA and Lockheed Martin finish MAVEN probe, hope to study Mars' upper skies
Us humans are surprisingly familiar with Mars' surface, yet we haven't studied its higher altitudes -- an odd discrepancy when the sky plays as much of a role as the soil in determining the planet's climate. We'll get a better balance in our research now that NASA and Lockheed Martin have finished constructing the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution probe, or MAVEN. The robot craft will learn how quickly the Martian atmosphere is escaping into space and give us a better idea of how the planet's arid landscape came to be. Lockheed Martin still needs to conduct space simulation tests and ship MAVEN to the Kennedy Space Center, but the ship should launch in November and deliver results roughly a year later; that's a quick turnaround for a probe that could answer riddles spanning millions of years.
What's Past is Prologue: a look inside the future of Lockheed Martin
I receive a terse invite from Lockheed Martin that asks me to take a "glimpse into the future," but it doesn't mention whose future it is. I could write about what I know of the American defense contractor on the back of a postage stamp, but a cursory Google search fills in some of the blanks. The company reportedly receives around 7 percent of the US military budget on its own - and with that, my imagination runs rampant about what I'm likely to see. Dreaming of playing with laser pistols, intelligent cyborgs and giant robots, I tell them I'm coming. A few days later, I turn up at the Honourable Artillery Company in London's glitzy financial district, a miniature castle that's dwarfed by the gleaming skyscrapers that surround it. In a way, the landscape is telling, since the occupants of those buildings can shoulder some of the blame for the current financial crisis - while across the street, Lockheed Martin is preparing its cost-cutting response. Two hulking vehicles guard the entrance off a small courtyard, and through a window I see a plush room full of red velvet and leather, stuffed with computers and pensive, well-dressed operators. I wonder if I'm being vetted as I amble inside, my now-sodden socks and matted hair marking me out as unthreatening -- just as long as I promise not to get out my camera. As I'm ushered inside and the tour begins, I'm expecting to see jetpacks and robots, but the reality is much different. Not even this industry is immune to the world's financial problems, and my tour would reveal that its future lies decidedly in our past.
AMD, Intel and RSA team up, form the Cyber Security Research Alliance
Sure, it's not the first elite cybercrime-fighting team we've heard of, it's also not everyday you hear the likes of Intel, Lockheed Martin and AMD buddying up on research. The companies are looking to address the "complex problems" in cyber security, with the private, non-profit group (which also includes Honeywell and RSA/EMC) aiming to work somewhere between government-funded security research and commercial products already out there. The Cyber Security Research Alliance is already in talks with NIST, and plans to launch a security research symposium early next year. The CSRA will also start tracking cyber security R&D, "prioritize" those aforementioned challenges, and hopefully come together for the greater good.
NASA completes successful parachute drop simulation for Orion spacecraft
NASA has always used the desert as its own personal playground, and we'd imagine that its team had a blast in Arizona yesterday, as a mock parachute compartment of the Orion spacecraft was dropped from 25,000 feet above Earth. The dart-shaped object experienced free fall for 5,000 feet, at which point, drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet. This was then followed by pilot chutes, which then activated the main chutes. As you'd imagine, these things are monsters: the main parachutes -- three in all -- each measure 116 feet wide and weigh more than 300 pounds. Better yet, the mission was successful. Naturally, all of this is in preparation for Orion's first test flight -- currently scheduled for 2014 -- where the unmanned craft will travel 15 times further than the ISS and jam through space at 20,000 mph before returning to Earth. Yesterday's outing is merely one in a series of drop tests, and yes, it's important to remove any unknowns from the situation: eventually, humans will be along for the ride.
Lockheed Martin Stalker drone stays airborne 48 hours using laser power, all-seeing eye gets literal (video)
Aerial drone designers have been pushing hard to get devices that can stay airborne for days. After all, what's the point of having an observer that routinely lets its guard down? Lockheed Martin must have this question forever etched in its collective mind, as it just completed tests of a modified Stalker drone that was continually charged by laser power beamed from a ground-based source. The LaserMotive-built test was admittedly conducted in a wind tunnel, not a wind-swept battlefield, but it kept the drone aloft for more than 48 hours and was so efficient that it might even have gone indefinitely, if it weren't for staff intentionally bringing the trial to a halt. The true test is coming next, when Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive fly the drone on laser power outdoors. Should the Stalker sail the friendly skies for long enough, it could help usher in an era of UAVs that can spot intruders at all hours -- a little too close to the aircraft's name for comfort, perhaps, but potentially vital for Special Operations troops that might not have to put themselves in danger. You can check the underpinnings of both the laser power system and the Stalker in videos after the break.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter cockpit demonstrator hands-on (video)
We spend hundreds of hours on board a variety of airplanes each year, most often en-route to a trade show or product launch event, but occasionally we have a rare opportunity to hop on board military aircraft, to test out unrelated products, or, even more unusually, to take a seat behind the yoke. Sadly that's not what we're doing today -- well, not exactly. We are taking a closer look at the F-35 fighter jet at Lockheed Martin's Fighter Demonstration Center just outside our nation's capital, but, being in the middle of a corporate complex, there's no actual Lightning II on hand. We were able to take a simulated ride, however -- this isn't your ordinary 4D sickness-inducing amusement park thrill. The F-35 is by far the most advanced Lockheed jet to date, with updated radar, all-internal weapons, improved tracking systems, 360-degree infrared coverage with a visor readout, and a full-stealth design, not to mention the incredibly capable glass cockpit powered by more than 9.3 million lines of software code, and an overall smoother experience for pilots that could end up spending shifts of 12 hours or longer in flight. The F-35 has already seen plenty of field time in the US, with more than 500 flights already in 2012, and it's set to make its way to the UK armed forces next week and the Netherlands later this year, but while the aircraft is quite familiar to the pilots tasked with flying it, the public hasn't had an opportunity to experience Lockheed's latest airborne warrior. We flew a simulated mission within a grounded duplicate of the flyable F-35 cockpit, and the capabilities and improvements are quite clear -- you definitely don't want to encounter an F-35 from a previous-generation aircraft. The dual 8 x 10-inch touch-enabled displays combine to give you 8 x 20 inches of real estate, with dedicated modules for the weapons systems, targeting, and navigation easily accessible -- you can also move them to different panels depending on your current objective. A pair of joysticks at the left and right side provide direct access, letting you move a cursor to track enemy crafts or ground-based targets as well, and a very slick heads-up-display mounted in the helmet provides infrared mapping and instrument readouts. Overall, it seems to be an incredibly powerful system. Unfortunately, the mock-up on display here isn't accessible to the public, but you can join us for a behind-the-scenes look just after the break.%Gallery-160208%
Report: Orion test flight pushed back to 2014, manned flight delayed until 2021
Even something as exhaustively planned as the test-flight of the Orion spacecraft isn't immune to a slipping timeline. It's reportedly been pushed back from next year to 2014 -- when we're expecting to see the capsule launch from Cape Canaveral, loop around the planet twice at 3,700 miles (the furthest any spacecraft has journeyed since the '70s) before splashing down in the Pacific. This unmanned test was designed to see if the vehicle's heat-shield, flight-software and parachutes all work before lives are risked on board. It's also signified a pushing back of the first launch from 2016 until 2021. This means there's nine more years before someone calls us up as a crew replacement -- at least that's how our dream goes.
NASA's GRAIL spacecrafts enter Moon's orbit, set to map its gravitational field in March
Way back in September, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent a duo of Lockheed Martin-produced spacecraft toward one of its favorite test subjects, the Moon, as a part of its GRAIL mission -- Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory. Now, nearly four months later, the administration has announced that the GRAIL-A and -B twin crafts have planted themselves within our Moon's orbit. According to NASA, they're currently in "a near-polar, elliptical orbit with an orbital period of approximately 11.5 hours," and it plans to execute more "burn maneuvers" in the coming weeks to shorten that time frame to less than two. By March, the research crafts will be positioned in a "near-polar, near-circular orbit" 34 miles above its surface, at which point they'll begin surveying its gravitational pull, by using radio signals to determine the distance between both units. With this information, NASA hopes to better understand how gravity works, both above and below the Moon's surface, by detailing the findings in a high-resolution map. NASA also says that scientists can utilize it to get further insight into how our planets formed. Notably, both spacecraft feature a MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students), that will allow students request pictures of specific areas the lunar surface for later study. Best of all, using NASA's "Eyes on the Solar System" web app, you'll be able to follow the paths of both spaceships in detail. You'll find full details about the GRAIL mission at the source links below.
Next-generation GPS satellite inches closer to space, countdown begins to 2014
Kvetching about your PND's inability to get a proper lock could soon become a thing of the past, thanks in large part to a fresh breed of GPS satellites designed by the whiz-kids at Lockheed Martin. The program -- which is estimated to eventually cost around $5.5 billion to complete -- is set to hit its prototype phase by 2014, with a pathfinder being recently delivered to the same Colorado facility that we toured earlier this month. The Block III prototype (more accurately known as the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed), won't actually be hurtled into space, but the Air Force is slated to launch 32 of the final versions over the next few years. The aforementioned birds should improve power, reliability and accuracy, while also promising to be "harder for enemies to jam and easier for receivers to tune in, especially in urban canyons or under thick tree canopies." Moreover, they're expected to enable both denizens and military users to grab a position within three feet, compared to ten feet using today's technology. In other news, they're sure to cause LightSquared all sorts of new headaches.
Lockheed Martin shows us how it's getting Orion ready to explore the cosmos
It's not every day that America designs an entirely new spacecraft. Rarer still is the creation of a vehicle that can carry man, not just machine, beyond the earth's gravitational pull. In the history of the world, there have been only eight such human transports: the Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz capsules from Russia, the American-made Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules, plus the Space Shuttle, and China's Shenzhou spacecraft. That list is going to get a new member soon, as NASA (with a big assist from Lockheed Martin) is building the most technologically advanced spaceship the Earth has ever seen; the aptly-named Orion. In ancient Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter born of the earth who was eventually placed among the heavens by Zeus. NASA's Orion is a multipurpose crew vehicle (MPCV) that looks similar to the Apollo capsules and is here to replace the venerable Space Shuttle. It's capable of taking us further into the cosmos to than we've ever been -- to asteroids, the moon, and even Mars. This mission flexibility and interplanetary reach is what sets Orion apart from previous manned spacecraft, but that adaptability requires some heavy duty engineering and extensive testing to guarantee its ability to handle any NASA mission with aplomb. Head on past to break to learn more about how Lockheed Martin's getting the MPCV ready for deep space.
DARPA's Maple leaf Remote Control drone takes first flight (video)
After five years behind locked doors, researchers at Lockheed Martin's Intelligent Robotics Laboratories in New Jersey have emerged with a working prototype of the "Samarai," a tiny DARPA-commissioned surveillance drone. The nano air vehicles (NAVs), modeled after falling Maple leaf seeds, are designed to be super light weight and agile for vertical lift off, hovering, and navigation in tight spaces. Like your favorite $5 Subway sammie, these surveillance bots are a foot long, but instead of being shoveled in your mouth, they're thrown like boomerangs into flight and controlled using a tablet app or a basic remote. These eyes in the sky will officially launch next week at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Conference, but until then you can check out the video of their first flight below. Update: Lockheed Martin wrote in to let us know that although originally commissioned by DARPA, this project is currently funded internally. Lockheed also noted that the flight recorded in the video is only a test flight, rather than a first flight for the Samarai.
Lockheed Martin's SMSS autonomous vehicle wins Army competition, ships off to Afghanistan (video)
The US military's fleet of unmanned vehicles may soon get some extra support, now that Lockheed Martin's Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) has received the Army's official blessing. Designed to support infantry squads or special ops forces, the company's autonomous craft was recently crowned the winner of the Army-sponsored Project Workhorse Unmanned Ground Vehicle competition, after more than a decade of development. Measuring 11 feet in length, the SMSS is capable of transporting more than 1,000 pounds of equipment over rugged terrain, and features a set of onboard sensors that can automatically track individuals by recognizing their 3D profiles. Both the SMSS and its Block I variant can be carried aboard CH-47 and CH-53 choppers, with the latter offering a driving range of 125 miles. Three of the beasts will deploy to Afghanistan for a three-month evaluation later this year, when they'll become the largest unmanned vehicles to ever deploy with infantry. Shoot past the break for a video tour of the SMSS, along with the full press release.
Lockheed Martin's HALE-D airship learns to fly, makes a crash landing
Because dirigibles were such a great idea the first, completely non-disastrous time around, Lockheed Martin and the US Army have teamed up to bring the quaint technology back into our hyper-modern era. The lighter-than-air vehicle got a new lease on unmanned flight life when it launched yesterday from its base in Akron, Ohio. The High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D for short) reached 32,000 ft during its maiden voyage before technical difficulties cut the test short, forcing an emergency landing in the deep woods of southwestern Pennsylvania. Despite the flight-aborting hiccup, the global security company is all smiles, citing the successful demonstration of "communications links, [the] unique propulsion system, solar array electricity generation [and] remote piloting communications." Future real-world versions of HALE-D could serve as a military "telecommunications relay system" over foreign terrain -- like Afghanistan -- where radio signals can't penetrate. The Defense Department contractor is currently retrieving the airship from its foresty crash pad, but you can bet some locals already called this close encounter in to the local papers. Skip past the break for Archer's take on our government's latest airborne effort.
