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U.S. Air Force News

  • Robotic arm tool poised to save costly inspection time

    A common problem for aircraft maintainers may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to an Air Force Research Laboratory advanced inspection robotics research effort.AFRL researchers recently traveled to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to demonstrate the Remote Access Nondestructive Evaluation (RANDE)

  • Tech Report: Air Force Research Lab

    The Air Force Research Laboratory discovers, develops, and integrates affordable warfighting technologies for the Air Force in air, space and cyberspace. In this Air Force Tech Report, learn about the science and technology of AFRL.

  • Utility of genetics clinical study seeks volunteers across AF

    In partnership with the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, recruitment has begun for Phase II of the Air Force Medical Service Personalized Medicine Clinical Utility Study. The aim of the study is to evaluate the utility of genetics and genomics in clinical care.

  • Embracing opportunity: Additive technology used for manufacturing

    It’s a materials scientist’s dream, but as some experts say, an engineer’s nightmare. For scientists and engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, can be a powerful tool for rapid innovation.

  • JB Charleston test new equipment, saves AF millions

    An operational evaluation of new synthetic tie downs and winch cables for the C-17 Globemaster III took place here in November 2016. Tie downs are ropes, cords, straps or chains that secure items during airlift operations; winch cables help adjust the tension on tie downs, securing the load.

  • Air Force Agreement Allows Ionospheric Research to Continue

    Because of a recent Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), more than twenty-five years of science and atmospheric research will continue at the High Frequency Active Auroral

  • AF partners with OSU for stress evaluation, recovery methods

    The Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with the Ohio State University. Special operations units in the Defense Department are physically and mentally elite due to the training they endure. Since special operations

  • Final phase of C-17 drag reduction testing underway

    When it comes to aviation fuel, the C-17 Globemaster III utilization rate makes it stand out as the largest consumer in the Air Force. This is why a team at the 418th Flight Test Squadron has been working for the past year on the Air Force Research Laboratory’s C-17 Drag Reduction Program.

  • Around the Air Force: Nov. 29

    On this look around the Air Force the commander of Air Combat Command visits deployed Airmen, the Berlin Airlift Memorial is reopened, and a specialized stretcher for traumatic brain and spinal injury patients is being tested.

  • AF supports improved method for transporting TBI patients

    Scientists with the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine are playing an important part in the testing and evaluation of a novel aeromedical evacuation stretcher designed to safely transport traumatic brain and spinal injury patients in air and ground vehicles.

  • AFRL program turns junior workforce into rapid innovators

    Junior force personnel within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate are making the most of their opportunity to showcase innovation and leadership skills through the Junior Force Warfighters Operations in RX, or JFWORX, program.

  • AFRL system revolutionizes research process

    The Autonomous Research System (ARES) may not look like “Johnny Five,” the famous robot from the 1986 movie “Short Circuit,” but this robot’s ability to integrate robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science is altering materials research in a big way at Air Force Research Laboratory.

  • Around the Air Force: Oct. 14

    On this look around the Air Force the Air Force Research Laboratory has developed a new flexible lithium-ion battery, Airmen bring humanitarian aid to Hurricane Matthew victims in Haiti and the Air Force is looking to develop new anti-icing technology.

  • Flexible batteries: Evolving energy for the ‘new’ reality

    By using highly conductive, flexible carbon nanotube mats, scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory have developed a new type of flexible lithium-ion battery that not only stores energy, but can be folded, bent and manipulated hundreds of times without voltage fluctuations, revolutionizing

  • New office looks to shape future force

    The Air Force of the future is taking greater focus as the new Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Execution Office is actively pursuing its mission and the experimentation campaigns that it has been chartered to execute. The office will be responsible for supporting Air Force development

  • Performance wing team researches human-machine trust

    A research team in the 711th Human Performance Wing’s Airman Systems Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, focuses on how humans make reliance decisions with technology or, in other words, how humans develop, maintain and lose trust.

  • AF lab investigating microscopic crack formations, metal fatigue

    The B-52 Stratofortress is one of the oldest legacy aircraft in the Air Force. Since the 1950s, the B-52 has led the force in its dominance as the world’s best; however, just as humans begin to age, so do aircraft. Repeated loading and unloading, changes in air pressure, exposure to altitude and

  • Fueling the future: AF works to ‘home-grow’ biofuels for DOD, industry

    A need to address increases in petroleum costs with an environmentally friendly fuel source has led to a new way of looking at production—and the Defense Production Act Title III Program Office, part of the Air Force Research Laboratory, is playing a critical role in commercializing this technology.

  • AF Research Laboratory materials engineer receives prestigious award

    An engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate was honored with the American Society for Testing and Materials International Award of Merit at a ceremony May 3 in San Antonio for his work in the area of metals fatigue and fracture.

  • New AF development planning effort key to third offset

    To help the Air Force define and develop future capabilities, Air Force Materiel Command is standing up a multi-disciplinary Air Force team at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

  • AF Research Lab seeks to turn waste into energy

    It may seem like a scene from “Back to the Future,” but the Air Force Research Laboratory is looking to turn fiction into reality with a nearly $7 million waste-to-energy project.

  • Time with MAJCOM commanders at the four-star forum

    Members of the Air Force, Air Force Association and defense industry were invited to a Q-and-A session with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James M. Cody and several major command commanders during a four-star forum at the AFA Air and Space

  • Tech Report: Auto GCAS

    While in the air, losing track of the ground could lead to a bad thing. To help prevent a catastrophic incident from happening, the Air Force Research Lab developed the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System.

  • AFRL bio-signature research may save firefighters' lives

    Imagine facing down a raging fire, up close, with little or no time to save lives and protect property; hauling 75-pound hoses up multiple flights of stairs; carrying victims out and repeatedly putting your life on the line. Then imagine doing it nearly every day. It’s an extreme job and the

  • Gaming research laboratory debuts new website

    The Gaming Research Integration for Learning Laboratory (GRILL) team recently relaunched an updated version of their website with more information on the program. The site has information about GRILL research projects along with information regarding opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and

  • AF chief scientist visits AFRL, receives service honor

    Dr. Mica Endsley, the chief scientist of the Air Force, met with Air Force Research Laboratory leaders at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, May 5-7, reviewing key Air Force science and technology programs, and attending a preview of the technology displays AFRL will feature at the Department of

  • Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge test last flight

    A team of researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA and FlexSys Inc., accomplished a long sought goal in aviation research April 22, with the last flight of the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) Flight Research program.

  • DOD Lab Day to showcase groundbreaking technologies

    The Air Force Research Laboratory will have a unique opportunity to showcase some of its groundbreaking technologies at the first ever Department of Defense Lab Day to be held at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., May 14.

  • Students participate in AFRL design challenge at Natick

    More than 150 students from 17 colleges and universities and three service academies were on hand at the Natick Soldier Systems Center April 13-17, as they participated in the 2015 Air Force Research Laboratory University and Service Academy Design Challenge.

  • General’s mentorship leads 2nd Lt. back to AF

    Second Lt. Matthew Ruden didn't always plan to stay in the Air Force, but he plans to stay now. Ruden, an acquisitions manager for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's F-15 Eagle Division, will be promoted to first Lieutenant on May 1. Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, the Air Force Research

  • University Relations seeks to bolster AFRL partnerships, recruiting

    Employment recruiting efforts at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are expanding via its University Relations program. The program is part of a multi-faceted AFRL effort to seek out and attract the best and brightest scientists and engineers (S&Es) and carry out its mission of providing

  • AF research will improve camera for targeting munitions

    In order for an imaging munition to find and make its mark, a variety of information is required, including high-resolution video imagery. Future Air Force munitions will likely feature wide field-of-view (WFOV) imaging seekers that provide Air Force warfighters several advantages over using

  • Handheld imaging tool expands aircraft inspection capability

    When pilots climb into the cockpit they expect their aircraft to perform as expected, regardless if take off is from a home or deployed location; but ensuring that the aircraft is healthy enough to fly has become a challenge for the Air Force.

  • AFRL announces winners of student satellite competition

    Students representing 10 universities competed for the chance to send a satellite they designed and built into space. The competition was sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate University Nanosat Program.

  • AF, small business developing critical processors for satellites

    The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and a small business partner are developing technologies that they expect will enable successful use of high-power processors that operate on satellites with funding from the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

  • Air Force identifies nickel-free material for F-35 aircraft systems

    Through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Air Force, Triton Systems, Inc., located in Massachusetts, developed a nickel-free material technology that is positioned for transition to several F-35 Joint Strike Fighter applications. Transition of this technology is

  • AFRL engineers awarded for fostering innovation, teamwork

    Two Air Force electronics engineers received the 2014 National Security and International Affairs Medal for saving the lives of Soldiers in Afghanistan by creating and deploying a new aerial sensor system to help U.S. Army and special forces units detect and destroy deadly improvised explosive

  • Research laboratory honors top scientists, engineers

    Air Force Research Laboratory honored 12 outstanding scientists and engineers at the 2014 AFRL Fellows and Early Career Awards Banquet recently for their exceptional contributions to advancing technologies for the warfighter.

  • Hackathon to help solve real-world problems

    The Air Force Research Laboratory is preparing to co-host LabHack, a 26-hour long coding competition which will task coding-savvy individuals, or "hackers," to creatively solve challenges that AFRL researchers face every day.

  • AFRL commander describes Air Force’s technology vision

    The Air Force Research Laboratory commander discussed the future of hypersonic technology, directed energy and autonomous systems at the 2014 Air Force Association’s Air & Space and Technology Exposition here Sept. 16.

  • AF satellites to contribute to space neighborhood watch

    The Air Force plans to launch two operational satellites and one experimental satellite into near-geosynchronous Earth orbit July 23. According to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, "these operational and experimental systems will enhance the nation’s ability to monitor and assess events