Summary: Metallic sub-assemblies, comprising hundreds of parts joined by metal fasteners, have been the standard in defense manufacturing for decades. But the need to push the boundaries of our defense capabilities is forcing change. Today, defense contractors need consolidated components made with composite materials. Tactical and operational vulnerabilities are a normal part of modern military […]
Summary: As UAVs play a more prominent role in U.S. defense, OEMs have to be more careful about their supply chains. Between regulatory mandates and quality standards, it is getting increasingly more difficult to continue sourcing components from foreign manufacturers. Onshoring is the obvious solution. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have graduated from secondary reconnaissance assets […]
Traditional ceramics handle high heat very well. Temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius are generally not an issue, but they have one fatal flaw: they are incredibly brittle. Drop a ceramic coffee mug on a hard floor, and it will shatter into dozens of pieces. In aerospace design, that kind of catastrophic failure isn’t acceptable. That’s […]
Commercial drone manufacturers have pretty much mastered small multi-rotor aircraft. Such aircraft are deployed regularly for surveying and cinematography. The quad and hexacopters deployed for lightweight commercial applications are ubiquitous and reliable. So now the industry is pushing forward into more challenging applications. From long-range logistics to high-altitude endurance missions and military reconnaissance, the demands […]
