Under pressure from its maritime industry, Japan is establishing its first overseas military base to counter pirate attacks. The $40 million base will be built in Djibouti, Africa on the Gulf of Aden, a strategic geographical area from which to fight pirates. Japanese vessels make up 10% of the traffic — 20,000 ships per year — containing 90% of its exports. The move is expected to strengthen anti-pirate forces and technology there, joining long established French, U.S. bases, and NATO forces. Last year Japan announced the deployment of two destroyers and surveillance planes to the area.

The unique MC Multilam Technology stands for outstanding electrical features.

Our latest Multilam: LA-CUD for maximum requirements — small size, wide operating range, high radial tolerance. For static and dynamic low- and high-voltage power distribution systems. Get the best possible contact for your applications in air, vacuum, gas, and oil!

Strongwell's HS fiberglass armor panels, co-developed by Hardwire LLC, are designed for ballistics resistance. A public defender's building in Georgia was recently outfitted with HS Armor as drywall. Contractors easily installed the panels to create a smooth wall surface in the building's rooms; mimicking dry wall, but providing the security desired.

Field-proven SunWize solar electric systems put power where you need it for critical loads such as surveillance, border patrol, monitoring, and control and communications. Our rugged systems provide 24/7 reliable power and are cost-effective, easy to install, and feature low operating and maintenance costs.

Pre-fabricated/pre-engineered relocatable armories are constructed to be fire-resistant, weather-resistant, and theft-resistant. These armories meet or exceed DOD NSWC 3046-93-2 standards and can be located both indoors and outdoors. Other storage units available. Visit us at the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board Seminar, July 13-15, in Portland, OR!

Scientists can make flexible boron carbide body armor by weaving boron carbide nanowires and cotton fibers. They soak cotton T-shirt fabric in a solution of boron powder and nickel catalyst, then heat to 1100 C. An argon stream prevents burning. Cotton fibers transform into carbon fibers, and react with boron to form boron carbide.

Concern over rare earth mineral supplies is peaking because China controls 97% of current production. The elements are used in computers, electronic devices, and critical military avionics, communications, guided missiles, radar, and satellites. They can't be replaced by substitute materials. Rebuilding a U.S.-based supply could take 15 years.

The plan: replace conventional integrated satellites with virtual equivalents. DARPA plans to harness clusters of less expensive, smaller modules that are wirelessly connected in space, without sacrificing military effectiveness. The agency seeks a third party partner to develop a payload spacecraft module to test the F6 concept on-orbit.

Critical design reviews for U.S. Air Force next-gen GPS satellites are 50% complete. With anti-jam capabilities, GPS III delivers improved navigation, position, and timing services for superior system accuracy, reliability, and security. Dedicated to critical military situational awareness plus weapon guidance, it also supports commercial and scientific endeavors.

Perimeter Defense Technology® from Cal Pipe Security Bollards. Domestically-manufactured safety and security bollards that are crash tested and field proven to provide 24/7 perimeter security. Tested by the U.S. Department of State, Cal Pipe is a UL-Listed manufacturer with the broadest product line in our industry. Read more.

Designing with complex hollow shapes can reduce the number of components in structural designs and offers lighter weights, increased structural strength, and freedom of design. Schuler provides experience-based solutions in hydroforming including part development, die design, prototyping, production, and turnkey manufacturing systems.

The FMCU™ Freedom of Movement Control Unit from Ultra Electronics Measurement Systems Inc. is a portable, handheld controller for military/aerospace applications. This lightweight controller is available with or without the sunlight readable LCD and is ideal for the control of unattended sensors, unmanned assets, weapon systems, border security, and emergency back-up systems.

General Digital's line of Titan large format LCD monitors addresses today's digital signage and telepresence needs of reaching large groups of people. Equipped with four separate input channels, these super-sized widescreen displays (from 30 in. to 65 in.+) accept numerous digital and live (composite) video signals. Several mounting configurations available from commercial to military.

You can measure the half-life of most electronic products (the time it takes to sell half of all you will ever sell) in months or a very few years. But what if you want to keep a system longer — say 15 or 20 years, such as with military equipment? A small number of specialty companies are addressing the problem head-on.

A camera that captures 3D images for military and commercial applications fires a short pulse of laser light at a scene being photographed. Then it measures the pulse's round-trip time to determine the distance to each point. Developers claim the camera is one-third the size and uses one-tenth the power of other 3D cameras.

Launched on April 22, the unmanned X-37B is the U.S. military's first spaceplane (video). The reusable re-entry vehicle is considerably smaller than the Space Shuttle. During its 270-day flight in low-Earth orbit, the craft will test technologies characterized as "one generation beyond" those of the shuttle. No details on the payload.

High-tech dirigibles — 242 ft long aerostats with onboard communications and radar — are undergoing rigorous testing. The long-range surveillance option provides critical info on aircraft, ballistic/cruise missiles, and more to enable more accurate threat evaluation. No airstrip is needed for launch, and the blimps can be tethered to ships at sea.

TriQuint's new PowerBand™ Gallium Nitride (GaN) amplifier, T1G6003028-SP, for wideband communications and radar offers 25 W of output power with 50% PAE across the 20 MHz to 6 GHz frequency range. PowerBand devices optimize frequency coverage while delivering excellent efficiency. Find out more about PowerBand GaN today.

The rugged Logic FieldBook configures to support any field or factory application. Integrated Rfid, Barcode and GPS for logistics, PCMCIA and RS232 for legacy applications, WiFi and Bluetooth for communication, all in a 2 lb package with 7 in. WVGA sunlight readable display and dual hot-swappable batteries with eight hours of operation. Learn more.

Power Technology, Inc., an ITAR registered manufacturer, offers lasers from 263nm to 13.900nm (13.9µ) with a power range from 1mW to 10,000mW (10W). Applications include Aiming, Night Vision Illumination and Pointing, Range Finding, Targeting, UAV, Vehicle Mounted or Man Portable Defensive Countermeasures, Bio-Detection, and Sensing. Customized and standard lasers are available.

Producers of the world's fastest high speed camera (Fastcam SA1), Photron introduces the Fastcam BC2 with high definition 1080 resolution up to 2,000 frames per second (fps). The BC2 was used on the BBC/Discovery 'Life' natural history series and CBS's coverage of the U.S. Masters golf tournament. T. 800-585-2129, image@photron.com

The NSA (National Security Agency) is conducting its 10th annual Cyber Defense Exercise. To help secure computer networks in the future, the NSA runs a competition between eight military academies. The goal is to hone the cyber defense skills of all participants to help them ward off more sophisticated attacks. West Point won the last three years. The four day boot camp event is hosted by Lockheed Martin. Challenges include downloaded attachments and links taking users to malicious Web sites, direct scanning, enumeration, and attempt at exploitation.

Soaring through the skies at 45 degrees below zero, Staff Sgt. Ben Borger jumped from an Air Force C-17 at 32,000 ft. All told, the Golden Knight flew 11.5 miles in 6 min., 35 sec — oxygen mask notwithstanding. On the ground, that's equivalent to 105 mph or about 1.75 miles/min. It was a wing suit, but used no artificial propulsion. Iron Man, it's time to catch up. Watch the video and the extremely cool wing suit.

PowerPoint: Enemy or Friendly Fire?

Press reports on Microsoft PowerPoint use in the military classify such briefings as either not noteworthy or valuable if used correctly. Is it the tool or a case of garbage in, garbage out?