Misconceptions about open source software have made many U.S. Defense Department sectors reluctant to employ this technology. Although a 2003 department policy allows its use, many still believe that open source software poses an increased security risk to networks and that it is not supported as well as commercial products.

Developers are laying the scientific groundwork for a totally new concept in materials engineering. If successful, the results could have major implications for commercial and government products through the creation of immortal materials.

First responders have historically had great difficulty communicating with each other and with survivors during operations in mines and very large buildings. A radio technology developed by a U.S. government research laboratory allows rescuers to exchange voice or text messages through hundreds of feet of rock, concrete or debris. Commercial products based on the radio system are preparing to enter the market.

A cutting-edge U.S. government research center has launched a program to educate the next generation of scientists and experts in the field of nanotechnology. The Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in partnership with several universities and private sector firms, has combined resources and expertise to found an institution that will enable students to participate in and contribute to advanced research projects.

A major thrust of U.S. government communications research is to bring together all the disparate elements into a holistic entity that would function as a system instead of a collection. This single technology organism would combine aspects of radios and networks in a way that goes far beyond consolidation of diverse elements.

Add spectrum management to the list of the U.S. military’s top priorities. Along with information sharing, interoperability and information security, ensuring that the latest communications and sensor systems have waves to ride on in the battlefield is now a hot topic at the highest levels at the Pentagon.

China is launching catamaran missile boats in large numbers in what might be a program to replace long-standing conventional missile boats. However, the new missile catamarans are painted in blue and white camouflage colors that are characteristic of the Chinese marines. This raises questions about the boats’ real missions—questions that might be intentionally generated by the paint scheme.

The U.S. Navy is installing a network-based communications architecture to use bandwidth more effectively on a variety of submarines. The technology automates functions and requires less equipment and fewer personnel than current systems. The Navy recently declared the technology ready for the fleet.

U.S. Navy boarding teams in the midst of operations now are able to exchange information about their target vessels using high-speed commercial wireless technologies. A system funded by the Office of Naval Research and developed by the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) has just entered the fleet and is allowing maritime security boarding crews to tap Navy databases and to transmit information from a boarded ship.