Washington, DC--Following decades in development, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a license to GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) to construct and operate a commercial uranium enrichment plant using molecular laser isotope separation technology.

WASHINGTON, 26 Sept. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington are asking industry to participate in a fly-off evaluation of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and integrated UAV sensor payloads for potential use by local civil authorities maritime border and maritime security, law enforcement, search and rescue, fire, and hazardous material spill response.

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J., 21 Sept. 2012. U.S. Navy persistent-surveillance experts are awarding a $28 million contract to Logos Technologies Inc. in Fairfax, Va., for three Kestrel surveillance and reconnaissance systems for deployment on aerostats and airships operating at altitudes between 1,000 and 5,000 feet off the ground.

HIAWATHA, Iowa, 19 Sept. 2012. Crystal Group Inc. in Hiawatha, Iowa, is introducing the RD1119 rugged rackmount display for military shipboard, airborne, and land-based applications. The RD1119 features a sunlight-readable 19-inch SXGA rugged monitor with impact=resistant, laminated, scratch-resistant, and low-reflectance front cover glass.

FORT BELVOIR, Va., 18 Sept. 2012. U.S. Army researchers are reaching out to industry to find companies able to create complex computer algorithms to help deployed soldiers detect explosives such as land mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and unexploded ordnance with handheld detectors.

Tampa, Fla. 17 Sept. 2012. Cross Match Technologies, Inc., a global provider of biometric identity solutions, will be launching its next generation Guardian scanners at the Biometrics Consortium Conference this week.

WASHINGTON, 16 Sept. 2012. U.S. Navy leaders needed common display systems for surface warships, submarines, and aircraft. They found their solution from the DRS Laurel Technologies segment of DRS Technologies Inc. in Johnstown, Pa.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 14 Sept. 2012. U.S. Air Force researchers are planning to establish a Center of Excellence in Guided-Wave Infrared Sources to aid in developing laser-based remote sensing and communications for Air Force applications.

HAIFA, Israel, 14 Sept. 2012. Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ and TASE:ESLT), a global defense electronics company, announced that its Brazilian subsidiary, AEL Sistemas S.A., was awarded an initial production order for UT30 BR 30mm unmanned turrets valued at $15 million as part of the Guarani Project.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 13 Sept. 2012. U.S. Army head-trauma experts plan to buy several a portable eye-tracking device designed for use in the field to check soldiers for possible traumatic brain injuries caused by close proximity to explosions, accidents, or other kinds of blows to the head.

A new facial recognition capability uses stabilized airborne video imagery in small, tactical, unmanned aerial vehicles.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., 9 Sept. 2012. U.S. Marine Corps leaders needed support for ground-based persistent-surveillance systems for deployed military operations. They found their solution from GE Aviation in Grand Rapids, Mich.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 7 Sept. 2012. U.S. Air Force researchers are ready to launch a pivotal initiative similar to the Microwave and Millimeter Wave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MIMIC) program decades ago to develop some of the world's most advanced and capable electronic and photonic components for tomorrow's electronic warfare (EW) systems.

OXFORD, Mass., 6 Sept. 2012. IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IPGP), a provider of high-powered fiber lasers and amplifiers, has acquired the privately held New Hampshire-based J.P. Sercel Associates Inc. (JPSA), a global supplier of UV excimer and diode pumped solid state (DPSS) industrial laser micromachining systems for precision processing in high-volume manufacturing.

LAINDON, England, 5 Sept. 2012. Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions in Laindon, England, is introducing the Skyquest AVDU4300 17-inch wide screen rugged mission display for aerospace, defense, and law-enforcement applications.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 2 Sept. 2012.  U.S. Air Force researchers are choosing embedded computing experts at Space Computer Corp. in Los Angeles to upgrade sensor processing in the Air Force Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System Hyperspectral (ACES Hy) side-mounted persistent-surveillance sensor for the MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 

Systems designers at two U.S. military electro-optics powerhouses are squaring off on the next phase of a program to develop the U.S. military's next-generation target-location and fire-support system.

Scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are moving forward with the initiative to enable military marksmen to hit targets at extreme ranges with only one rifle shot with a $6 million contract to Cubic Corp. in San Diego.