An extremely important source has been discussions with personnel of the operational commands in the field, both in the United States and overseas. On-site discussions in Southeast Asia and continuing discussions with those who have returned from duty there have been most helpful in providing motivation and direction for laboratory involvement in current Air Force problems.

The dialogue with the major operational commands is important also because of the impact technology must have on statements of required operational capabilities. There is a very fine line between asking for too much and asking for too little, but the impact on costs, schedules, and performance can be enormous. Better communication between those responsible for the technology base and those responsible for stating operational capabilities should lead to more credible and realistic statements of requirements.

The laboratories are having a profound effect and influence on the technology that will be available for future generations of Air Force systems through their distribution of technical objective documents, review and monitoring of independent research and development efforts of the contractors, participation in professional societies, evaluation of unsolicited proposals, and specific requests for proposals that are furnished to universities and industry.

Because it is not possible for the laboratories to perform in a meaningful way in a large number of mission analyses simultaneously, some important Air Force problems will simply not be studied by them in the next year or so. To provide a better basis for planning the exploratory and advanced development programs and guiding universities and industry, each of the laboratories has established an internal studies and analyses group that will perform mission analyses and technology applications studies directly related to that laboratory's technical responsibilities and limited to that scope.

There is one major difference between the laboratories and most other organizations within the Air Force. In most jobs, a person is rated on his performance of fairly well de

fined and circumscribed functions using established procedures. A Strategic Air Command crew earns the “Select Crew" accolade not by improvising or experimenting but by demonstrating an ability to execute standardized operating procedures in an outstanding manner. While much discipline and adherence to set standards and procedures are also essential in research and development, progress in science and technology is simply not achieved by practicing the same experiment over and over. Progress comes not only from developing the ability to perform new functions but also, and of equal importance, from the development and application of new and novel techniques to perform old functions more effectively. Standardized procedures are fundamental to good management, but they can also inhibit creativity.

Because of the many demands on our laboratories, perhaps the most challenging aspect of a laboratory director's job is how to allocate his resources among the many competing requests. For example, how much effort of the laboratory should be devoted to solving problems of the current fleet, providing input to the next generation of systems, or developing the technology that will be required for the generation after the next? How much effort should be devoted to problem-solving versus working on the technology? Should the work be done in-house or on contract? Should the problem-solving effort be pursued on a subsystem or component basis? What is the proper balance between developing and applying technology? What are the respective roles of man and machine and their interactions?

The technology must be well in hand before new systems are approved for development. To provide an adequate demonstration of the technology, particularly as the hardware becomes more complex and more sophisticated, requires time. Doubling or quadrupling the funds available does not insure a commensurate reduction in time. Also, it is generally far less expensive to demonstrate a piece of equipment, an idea, or a concept in an exploratory development program than it is to attempt to force the development

of a new technology while trying to maintain production schedules and initial operational capability dates. Technology is sometimes capricious, and the future is always uncertain. În view of the limitations on funds and personnel, it is especially important to select the right problems and apply resources judiciously to those technologies which have the right balance between risk and payoff.

We have come a long way in analytical techniques, but there are many areas where we simply do not have enough experimental data upon which to base analytical techniques or provide high confidence that our analytical techniques are adequate. Our knowledge of turbulence and flow separation, particularly in the transonic region, is still not founded on an adequate theoretical base. We still approach the problem of instabilities in liquidrocket engines on a semiempirical basis. And so it is with many other areas.

There is still a need to build hardware for test and evaluation purposes even though we think we understand the performance of each of the individual components. The amount of money going into the Soviets' research and development program, plus the number of new aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft they have built in the past few years, is ample evidence that they understand this issue very well.

Although the laboratories are manned predominantly by career civilians, who provide a much-needed continuity, many of the exciting ideas and major advances come from our well-educated junior officers, many of whom have master's and Ph.D. degrees. The laboratories provide an excellent training ground for these officers, who later in their careers can be extremely effective in systems program offices or in management positions in ranges, test centers, and laboratories.

Some Past Accomplishments

A description of all the past accomplishments by the AFSC laboratories would fill many volumes, so I have selected only a few of the more representative achievements:

During the past year the laboratories have developed several riot control munitions of the tear gas sort for use in counterinsurgency (COIN) and limited-war situations. To dispense these munitions in large quantities from low altitude, the laboratory was required to develop also a dispenser that would be aerodynamically compatible with high-speed aircraft. On signal from the pilot, one such dispenser releases the munition in clusters, after which a pyrotechnic fuze is ignited. The pyrotechnic causes each of the munitions to skitter over the target area, releasing the agent as it goes, assuring effective coverage.

When the Air Force was faced with a critical deficiency in night interdiction capability in Southeast Asia (SEA), our laboratories came up with the Gunship II prototype development that enabled new night-viewing sensors and fire-control techniques to be integrated into the C-130 aircraft, which has been successfully employed in SEA.

The laboratories have developed in-house a tool that can be used as a gun harmonizer. It consists of a helium-neon laser precisely aligned with the axis of a precision mandrel inserted in the nozzle of the gun. The highly collimated red light from the laser produces a clearly defined spot on a boresight target. The results achieved to date indicate that more accurate and faster alignment can be attained than that possible with the conventional J-1 boresight tool.

Laboratory efforts have demonstrated conclusively that a system comprised of a laser illuminator, laser seeker, and flight controls can be combined to provide an accurate terminal guidance system for bombs. Further, tests demonstrated that the Air Force now has a terminal guidance system that will greatly increase bombing accuracy at greater aircraft standoff distances against targets illuminated by lasers used by either a ground or airborne forward air controller.

A quick fix to a critical Air Force problem in Vietnam was researched and successfully developed in-house by the laboratories. Identification, friend or foe (IFF) radar antennae on the F-100 were failing after about six hours of aircraft operation from acoustical vibration

generated by the plane's own cannon fire. Laboratory scientists developed a small, low-cost, easily attachable prototype viscoelastic damper as a quick fix. Field evaluation of the damper in Vietnam showed a twelvefold increase in the life of the radar antennae. A sufficient number of dampers manufactured in-house by laboratory personnel were shipped to completely equip the F-100 fleet in Vietnam.

The laboratories have done excellent work in the interpretation and processing of raw reconnaissance data. In Project Compass Eagle, a reconnaissance data-processing facility has been established in Southeast Asia which has made possible the introduction of the latest techniques, devices, and procedures directly into the theater of operations. Laboratory personnel have personally participated in this overseas extension of their work.

TALAR IV, a man-portable military landing system, provides more precise guidance than the instrument landing system (ILS). It can also be used to provide accurate guidance for weapon delivery. Headquarters USAF has recommended TALAR IV to fulfill a Southeast Asia requirement.

The laboratories have developed an automatic homing parachute system that can be controlled from the drop aircraft or from the ground or can home automatically on a ground beacon. In demonstrations in the Bavarian Alps, miss distances of 45 feet from the beacon were consistently achieved. In Vietnam, it will provide an offset release capability such that the drop aircraft is not exposed to small-arms fire. Inherent in the steerable parachute concept is the almost limitless size of the payload, which can range from small emergency supplies of war through heavy earth-moving equipment, trucks, artillery, nose cones, and satellites.

Fuel tanks of the B-52 aircraft were found to suffer from biological corrosion in which microorganisms attacked both the sealants and the substrate metal. The laboratories developed sealing materials as well as top coatings that were resistant to this kind of corrosive action. These top coats and sealing materials protected both the sealant and metal from the biological corrosion and thereby decreased

the downtime and maintenance requirements of the aircraft.

A significant materials development was a glass fiber that has 40 percent higher tensile strength and 200°F greater temperature capability than the best previously available fiber. This material went from completed research to production of filament-wound plastic rocket motor cases for Minuteman and Polaris missiles in less than one year. The resulting decrease in structural weight in the Minuteman permitted a 15 percent increase in payload.

To provide high-temperature deceleration devices for Air Force aerospace systems, the laboratories have pursued a program for the development of metallic fibers suitable for weaving. This program has been highly successful, and a multifilament yarn has been woven into an extremely flexible and strong metal fabric resistant to elevated temperatures. This material is now being used in the fabrication of experimental hypersonic decelerators. The fabric was also found suitable for use as a coverall to a space suit, to provide thermal protection for astronauts during space walks. The coverall was successfully used for the first time during the Gemini IX orbital mission.

A remote laboratory detachment has developed techniques for improved imaging of orbiting objects in space, using a 48-inch telescope and a variety of imaging sensors. This was of great service in investigating and analyzing problems that developed on the Apollo mission of 4 April 1968. Malfunctions in the early rocket stages caused mechanical damage that resulted in the third stage's being left in earth orbit. It could not be determined if the payload had been ejected properly or if this too had malfunctioned. Motion-picture imagery taken at the detachment was used to establish that the payload had been ejected. It also confirmed the tumbling rate of the third stage, which had been tentatively established from other data.

A solid rocket capable of multiple start, stop, and restart has been demonstrated. The concept is called the "dual chamber" and consists of a solid-propellant gas generator, which is in constant operation, an on-off valve, and a rocket motor. The addition of flow from the

The astronaut's metallic coverall is fabricated from Chromel R, developed by the Air Force Materials Laboratory. It is worn during extravehicular activity and protects him from the 1200°F gas plumes that shoot from the jet thrusters of the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit.

gas generator to the motor provides ignition and sustains combustion. If the gas generator flow is stopped, the motor chamber pressure drops below that required to sustain combus

tion.

As a direct result of our laboratory pioneering effort, major progress has been made in reducing the cost of moderate-performance aircraft inertial navigation systems. With the establishment of a "Low Cost Laboratory Detachment" at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, in 1964, an in-house capacity to design and develop a low-cost inertial system of moderate performance was initiated. Today, four years later, such a system has been developed inhouse. Air Force interest has sparked industry, which in turn is making significant progress in cost reduction.

A lightweight one-kilowatt power amplifier has recently been developed for application to tactical troposcatter radio sets. The amplifier weighs 80 pounds and has a volume of 1.5 cubic feet and a power output of one kilowatt; current field equipment performing the same function weighs 600 pounds and has a volume of 8 cubic feet.

To minimize the data-reduction tasks involved in the production of maps and charts, an automatic stereocomparator has been developed for operational use. Precision optics provide the operator with a clear view of the image areas, permitting him to superimpose similar image points of any two of three photos to a very high level of accuracy. When this has been accomplished, the operator initiates a measurement and coordinate readout wherein the photo coordinates of each image are recorded to accuracies of two-millionths of a meter. The automatic readout process is accomplished with a general-purpose computer and electronic image-correlation equipment.

A new concept for an oxygen supply system which concentrates oxygen from air is being exploited by the laboratories for use in fighter aircraft. Feasibility has been established for this unique device, in which a highly reliable static electrolytic cell produces 100 percent pure breathing oxygen. It uses 500 watts of power to supply two men. Major advantages of its use stem from the elimination