State-of-the-Art Reports (SOARs)

SOARs are DSIAC publications that provide in-depth analysis of current technologies, research, and the latest technical information available on a topic within any of the DSIAC technical focus areas.

Filter by Technical Focus Areas

By default, only content within your selected technical focus areas is displayed throughout the site. You can update your technical focus areas in your profile or temporarily filter the content here.

Space satellite with artistic rendering of directed energy beam

A Materials Science Perspective on Space Propulsion Technology

Future conflicts are very likely to have a significant space-based component. There is a significant number of different types of satellites and spacecraft within the Earth/moon system, which are civilian, scientific, or military in origin….

High-Power, Radio Frequency/Microwave, Directed Energy Weapons Models and Simulations

This report describes some of the models and simulations for researching and developing high-power, radio frequency/microwave, directed energy weapons and evaluating their effectiveness. The descriptions cover models and simulations ranging from physics/engineering to one-on-one engagement…

Fighting Vehicle Armor and Antiarmor Munitions

This monograph examines the mechanics and physics behind current vehicular armor technologies and the threat munitions they face, to the extent that the technology is unclassified and widely disseminated, The discussion begins with fundamentals and…

State of Machine Learning for Optimization of Additive Manufacturing to Support Military Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM) of plastic and metallic components offers a way to revolutionize and improve the military supply chain by providing the ability to build at the point of use, as components are demanded, and…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Weapons Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) applied to weapons systems represents a major trend in research in the past 10 years. These initiatives seek to increase weapon accuracy, perform nonactive means of targeting, aid navigation and guidance and…

Materials and Applications for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

The wars that the U.S. military will be fighting in the coming years will revolve greatly around the United States’ ability to deploy weapon systems with many embedded electronics. One key to enabling these technologies…

The History of Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR)

This historical overview of the development of forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology begins with discussions of the basic principles of infrared (IR) radiation and early IR technology, such as the first IR detectors. Then, the early…

The Effects of Blast on a Combat System

Modeling the response of ground vehicles and its occupants against underbody, buried blasts has been a continued challenge that is often tackled through utilizing complex computation simulations. However, approaching the scenario from first principles of…

Vehicle Navigation: Autonomy Through GPS-Enabled and GPS-Denied Environments

This state-of-the-art report (SOAR) discusses current and future technologies and techniques for ground and aerial navigation under Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments. GPS is an inaugural part of modern navigation and, when spoofed, can have…

Understanding Thermal Protection Systems and the Development of the Hypersonic Speed Regime in the United States

Global advancement in hypersonic weapons development poses a significant threat to U.S. security and defense strategies. Hypersonic weapons have the speed and maneuverability to thwart current radar detection and alert systems–affording previously unavailable military and…

Counter-Personnel (CP) Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Technologies

This state-of-the-art report (SOAR) describes counter-personnel (CP) non-lethal weapons (NLW) technologies and provides a brief discussion of the CP NLW human effects characterization process. It also presents a brief overview of the evolution of CP…

Counter-Materiel (CM) Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Technologies

This state-of-the-art report addresses the defini­tion of counter-materiel (CM) non-lethal weapons (NLW) technologies. It presents a brief overview of the history associated with the evolution of CM NLW technologies. This report focuses on the in­vestigative…