Thesis (M. S.)--Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Mavris, Dimitri; Committee Member: Biltgen, Patrick; Committee Member: Ender, Tommer.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 12, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-107).

Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-136).

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Calvano, C. N. ; Second Reader: Whitcomb, C. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 15, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Department of Defense Architectural Framework, DoDAF, Systems View, Operational View, Missile Defense. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-76). Also available in print.

A key stage in the design-cycle of a military aircraft is the assessment of its vulnerability to hostile threat mechanisms. Such mechanisms inflict battle-damage to the aircraft structure and systems. This experimental investigation considered the aerodynamic consequences of simulated battle-damage to a two-dimensional wing. Key assumptions and techniques were identified leading to the modelling of both gunfire and missile fragmentation damage. Wind tunnel balance measurements were undertaken, together with surface pressure measurements and flow-visualisation methods. Force and moment results indicated extensive changes in coefficient values, whilst both smoke and surface visualisation paint successfully indicated the flow mechanisms present. Using these techniques the influences of damage and experimental variables were investigated, including damage type, size, location and Reynolds Number. Studies were also made into cases of multiple gunfire holes and the influence of internal wing construction. Results indicated that damage at quarter and half-chord locations gave greater coefficient changes than those seen for either leading or trailing edge damage. This was primarily due to reductions in the upper surface pressure peak due to through-flow. Such reductions were seen to extend in both a chordwise and spanwise direction. The flow mechanism identified indicated both similarities and differences to those of flat-plate jets in crossflows. Analysis of both gunfire and missile damage data lead to the development of a set of empirical relationships, which related damage location and size to coefficient changes.

Technology and innovation offer a unique opportunity for an allied small state to influence the United States. The changing security environment and increased great power competition leads the United States to rely more on its allies, which the latter may use to increase their value to defence cooperation with the U.S. and gain influence on security-oriented decision making. Since, a large part of modern defence strategy is aimed at arriving at innovative, technology-based solutions for complex problems, even system-ineffectual states in alliances may be valuable to the United States and can devise an influencing strategy through an established field of defence research and development paired with other unique selling points they might have. This thesis looks at the Netherlands, a small state with a traditionally strong relationship to the United States, with defence industry potential and proven willingness to contribute to acute defence challenges. The fast evolving, widely carried and technology based field of defence selected is that of Integrated Air and Missile defence (IAMD). Through careful analysis of two regional threats within the great power competition framework and the state of the global missile defence infrastructure that the United States is contributor to, this thesis identifies...

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

<p>The commercial CubeSat industry has experienced explosive growth recently, and with falling  costs  and  growing  numbers  of  launch  providers,  the  trend  is  likely  to  continue.  The scientific missions CubeSats could complete are expanding, and this has resulted in a demand for reliable  high  specific  impulse  nanosatellite  propulsion  systems.  Interest  in  liquid-fed  pulsed plasma thrusters (LF-PPTs) to fulfill this role has grown lately. Prior work on a nanosatellite LF-PPT was done in the Purdue Electric Propulsion and Plasma Laboratory, but its high operational voltage and electrode size would be disadvantageous for integration on a CubeSat, which have strict volume limitations and provide only tens of Watts in power at low voltages. This work aims to address those disadvantages and further advance the development of a nanosatellite LF-PPT by reducing the operating voltage and removing long plate electrodes to prevent energy losses on components other than the expelled plasma sheet. Two major objectives are pursued: to construct a  coaxial  pulsed  plasma  thruster  operating  with  10s  to  100s  of  volts  and  to  characterize  the temporal evolution of the discharge parameters in this low-voltage operation scenario. </p> <p>It  took  three  experimental  design  iterations,  all  of  which  used  a  260  <em>uF</em> ,  400 <em>V</em> film capacitor, to arrive at a functional coaxial pulsed plasma thruster. First, a button gun was tested. It produced  a  peak  current  of ~16<em> kA</em>,  which  serves  as  the  expected  maximum  for  the  later experiments. Due to the presence of parasitic arcing, it revealed that electrical lines needed to be removed from vacuum chamber to enable testing at a wide range of pressures. Second, a coaxial PPT was designed, built, and tested. This design confirmed operation at discharge voltages <100 <em>V</em> across the plasma, achieving one of the project’s aims, and produced a peak current of 7.4 <em>kA</em>. However,  necessity  to  better  align  the  cathode and  provide  an  unobstructed  camera  view  for observation of the discharge column attachment to the cathode surface forced additional system redesign. Third, a revised coaxial PPT was built and tested. Using air as a propellant, the discharge generated a peak current of 10.4 <em>kA</em> at a mass flow rate of 2 mgs. The PPT cathode was imaged with an ICCD camera over a wide range of pressures, and the photos indicated “spotless” diffuse arc attachment to the cathode, which serves as evidence to expect low erosion rates. The direct measurements of the cathode erosion rate are planned for future. </p>

Robert S. McNamara served as U.S. Secretary of Defense (SOD) for Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. McNamara participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis negotiations in 1961 and became a key formulator of Vietnam policy. This thesis challenges scholarship that characterizes McNamara as a fierce hawk who relentlessly executed military escalation in Vietnam. By drawing parallels between McNamara’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War, and by exploring how McNamara’s concept of loyalty to the presidency influenced his decisions, this thesis argues that the SOD was willing to escalate the situation militarily as a form of political communication with the adversary. To McNamara, military pressure was a means to create avenues for diplomacy. McNamara became increasingly uncomfortable – and ultimately resigned in 1968 - when the Johnson administration pursued military escalation without an organized campaign towards negotiations. He was therefore not as hawkish as other scholars have claimed. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection