Military Engineering

#27: RAIL: Making it easier to transport armored vehicles to austere locations

Despite modern transportation advancements, rail remains a superior method for moving heavy military equipment over vast inland distances. However, transporting tanks by train requires railyard facilities with specialized equipment capable of moving the armored vehicles onto and off of the rail cars. In response, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) developed the…

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#23: Arctic Mobility

We talk with Dr. Orian Welling and Mr. Michael Parker from ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory about how ERDC’s cold weather mobility expertise will directly help the U.S. military better protect and defend the Arctic. As the Arctic grows in strategic importance to the United States, the region also presents unique challenges to…

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#22: Using Augmented and Virtual Reality to Enable Next-Generation Engineering

We talk with Jeremy Herring and Kelly Ervin from ERDC’s Information Technology Laboratory about how ERDC is enabling next-generation engineering by applying augmented reality and virtual reality capabilities. These disruptive technologies can help solve a diverse range of current and future problems by immersing users in virtual scenes. As uses continue to grow, ERDC established…

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#14: Airfield Damage Repair

Given the strategic importance of air power in military conflicts, airfields often become targets. With airfield expertise that dates to World War II, ERDC has a rich history of developing solutions to rapidly repair and sustain airfields. Today, ERDC develops material and equipment solutions, as well as construction procedures, to push current Airfield Damage Repair…

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#9: Protecting the Force in a Post-9/11 World

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, our nation needed new ways to protect its civilians and Warfighters, and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center answered the call. Leveraging its long history of studying explosive effects and protective structures, ERDC has played a vital role in providing protection solutions throughout the past 20…

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#8: Modeling and Simulation for Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Unmanned ground vehicles carry great potential for the Armed Forces, but before these systems can be deployed, they must undergo rigorous testing to ensure their autonomy can be trusted in difficult conditions. Since the early 2000s, ERDC has assisted this process by developing a suite of modeling and simulation tools that explore how autonomous systems…

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#6: Ship Simulator

The blockage of Egypt’s Suez Canal in March shone renewed focus on just how many goods are shipped around the world and how fragile those routes can be. Given the shipping industry’s importance in the U.S., American planners must have world-class tools to prevent a comparable disaster from congesting American waterways. ERDC has operated a…

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#5: Ice adhesion basic research

The rapid accumulation of ice creates significant challenges for U.S. military operations and civilian activities in cold environments. It hampers mobility, disrupts communication, creates power outages and degrades infrastructure. That’s why a team of ERDC researchers is conducting innovative basic research to unravel the physical processes of how ice attaches to different surfaces, paving the…

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#3: Cybersecurity

The importance of cybersecurity continues to increase, both as more functions become connected to the internet and as adversaries exploit cyberattacks as a weapon in future conflicts. From the SolarWinds Orion hack to the breach of a Florida water treatment plant, recent attacks have underscored the critical function cybersecurity plays to national security interests. ERDC…

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Engineering the Theater to Win During Multi-Domain Operations

More than 75 years ago, ERDC delivered innovative ways to support the war effort across multiple domains during D-Day. The contest on land, at sea, and in the air provided valuable lessons for the future of multi-domain operations. It illustrated the need to balance offensive striking power with operational reach. ERDC’s multi-lab, cross-functioning capability teams…

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