See Why Every US Aircraft Carrier Needs A Ouija Board

The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is a deadly and complex scene, riddled with incoming aircraft, snapping steel cables and the ever present risk of calamity and death.

Flight Deck Control (FDC) is where the deck scene is coordinated and during flight operations it's one of the busiest places on the ship, with everyone working on the flight deck constantly in and out tracking aircraft and information.

FDC is festooned with computer screens and video displays of all that's occurring outside on deck, but it's also home to one of the more arcane pieces of equipment in the Navy.

The Ouija board is a waist-high replica of the flight deck at 1/16 scale to the foot that has all the markings of the flight deck, as well as its full compliment of aircraft — all in cutouts, and all tagged with items like thumbtacks and bolts to designate their status.

While objects can mean different things on every carrier, purple generally designates fuel, and the Eisenhower uses a purple hex nut to signify when an aircraft is being refueled.

A green thumbtack can mean an aircraft is first to go; orange can mean an aircraft must be parked with its tail hanging over the lip of the deck.

Robocopter arrives

After unmanned drones, pilotless helicopters are taking to the sky to deliver supplies to troops

Attack aircraft, such as Predator and Reaper, have become a familiar part of modern warfare. But an army, famously, marches on its stomach, and campaigns can be lost as easily by a lack of supply as by a lack of firepower. That, combined with the increasing squeamishness of rich countries about taking casualties, is leading to the use of a new type of drone in the form of unmanned helicopters to deliver supplies. Pioneered by the armed forces, these hovering robots will also find civilian roles.

Two unmanned helicopters have been flying experimental combat missions delivering goods to American marine outposts in Afghanistan since December 2011. The project has been such a success it has twice been extended and may well run until September 2013. The helicopters in question are modified versions of the K-MAX, built by Kaman, an American aerospace firm. They are used in a number of military roles and in civilian jobs, such as logging and power-line construction, as a sort of airborne sky-crane cum delivery truck.

The US Air Force Thunderbirds F-16s at the Constanta Air Show 2011 in Romania

Navy Scientists Are Figuring Out How To Turn Seawater Into Jet Fuel

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is on the verge of a breakthrough process that transforms seawater into jet fuel.

Though it sounds too good to be true, the scientists at NRL are developing a process that extracts carbon dioxide (CO2) and produces hydrogen gas (H2) from seawater. The gases are then converted into liquids and combined, thus creating viable jet fuel.

The successful implementation of this technology could mean unlimited fuel resources for the Navy, and would address the current difficulty of refueling at sea. The new technology would also be less of an environmental—as well as financial—burden, and would allow the U.S. Navy to become more independent of foreign oil sources.

"The potential payoff is the ability to produce JP-5 fuel stock at sea reducing the logistics tail on fuel delivery with no environmental burden and increasing the Navy's energy security and independence," research chemist Dr. Heather Willauer said in a Navy press release.

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