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Last December a meeting of the SILVER Robotics Special Interest Group was held at the Land Systems Section of DERA at Chertsey, UK, and addressed the subject of robotics in military and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) applications. Presentations speculated on the future of intelligent vehicles; battlefield engineering and robotics; the RAVEN explosive ordnance disposal system; stereo vision and virtual reality for robotics; and three papers on explosive ordnance disposal. During the lunch break there was a demonstration of some of the systems reviewed at the meeting.

This paper discusses the Topsat satellite, currently being built by a partnership between DERA Space, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and InfoTerra Ltd (Formerly NRSC). Topsat will have the capability to provide imagery at 25m panchromatic and 5m colour resolution, direct to the user at a mobile ground station, from a 125kg microsatellite in low Earth orbit. Its low‐cost philosophy includes wide use of commercial off‐the‐shelf components and the goal of a one‐year mission life.

Fibre reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) are finding increasing usage in many industrial sectors. Adhesive bonding is often the most attractive joining technique for these materials in terms of structural efficiency and cost of manufacture. However, concerns regarding the lack of reliable design methods, the long term ageing behaviour and the difficulties in non‐destructive evaluation and repair of bonded joints has led to a reluctance to use adhesives in primary structures. DERA has been involved in the assessment of adhesive bonding for joining FRPs for many years. This paper focuses on investigations at DERA into the effects that environment and fatigue loading have on the performance of bonded composite joints, and briefly reviews current approaches to strength and lifetime prediction. It is seen that adhesively bonded composite joints can be significantly affected by the service environment, however, this is highly dependent on the joint type and materials involved.

Following the partial privatisation of Dstl's parent organisation, a major change in the structure and philosophy of the LIS has been carried through and, although many of its services appear unchanged to its clients, a great deal of resources have been invested to change the content, delivery and technology behind them. This paper aims to describe the use of an impact survey to identify the effect of these changes from the clients' viewpoint.

The author's IMPACT survey, which produces baseline figures for the impact of library and information services (LIS) offerings to a research organisation, has been reported on earlier. It surveys the authors of the research papers generated by the organisation to identify the impact that identified services had on their ability to produce the final intellectual product.

The results demonstrate to the organisation and its management that the investment strategy has produced a step‐change in service delivery.

The IMPACT survey, though limited to those organisations where a tangible intellectual product is the main output, provides a demonstrable valuation of offered services.

Examines accelerated methods for the corrosion testing of materials, coatings and surface treatments used in the aerospace and defence industries. The drawbacks with some current accelerated corrosion tests are examined, particularly the problems experienced with neutral salt spray tests. Specific examples are given which identify the acute discrepancy between salt spray and marine exposure in the corrosion testing of metallic coatings on steels. Examines some recent advances in corrosion testing of aerospace materials, pre‐treatments and organic coatings, and outlines some preliminary research conducted at DERA Farnborough in developing more accurate test methods.