Articles 61 - 80
Comms
Espionage prompts NASA foreign lockout - News
March 22, 2013
WASHINGTON. NASA has issued a temporary lockdown of facilities and research databases to foreign nationals following the arrest of Chinese national Bo Jiang, a former contractor at the agency's Langley Research Center. The security review comes amidst allegations of physical and cyber espionage between the United States and China.
Comms
USAF Theater Deployable Communications program to use Cambium HCLOS radio - News
March 21, 2013
ROLLING MEADOWS, IL. The United States Air Force (USAF) has selected Cambium Networks’ Point-To-Point (PTP) 45600 High Capacity Line-of-Site (HCLOS) radio to replace the legacy Radio Frequency Module (RFM) in its Theater Deployable Communications (TDC PMO) program. A General Dynamics program, the TDC PMO is a communications network using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) technology to afford rapid and secure transmission of information between wireless, wireline, or satellite systems.
From The Editor
Budget cuts push Hagel to review Obama defense strategy - News
March 21, 2013
WASHINGTON. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered a reevaluation of the defense strategy announced 14 months ago by President Barack Obama. Responding to budget cuts that went into effect on March 1, Hagel spokesman George Little says the Defense Secretary intends to “examine the choices” underlying the current strategy in order to "define the major decisions that must be made in the decade ahead to preserve and adapt our defense strategy."
Comms
Visiongain report values military comms/COTS market at $17.4 billion in 2013 - News
March 15, 2013
LONDON. The Visiongain "Global Military Communications & COTS Markets 2013-2023" report projects that military communications investment will reach $17.46 billion in 2013. Released in February, the defense and security report cites the operational advantages of advanced military communications networks as drivers of spending in both mature and emerging markets, and identifies Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) systems and increased public and commercial partnership as critical to the market estimate.
Unmanned
Common Imagery Processor from Northrop Grumman processes, transmits Global Hawk testbed data - News
March 14, 2013
BALTIMORE. The Northrop Grumman Common Imagery Processor (CIP) demonstrated the ability to receive, process, and disseminate Global Hawk Block 40 data on the Distributed Common Ground System – Imagery (DCGS-I) testbed in a flight event at China Lake, CA in late 2012. After the testbed received Global Hawk Block 40 concurrent modes data, CIP processed and transmitted the data to downstream ground station components for analysis.
Unmanned
Small form factor designs balance performance, power - Story
March 12, 2013
Whether next to the sensor on a UAV payload, in a vetronics mission computer, or in a helicopter's avionics bay, computer architectures are shrinking, requiring smaller form factors with the same performance punch as larger designs. The embedded COTS community is offering various Small Form Factor (SFF) flavors - off-the-shelf or customized - while industry groups such as VITA are developing standards to provide some order to the growing SFF demand.
Unmanned
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System qualifies for use on Bell Helicopter 407GT platform - News
March 08, 2013
YUMA, AZ. A test of BAE System’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) in Yuma, AZ proved the weapon’s safety and sustainability on a Bell Helicopter 407GT, leading to Bell’s qualification of the rocket for use on the platform. Seven APKWS 70 mm rockets were fired from the 407GT as part of the testing.
Unmanned
Northrop Grumman designates five centers of excellence in consolidation effort - News
March 07, 2013
FALLS CHURCH, VA. Northrop Grumman has designated five U.S. centers of design and integration excellence as part of a long-term effort to reduce facilities and costs. The centers will consolidate work supporting the company’s Aerospace Systems sector in the areas of manned aircraft, unmanned systems, and electronic attack, and integrate work from elsewhere at sites in Florida, New York, and California. Northrop also announced plans to close its Dominguez Hills, CA, Information Systems sector facility, and complete the closure of the Norwalk, CT site.
Avionics
Boeing, Sikorsky X2 Technology proposed for Army's JMR FVL - News
March 01, 2013
WASHINGTON. Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. will submit a joint proposal to build a demonstrator aircraft based on Sikorsky’s X2 Technology design for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) Phase 1 program, which supports the Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative.
Cyber
DHS/Raytheon collaboration to bolster cybersecurity for critical infrastructure - News
March 01, 2013
WASHINGTON. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will collaborate with Raytheon under the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services (ECS) program outlined in President Obama's recent “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity” Executive Order. In a Memorandum of Agreement, Raytheon will receive information on active malicious cybersecurity threats from the DHS and use the indicators to protect sectors of critical infrastructure, including the defense industrial base.
Avionics
Army helicopter upgrades delayed, virtual training trending - News
February 22, 2013
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-8 Lt. Gen. James Barclay III, , told audiences at the Association of the U.S. Army's (AUSA) Winter Symposium today that fielding of all combat lift and attack helicopters will be delayed due to the completion of a new modernization strategy based sequestration. The Army’s AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 helicopter upgrade programs will be extended by as much as five years, as the Army prepares for a possible loss of $18 billion in maintenance and operations funding if the March 1 sequester takes effect.
Unmanned
FAA solicits SIR for UAS research and test sites, begins privacy policy comment period - News
February 15, 2013WASHINGTON. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) solicited Screening Information Requests (SIRs) yesterday to develop six Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) research and test sites around the United States. As part of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the program will conduct critical research on the integrating UAS platforms into national airspace in the coming years, as well as the navigation and certification requirements needed for such integration. The FAA’s technical evaluation of proposals will consider climactic and geographic diversity, research needs and location of ground infrastructure, and population and air traffic density, among other specific goals and objectives.
Radar/EW
Due Regard Radar successfully tested on Predator B by GA-ASI - News
February 15, 2013
SAN DIEGO. A flight test of the Due Regard Radar (DRR) aboard a Predator B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) has been completed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI). The GA-ASI-funded air-to-air radar system supports the company’s airborne Sense and Avoid (SAA) architecture for the Predator B platform, and its integration and detection and tracking abilities were successfully tested on December 10, 2012 at the GA-ASI Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA.
Cyber
State agencies explain Cybersecurity Executive Order - News
February 14, 2013
Experts from the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other government agencies met at the Commerce Department’s Washington, DC, headquarters on Wednesday to explain President Obama’s Cybersecutiy Executive Order (EO) in detail. Leaders from the primary government agencies stressed that the order, which is based on information sharing and a voluntary framework of cybersecurity best practices, will rely heavily on the willingness of private critical infrastructure industries to collaborate against cyber attacks.
Unmanned
Northrop Grumman UAS Mission Management Control System completes successful flight demonstration - News
February 07, 2013
SAN DIEGO. The first successful flight of the RQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) using Open Architecture (OA)-based Command and Control (C2) software and hardware has been completed by Northrop Grumman. Developed by Northrop’s Common Mission Management System (CMMS), the Mission Management Control System (MMCS) used in the demonstration is an open standards-based common hardware and software architecture intended for implementation across UAS platforms to ease training requirements and increase effectiveness. Held in December, the flight demonstration, was part of the Ground Station Technical Refresh contract and was sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk Program Office.
From The Editor
Proposed revision to Category XI of USML commented on by IPC - News
February 01, 2013
BANNOCKBURN, IL. Global industry association IPC commented on the U.S. Department of State’s (DoS’s) proposed revision to Category XI (military electronics) of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) yesterday, urging the department to revise proposed language regarding controls on International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)-controlled PCBs for defense electronics. In the current draft of the proposed revision, the DoS states that controls for PCBs in “which the layout is ‘specially designed’ for defense articles,” verbiage that IPC believes could be articulated more clearly to address lasting confusion surrounding ITAR’s treatment of printed boards.
Comms
Dissolvable military electronics investigated by DARPA program - News
January 31, 2013
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has begun a program for the development of electronics that are capable of dissolving into the environment after use. The Vanishing Programmable Resources Program (VAPR) is aimed at developing transient electronics that are comparable in ruggedness in functionality to Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) systems currently used, but that can be triggered to self-destruct in a controlled manner.
Comms
FAB-T software qualification testing, AEHF and Milstar C2 demonstration completed by Boeing - News
January 29, 2013
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA. Systems integration testing and software qualification testing of the U.S. Air Force Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminal (FAB-T) development program have been completed at the Boeing plant in Huntington Beach, CA. Along with a demonstration of FAB-T integration with the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) and Milstar mission control subsystem constellations, the recent tests prove the FAB-T system’s abilities controlling strategic satellite communications payloads on orbit.
Comms
DARPA satellite salvage plan aims to save DoD dollars - News
January 24, 2013
ARLINGTON, VA. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced a plan to repurpose older satellites still in geosynchronous orbit. The plan, called the “Phoenix Program,” involves mining older, decommissioned satellites still in orbit with a permanently orbiting ground-controlled robotic mechanic named the Phoenix Service/Tender. After harvesting usable parts, such as transmitters, solar panels, and the antennas of retired spacecraft, the Phoenix Service/Tender would attach mini satellites or “satlets” to the antenna to create a new working satellite.
Unmanned
Raytheon PERM mortar munition to improve USMC fire support - News
January 24, 2013
TUCSON, AZ. Raytheon has been awarded a contract to design, develop, and demonstrate a 120 mm Precision Extended Range Munition (PERM) for the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The long-range guided mortar munition will be fired from the Expeditionary Fire Support System M327 Rifled Towed (RT) mortar in support of the USMC’s air-to-ground taskforce.
Articles 61 - 80
