Military Embedded Systems

SAN DIEGO, California. The military uncrewed systems industry is moving towards greater electrification and away from fossil fuels and more traditional power sources, exhibitors at the XPONENTIAL 2024 show say.

SAN DIEGO, California. BlueHalo is pitching swarming drones that essentially act as a truck for any sensor that the operator wants to put on it, and the company showcased the technology at the XPONENTIAL 2024 exhibition.

SAN DIEGO, California. In the world of uncrewed systems, the U.S. military is more focused on finding commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions that can be fielded rapidly rather than expensive bespoke platforms that take years to develop, sources at the XPONENTIAL 2024 exhibition say.

SAN DIEGO, California. The Department of Defense is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to speed up software improvements to uncrewed vehicles across the services from a matter of months to a few days, a DoD official said at the XPONENTIAL 2024 exhibition on Tuesday.

SAN DIEGO, California. The Department of Defense is working on a second tranche of systems for the Replicator initiative, an effort to field thousands of autonomous systems across multiple domains over an 18- to 24-month time frame, a DoD official said at the XPONENTIAL 2024 exhibition on Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, Virginia. The U.S. Marine Corps chose AeroVironment's Switchblade 300 Block 20 for the initial phase of the Organic Precision Fires-Light (OPF-L) program, the company announced in a statement.

SAN DIEGO, California. Doodle Labs will be at AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2024 to feature its jam-resistant radios that have been used in Ukrainian drones to assist in the country's war with Russia, the company announced in a statement.

MANASSAS, Virginia. RapidFlight will showcase a modular uncrewed aerial system (UAS) built for the U.S. Department of Defense's Replicator initiative at XPONENTIAL 2024, the company announced in a statement.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted the first-ever in-air tests of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms piloting an F-16 fighter jet autonomously in direct combat scenarios against a human-piloted counterpart, the agency announced in a statement.

ARLINGTON, Virginia. AeroVironment and Parry Labs will team up to develop and integrate a modular, next-generation uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) for the U.S. Army's Long Range Reconnaissance program, the companies announced in a statement.

WASHINGTON, DC. Joby Aviation and Sagetech Avionics will collaborate to develop onboard piloted Detect and Avoid (DAA) capabilities, a move aimed at bolstering Joby’s enhanced Visual Flight Rules (eVFR) operations, the companies announced in a statement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Shield AI, a company that develops advanced AI pilot technologies, plans to acquire Sentient Vision Systems, an Australian company specializing in AI-enabled real-time situational awareness technologies, Shield AI announced in a statement.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California. Knightscope and Draganfly will collaborate to integrate Knightscope's Autonomous Security Robots (ASRs) and emergency communications products with Draganfly's drones, Draganfly announced in a statement.

TOKYO, Japan. Milrem Robotics will provide the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces with three THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) configured for tasks including supply transportation and intelligence gathering, the company announced in a statement.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands. Dutch military procurement agency Command Materiel and IT (COMMIT) chose Thales to provide seven additional Ground Master 200 Multi-Mission Compact radars (GM200 MM/C), with an option to acquire two more, the company announced in a statement.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) chose Lockheed Martin to develop the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI), a new addition to the nation’s missile defense arsenal, the company announced in a statement.

LONDON, United Kingdom. The UK Ministry of Defence has announced plans to fast-track the development of the DragonFire laser weapon system for installation on Royal Navy ships, MBDA announced in a statement.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado. Rocket Lab will design and build a spacecraft capable of rendezvous proximity operations for U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC), the company announced in a statement.

HAIFA, Israel. The Israeli navy conducted a test of Rafael's C-DOME system -- a naval version of the Iron Dome system -- to intercept a target at sea, Rafael announced in a statement.

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California. BAE Systems launched a new weather satellite, the Weather System Follow-on – Microwave (WSF-M), to enhance the U.S. Space Force’s capabilities in environmental monitoring, the company announced in a statement.