Military Embedded Systems

EUROPE. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) awarded a contract to Airbus Defense and Space Airborne Solutions (ADAS), a 100% subsidiary of Airbus Defense and Space and company specializing in remotely piloted aircraft systemts (RPAS) services, and its partner Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to operate a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) RPAS for Maritime Aerial Surveillance services.

AUSTRALIA. Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KONGSBERG) has placed a Purchase Order with BAE Systems Australia for an initial batch of Passive Radio Frequency Sensors for the Joint Strike Missile (JSM).

SAN DIEGO, Calif. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing announced they are partnering to jointly pursue opportunities for a 100 kW-class scalable to 250 kW-class High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system to support a variety of air and missile defense applications.

CHICAGO, Ill. The Boeing Loyal Wingman aircraft being developed with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) recently moved under its own power for the first time, a milestone for the aircraft that’s expected to make its first flight this year.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio. Flight testing of the ROBOpilot unmanned air platform has been resumed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Center for Rapid Innovation (CRI) and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated. The platform completed a fourth flight test at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, during which ROBOpilot flew for approximately 2.2 hours, completing all test objectives.

UNITED KINGDOM. Leonardo demonstrated integrated capabilities between a manned aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This took place in the U.K. during Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) trials between a Leonardo AW159 Wildcat helicopter and a semi-autonomous UAV from Callen-Lenz Associates.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. The U.S. Air Force has met Full Operational Capability (FOC) readiness for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar on Air National Guard F-16s to meet a U.S. Northern Command Joint Emergent Operational Need (JEON) for homeland defense.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. AeroVironment, Inc., company specializing in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), announced it secured a $8.3 million firm-fixed-price U.S. Department of Defense FMS contract award for Puma 3 AE tactical UAS, training, and support to an allied nation.

UNITED KINGDOM. The latest concepts under development for the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) next generation combat air system have been revealed by British engineers on the program. Delivering the technology will be Team Tempest, a U.K. technology and defense partnership formed by BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, and the RAF, and also involving hundreds of high-tech companies and academia across the U.K.  

MELBOURNE, Fla. L3Harris Technologies will develop and integrate an end-to-end satellite system under a $193 million firm fixed-price contract for the Space Development Agency. L3Harris will support the agency with technology that will protect against advanced missiles, such as hypersonic.

ARLINGTON, Va. BAE Systems has unveiled a next-generation cyber-threat detection and mitigation solution for U.S. military platforms called Fox Shield to help platforms detect and respond to cyber attacks in real time.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp., has been selected by Boeing to provide its NAV-4500 navigation receivers for the T-7A Red Hawk, the U.S. Air Force’s new advanced pilot training system in development by both Boeing and Saab.

Counter-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems are pivotal players on the electromagnetic spectrum. In this podcast, Emma Helfrich, guest host and associate editor with Military Embedded Systems, talks with Ryan Hurt, vice president of business development at Liteye Systems, to discuss the C-UAV systems that equip the U.S. Army. Helfrich and Hurt cover the Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities, like radar and sensors, that power C-UAV systems and further the idea that innovation is dependent on data processing and intelligent algorithms to reduce the sensor-to-shooter timeline and protect the Army from aerial threats.

CARLSBAD and SIMI VALLEY, Calif. Viasat Inc., a global communications company, and AeroVironment, Inc., company specializing in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), announced they will collaborate on a contract awarded under the U.S. Army Reconfigurable Communications for Small Unmanned Systems (RCSUS) initiative. The project will aim to provide U.S. military customers flying small UAS platforms the ability to deploy a robust, on-demand, highly-secure communications network that will address growing electronic warfare capabilities of adversaries.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.  Abaco Systems announced that it has won orders from a major European technology company that will see Abaco's range of hardware platforms be integrated into a new helicopter cabin computer.

FAIRFAX, Va. Knowesis, company specializing in data analysis and strategic communications, has won the Data Visualization and Analytics (DVA) Services contract in support of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation (AFSAC) Directorate, a component responsible for ensuring the delivery of air systems and airpower deployment around the globe.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. Northrop Grumman Corporation is moving into the design phase of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Aether Spy next-generation multifunction radar program after completing the System Requirements Review (SRR).

TUCSON, Ariz. Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, has announced the StormBreaker smart weapon has been approved for use on the F-15E by the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command. The fielding decision means that F-15E squadrons can now be equipped with StormBreaker and deployed for missions, according to Raytheon.

AUSTRALIA. Airbus has been selected by the Commonwealth of Australia (CoA) to develop a Communications and Mission System modernization upgrade for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet.

POWAY, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has won a $950 million ceiling Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for the maturation, demonstration, and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains, leveraging open systems design, modern software and algorithm development in order to enable Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2).