HUDSON, New Hampshire. BAE Systems reports that it successfully completed test shots of its APKWS [Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System] laser-guided rockets from a tactical configuration ground-based weapon system for the first time. The ground-launch capability, says the company, builds on hundreds of successful shots during combat from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.

MOSES LAKE, Wash. magniX and AeroTEC, aerospace testing and engineering companies, announced the flight of an all-electric Cessna Grand Caravan 208B. The flight of the eCaravan, magnified by a 750-horsepower (560 kW) magni500 propulsion system, took place at the AeroTEC Flight Test Center at the Grant County International Airport (KMWH) in Moses Lake, Wash.

VALENCIA, California. Intelligent biosensor/digital health provider PercuSense has won a contract worth $4.6 million from the U.S. government's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a continuous monitoring platform for warfighters that enables early detection of toxic chemical exposure.

TEMPE, Ariz. Comtech Telecommunications Corp. announced that during its third quarter of fiscal 2020, its Tempe, Ariz.-based subsidiary, Comtech EF Data Corp., which is part of Comtech’s Commercial Solutions segment, received a $4.7 million contract for engineering services from a large prime U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contractor to support a critical Air Force and Army Anti-jam Modem (A3M) program under the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).

WASHINGTON. The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellite program, commonly referred to as NGG, completed its preliminary design reviews (PDR) for its two candidate mission payloads, May 21.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. Elements of the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) technical standard are leveraging standards developed by the VITA Standards Organization, specifically VITA 65, also known as OpenVPX. VITA has also become a participating member of the SOSA Consortium along with the Air Force, Army, and Navy. This harmonization between the services, industry, and industry standardization bodies helps drive the SOSA initiative’s strong momentum within the defense community. This webcast titled, "SOSA and VITA: Enabling Open Standards for Improved Capability," to be held on Wednesday, June 24, at 2 pm Est., will cover how the SOSA Consortium is working with VITA to enable standardization of VITA-based standards within the SOSA Technical Standard.

SOLOMONS, Maryland. Officials at the Open Group and the consortia they manage - the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) - are organizing the The Open Group FACE and SOSA Consortia Expo & TIM, to be held September 22, 2020 at the Holiday Inn Solomons Conference Center & Marina in Solomons, Maryland. FACE and SOSA Consortia Meetings will be held September will follow the expo at the same location from Sept. 23-25, 2020.

GETAFE. The Airbus A400M new generation airlifter has achieved a new decisive milestone after the certification of its Automatic Low Level Flight capability, offering a unique-in-its-class capability for a military transport aircraft.

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. Citadel Defense, full-spectrum counter-drone solutions company, released new software incorporating deepfake neural networks to protect against adversarial spoofing tactics.

AUSTIN, Texas. SparkCognition, company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), announced the creation of SparkCognition Government Systems (SGS), full-spectrum AI company devoted to government and national defense, a first according to the company. SGS, a wholly owned subsidiary of SparkCognition, intends to offer next-generation, AI-powered systems to address national security needs.

ISRAEL. RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems announced that it has been awarded a contract to supply 5th generation Litening and RecceLite airborne electro-optical systems for installation on a combat platform of an undisclosed air force.

BEND, Ore. Octopus ISR's imaging technology includes a full HD 30x optical zoom, global shutter EO sensor, a 15x optical zoom MWIR sensor, laser range finder with up to 20km measuring range, and a laser pointer, designed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and small manned aviation platforms used for border control, military purposes, and civil applications.

WASHINGTON. Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0 on May 16 in a U.S. Navy test.

WASHINGTON. Blue Prism, company specializing in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), announced that is has partnered with the ImmixGroup to deliver intelligent automation solutions to the U.S. Army via its Computer Hardware Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) Program.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. A new study published in the International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology showed that the U.S. Army could detect and monitor the wear and tear of 3-D printed maraging steel through sensor measurement.