SAN DIEGO, Calif. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., national security solutions provider and manufacturer of high-performance, jet-powered unmanned aerial systems (UAS), announced that Kratos has received a $37.7 million award from the AFLCMC/WA Advanced Aircraft Program Executive Office.

ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md. ELTA North America announced the delivery of its advanced Counter Drone Solution, the On-The-Move V4 (OTM V4), to address the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Special Operations / Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/LIC) Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) Mobile C-sUAS Defense-in-Depth Capability.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) conducted an autonomous flight using a government-supplied Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) autonomy engine to support air-to-air targeting missions. The CODE autonomy engine was installed on a GA-ASI Avenger Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

ASHBURN, Va. PacStar, a division of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, has won a $25 million contract to upgrade a portion of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Data Network (CDN) that the company says will enable the Marine Corps to extend the benefits of advanced network communications to tactical environments.

NASHUA, N.H. BAE Systems announced that it received a $60 million contract from Lockheed Martin to make and deliver additional advanced missile seekers for the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) used by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.

LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, EL SEGUNDO, Calif. The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Production Corps reports the successful transfer of satellite-control authority of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Space Vehicle 6 to the Space Operations Command, under whose auspices operational acceptance of the AEHF-6 is expected to occur before the end of 2020 once operational testing has successfully concluded.

UNITED STATES and AUSTRALIA. The U.S. and Australia have launched the first agreement to continuously develop a virtual cyber training range. Both nations signed the Cyber Training Capabilities Project Arrangement Nov. 3. The bilateral, international agreement is intended to enable U.S. Cyber Command to incorporate Australian Defense Force feedback into Cybercom's simulated training domain, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE).

ANDOVER, Mass. Mercury Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Physical Optics Corp. of Torrance, California, a company that designs, develops, and integrates advanced technologies that are focused mainly on avionics and mission subsystems for the defense market.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, announced the sale of 36 Shadow aircraft in the latest Block III configuration to the U.S. Army. The total contract award value of $66 million includes ongoing engineering services to continue fielding and supporting the new Block III system configuration.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Abaco Systems, Inc. has announced the SWE440S, an upgrade which builds on the capability of the SWE440A. This fully managed Ethernet switch is designed to align with the SOSA Technical Standard and provide greater interoperability and integration with SBCs, FPGAs, and Ethernet switches while providing cost reduction for customers.

BETHESDA, Md. Lockheed Martin announced the U.S. Space Force has determined the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite (SBIRS GEO-5) is complete and ready for launch in 2021.

CAMARILLO, Calif. and BELLEVUE, Wash. Analog and mixed-signal semiconductor maker Semtech has joined forces with internet protocol (IP) networking company Ripl Networks to deploy an IP mesh, 3D tracking solution for foreign guest and fleet assets at naval ports under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 

ARLINGTON, Va and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Raytheon Intelligence & Space (a Raytheon Technologies business unit) and enterprise AI [artificial intelligence] software provider C3.ai have joined forces to develop AI solutions for defense and aerospace missions for government customers, including the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. intelligence community.

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) enacted on December 1, 2020 what it calls the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), a series of requirements that will become part of all DoD Requests for Information; the ability of contractors to bid on certain types of work with the DoD will depend on their CMMC status going forward.  

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) announced that a team of U.S. Army and academic researchers have developed a novel design to automatically adjust aircraft rotor blade positions while already in-flight, a tactic intended to improve turbine engine performance.