Industry News

Comms

Upgraded GPS operational control system paves way for M-Code roll-out - News

March 30, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON. As part of the U.S. military’s effort to modernize the Global Positioning System (GPS), the U.S. Space Force has been upgrading its existing GPS Ground Operational Control System (OCS). The Space Force recently announced Operational Acceptance of the GPS Contingency Operations (COps) upgrade, developed by Lockheed Martin. COps enabled control of the operational GPS constellation, now containing 21 M-Code capable GPS satellites.

Cyber

Predator Mission Trainer installed at flight training center - News

March 30, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

POWAY, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has installed a new Predator Mission Trainer (PMT) at its Flight Test and Training Center (FTTC) in Grand Forks, N.D. The aircraft flight simulator, produced by CAE, will be used to train operators of MQ-9 Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA).

Radar/EW

Optical interconnects to bolster digital microelectronics - News

March 27, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Intel Corporation U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

WASHINGTON. Researchers from Intel and Ayar Labs working on DARPA’s Photonics in the Package for Extreme Scalability (PIPES) program have replaced the traditional electrical input/output (I/O) of a state-of-the-art field programmable gate array (FPGA) with efficient optical signaling interfaces.

Comms

AEHF-6 satellite now in communication with Space Force - News

March 27, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The first national security launch for the U.S. Space Force and the final satellite to build out the protected communications constellation is now connected.

Unmanned

Detect and Avoid System to equip two MQ-9 RPA - News

March 27, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

POWAY, Calif. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the Air National Guard (ANG) have signed a contract for GA-ASI to supply its Detect and Avoid System (DAAS) for one MQ-9 Block 1 and one MQ-9 Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA).

Comms

25 cm resolution SAR imaging achieved with smallsats - News

March 26, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems ICEYE

HELSINKI. Finnish New Space company ICEYE unveiled its latest capability of 25 cm resolution imaging with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) small satellites (smallsats), utilizing the company's current commercial SAR satellite constellation in-orbit. With this high-resolution imaging capability, ICEYE SAR data achieves the same resolution class provided by larger, conventional commercial SAR satellites operating at their highest performance.

Unmanned

C-UAS hardware ordered for DIB COVID-19 efforts - News

March 26, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Liteye Systems, Inc.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. Liteye Systems, Inc., counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) developer, announced the receipt of an add-on specialty production order for $3 million. The contract will ensure delivery of hardware for U.S. Government urgent requirements during this unprecedented time dealing with COVID-19.

Avionics

U.S. Army chooses two companies to produce prototypes for armed recon helicopter project - News

March 26, 2020

Lisa Daigle - Assistant Managing Editor, Military Embedded Systems Textron Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company

WASHINGTON. The U.S. Army has selected Bell Helicopter Textron (Fort Worth, Texas) and Sikorsky Aircraft (Stratford, Connecticut) for the design and testing of the Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Competitive Prototypes to continue into phase two of the program. The two vendors selected are

Unmanned

Automated µMA-X system to support next-gen UUVs - News

March 25, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Mitcham Industries, Inc.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas. Mitcham Industries, Inc. announced that its Klein Marine Systems unit has recently delivered the first micro-MA-X (µMA-X System) in support of U.S. Navy Next Generation Small-Class Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) evaluation sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

Comms

Contract win for satellite-comms provision for National Guard Bureau - News

March 25, 2020

Lisa Daigle - Assistant Managing Editor, Military Embedded Systems NIC4

TAMPA, Fla. Satellite-communications company NIC4 (a division of Network Innovations) has won a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) modernization and support contract to handle mission-critical communications for the National Guard Bureau (NGB).

Radar/EW

Condor MK3 radars to be upgraded for Brazilian AF - News

March 24, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Raytheon Company

DULLES, Va. Raytheon Company is modernizing the Brazilian Air Force's surveillance radars across the Amazon. Raytheon will upgrade seven legacy radars to the next-generation Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar system, Condor Mk3, increasing efficiency and reducing electric energy consumption.

Cyber

Cybersecurity fortified for USAF weapons systems - News

March 23, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems KBR

HOUSTON, Texas. KBR announced that it has been awarded a $26.8 million task order to provide additional cybersecurity engineering support to the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Engineering Directorate Cyber Systems Engineering Division.

Comms

Technological innovation, COTS use will drive U.S. DoD growth in next few years, study says - News

March 23, 2020

Lisa Daigle - Assistant Managing Editor, Military Embedded Systems Frost & Sullivan

SAN ANTONIO, Texas. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is expected to spend an estimated $481 billion between 2018 and 2024 to identify and develop new technologies for advanced weapon systems, giving rise to numerous revenue opportunities in this space, according to a recent study by Frost & Sullivan, "U.S. Defense Science and Technology Research Market, Forecast to 2024."

A.I.

Artificial intelligence to equip M88 fleet at tactical edge - News

March 23, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems Raytheon Company Uptake

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. Raytheon Company and Uptake, industrial-use artificial intelligence (AI) software company, have teamed to bring predictive maintenance capabilities to deployed U.S. Marine Corps teams using M88 armored recovery vehicles.

Unmanned

Australian tactical UAS replacement project selects companies - News

March 20, 2020

Emma Helfrich - Technology Editor, Military Embedded Systems

AUSTRALIA. The replacement of the Australian Army’s Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) through project LAND 129 Phase 3 has progressed to the tendering process.