Industry News

Comms

3,000th overseas mission for BACN aboard E-11A aircraft - News

August 30, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Northrop Grumman

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 30 – The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) from Northrop Grumman completed its 3,000th overseas mission aboard the E-11A Bombardier Global Express BD-700 aircraft carrying out contingency support on July 14th. The high-altitude airborne communications and information gateway system conducted the mission out of the 451st Tactical Airborne Gateway at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, providing situational awareness and C2 through a collection of computers and radio systems that conducts comms and battlefield information connecting multiple warfighter and command points.

Unmanned

Tactical Ballistic Missile Operational Tests of Lockheed's PAC-3 Missile a success - News

August 30, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Lockheed Martin

DALLAS, Aug. 29 – The PAC-3 Missile destroyed a tactical ballistic missile target today in a U.S. Army Operational Test on Wednesday in New Mexico at the White Sands Missile Range. The test of the Lockheed Martin munition successfully destroyed two incoming Patriot-As-A-Target TBMs and a MQM-107 drone, with two ripple-launched PAC-3s engaging the second of the TBMs. All test objectives appear to have been achieved according to preliminary data.

Comms

Rugged, small form factor computer released by Versalogic - News

August 29, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems VersaLogic Corporation

EUGENE, OR. Engineers at VersaLogic Corp., have designed a rugged, credit-card sized embedded computer – the Falcon – that uses an Intel Atom E6x0T low-power processor.

Comms

Optical, rad-hard transceiver for space applications released by Ultra Communications - News

August 27, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems Ultra I&C

VISTA, CA. Engineers at Ultra Communications are targeting high-speed parallel optical communications for space applications with their radiation-hardened c X80-Q Fury transceiver. The surface-mount device produces a 12.5 Gbps per channel per receiver and has an extended temperature range of -40 to 100 degrees Celsius.

Radar/EW

Lynx radar's maritime wide area search mode performs anti-piracy operations during Navy test - News

August 24, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems

SAN DIEGO ? 22 August 2012 ? The Maritime Wide Area Search (MWAS) mode of the Lynx multi-mode radar from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI) was demonstrated during the U.S. Navy?s Experiment Trident Warrior 2012 (TW12) that took place off the coast of Southern California.

Radar/EW

JITC-certified Rugged SBC, XPedite7332 - News

August 23, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES)

XPedite 7332 from X-ES is a rugged 3U CompactPCI Single Board Computer (SBC) for secure military applications.

Comms

10G ATCA Switch product line added by SANBlaze Technoogy - News

August 23, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems SANBLAZE

LITTLETON, MA. Officials at SANBlaze Technology acquired the AdvancedTCA 10G switch product line from Diversified Technology Inc. (DTI). The company will ensure that fielded integrated solutions with DTI Switch and other products will maintain qualifications without disrupting supply.

Avionics

Aitech Rad-tolerant 3U CompactPCI SBC - News

August 22, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Aitech

Chatsworth, Calif. ? SP0, a 10 W, space-qualified, rad-tolerant 3U CompactPCI Single Board Computer (SBC) for manned and unmanned space systems has been unveiled by Aitech Defense Systems Inc. SP0 is powered by the MPC8548E, a Freescale PowerQUICC-II...

Comms

Tin whisker mitigation research to be performed by Rockwell Collins for DoD program - News

August 22, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems Rockwell Collins

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. Officials at the Department of Defense's (DoD's) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program selected a Rockwell Collins-led team for a research project on the Tin Whiskers Inorganic Coatings Evaluation (TWICE) program. The research will focus on mitigation of the impact tin whiskers have on high-reliability, high-performance electronic systems caused by new lead-free alloys and finishes in the defense and aerospace and defense manufacturing systems and supply chain.

Avionics

Rugged mission computer for avionics, vetronics announced by Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions - News

August 21, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems Curtiss-Wright

HIGH WYCOMBE, United Kingdom. A new Multi-Platform Mission Computer (MPMC) for space, weight and power (SWaP)-constrained avionics and vetronics and avionics applications was announced by Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions (CWCDS).

Comms

U.S. Army orders another 13,000 JTRS HMS Rifleman radios - News

August 20, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems General Dynamics Mission Systems

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. U.S. Army officials ordered another 13,000 Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) AN/PRC-154 Rifleman radios as well as accessory kits from General Dynamics C4 Systems for about $53.9 million. This is the Army?s second order of PRC-154 Rifleman radios, bringing the total to more than 19,000.

Comms

Actuators and rad-hard components from Aeroflex used on Curiosity rover - News

August 17, 2012

John M. McHale III - Editorial Director, Military Embedded Systems Aeroflex

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. Actuators for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which recently landed on on the 4th planet from the Sun were provided by Aeroflex Inc. These Actuators will drive the rover?s wheels, enable steering motion, robotic arm joint motion, camer and high-gain antenna as well as various instrument functions on the Curiosity rover. Curiosity?s mission is to determine whether Mars has ever had the proper conditions to support life.

Avionics

DDC introduces programmable, high-performance 38 channel ARINC 429/717 cards - News

August 16, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Data Device Corporation (DDC)

Today, Data Device Corporation (DDC) unveiled its DD-40X00X line of ARINC 429/717 cards for flight testing and simulation, the first ARINC cards to offer 36 ARINC 429 programmable Tx/Rx channels for hardware in-the-loop testing and 2 ARINC 717 programm...

Radar/EW

Marines select QinetiQ's Dragon Runner 10 - News

August 09, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design QinetiQ North America

LAS VEGAS - The U.S. Marine Corps has placed an urgent $4.3 million order with QinitiQ North America for additional Dragon Runner 10 (DR-10) robots. The latest order for the ten-pound, throwable robots will provide near-term Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance support to dismounted Marines in Afghanistan.

Unmanned

ScanEagle and Shadow UAVs log over 1.3 Million Combat Hours with FreeWave Wireless Data Radios - News

August 09, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design FreeWave Technologies

LAS VEGAS ? AAI Unmanned Systems and Insitu Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, the Shadow and ScanEagle, respectively, have logged more than 1.3 million combat hours using wireless data radios from FreeWave Technologies. The radios, used in Command and Control (C2) applications, have assisted in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions for the duration of the flight hours logged by both platforms.