Industry News

Unmanned

BAE Systems’ 3U CompactPCI SBC at Home on Mars in Curiosity Rover - News

August 07, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design BAE Systems

The Curiosity rover landed on Mars late Sunday evening after traveling 36 weeks and across a 352 million mile expanse of space. Now safely at the base of Gale Crater on the Red Planet, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will begin a two-year scientific ...

Unmanned

Nightlighter Airborne Imaging System Successfully Tested by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems - News

August 07, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

LAS VEGAS ? Successful flight testing and demonstration of the Nightlighter airborne imaging system, a night-time Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection instrument, was announced today by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA?ASI) at AUVSI. The prototype Nightlighter system completed testing on a Twin Otter aircraft during the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)-sponsored Olympus Flight Test at Cactus Flats in China Lake, California in September of 2011, and is scheduled for deployment in the King Air 350 aircraft.

Unmanned

Quad Rotor Vertical Take-off And Landing UAS unveiled by Lockheed Martin at AUVSI - News

August 07, 2012

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Lockheed Martin

LAS VEGAS ? The Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), introduced by Lockheed Martin Procerus Technologies at AUVSI, is a rugged, quad-rotor, dual-sensor platform that featuring perch, stare, and extended hover capabilities for space-constrained reconnaissance applications. The five-pound collapsible system leverages a gimbal mount equipped with a laser illuminator and infrared and electro-optical sensors to provide 360-degree aerial reconnaissance in areas unreachable by fixed-wing systems.

Radar/EW

More Navy Dual Band Radar contracts awarded to Raytheon - News

August 03, 2012

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

TEWKSBURY, Mass. The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon contracts for the multimission air defense radar -- Dual Band Radar -- for the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) next-generation aircraft carrier. Raytheon engineers will improve the radar system's software to maximize power efficiency and prepare the radar suite for the next testing and evaluation phase.

Unmanned

Unmanned Cargo helicopter gets second deployment extension from U.S. Marine Corps - News

August 02, 2012

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

WEBSTER FIELD, Md. U.S. Marine Corps officials extended the deployment the of K-MAX Cargo Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) for the second time this year in theater. K-MAX -- a joint effort by Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace ? was to stay in theater through September 30, the end of this fiscal year. Now its service in Afghanistan will extended for an additional six months with an option to extend through September 2013.

Comms

New software defined radio released by DRS Signal Solutions - News

August 01, 2012

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

ARLINGTON, VA. A new software-defined radio (SDR ? the Picoflexor ? was announced by officials at DRS Signal Solutions, a business unit of DRS Technologies. It uses digital signal processing (DSP) technology such as Xilinx Zynq-7000 EPP devices and iVeia?s Atlas small form factor, low-power processing modules

Radar/EW

Mobile air traffic control radar system for Air Force proposed by ARINC and Lockheed Martin - News

July 31, 2012

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

SYRACUSE, N.Y. A proposal for a transportable air traffic control (ATC) radar system designed to enable U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard units to quickly establish tactical military or disaster-relief airfield operations was submitted by officials at ARINC and Lockheed Martin.

Comms

Two new rad-hard ICs from Texas Instruments enable power savings - News

July 30, 2012

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

DALLAS. Engineers at Texas Instruments have developed two new radiation-hardened ICS ? a floating point digital signal processor (DSP) and a 16M SRAM ? that produce power savings and improve FPGA efficiency.

Radar/EW

G/ATOR radar system sent to Wallops Island for developmental testing - News

July 27, 2012

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

BALTIMORE. The Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) from Northrop Grumman was delivered to Surface Combat Systems Center (SCSC) Wallops Island in Virginia for the beginning developmental test phases. system The final and third phase of developmental test and AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR?s operational assessment will be performed in Yuma, Ariz.

Comms

NSA certification for Soldier Radio Waveform granted on Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radio - News

July 25, 2012

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

MELBOURNE, Fla. Harris Corp. engineers achieved National Security Agency Type-1 certification allowing them to implement the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) in the company?s Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack tactical radio.

Radar/EW

F-15E Radar Modernization Program gets green light to begin LRIP 2 - News

July 24, 2012

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

ST. LOUIS. The F-15E Radar Modernization Program (RMP) ? led by Boeing -- was granted approval from the Air Force to begin Low Rate Initial Production 2 (LRIP 2) of 10 APG-82(V)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar systems.

Comms

New rad-hard DC-DC converter released by International Rectifier - News

July 23, 2012

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

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. Engineers at International Rectifier released the GHP2815S radiation-hardened (rad-hard) DC-DC converter for space applications. The low voltage, 15V/8A single output device is designed for extended operation in extreme environments such as geostationary earth orbit satellites and deeps space probes.

Avionics

Navy gets second P-8A maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing - News

July 20, 2012

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

SEATTLE. The U.S. Navy received the second production P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Boeing. The P-8A is one of 13 low rate initial production (LRIP) maritime patrol aircraft being built for the Navy. The aircraft, which will replace the venerable P-13 aircraft performs anti-surface warfare anti-submarine warfare, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Radar/EW

Small Diameter Bomb II from Raytheon engaged and destroyed target - News

July 19, 2012

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

WHITE SANDS, N.M. The GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) from Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz., engaged and hit a moving target as part of a flight test at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The SDB II is designed to take out moving targets in hazardous weather and through battlefield obscurants.

Comms

Rad-hard switching regulator with adjustable voltage range released by MS Kennedy - News

July 18, 2012

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

MIAMI. Engineers at MS Kennedy in Liverpool, N.Y., featured their MSK 5058RH radiation-hardened (rad-hard) step-down switching regulator controller at the Nuclear Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC), held this week in Miami. The devices operate from 200 KHz to 2.0 MHZ and is a high efficiency .25 integrated switch.