Industry News

Comms

Espionage prompts NASA foreign lockout - News

March 22, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design NASA

WASHINGTON. NASA has issued a temporary lockdown of facilities and research databases to foreign nationals following the arrest of Chinese national Bo Jiang, a former contractor at the agency's Langley Research Center. The security review comes amidst allegations of physical and cyber espionage between the United States and China.

Comms

USAF Theater Deployable Communications program to use Cambium HCLOS radio - News

March 21, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Cambium Networks

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL. The United States Air Force (USAF) has selected Cambium Networks’ Point-To-Point (PTP) 45600 High Capacity Line-of-Site (HCLOS) radio to replace the legacy Radio Frequency Module (RFM) in its Theater Deployable Communications (TDC PMO) program. A General Dynamics program, the TDC PMO is a communications network using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) technology to afford rapid and secure transmission of information between wireless, wireline, or satellite systems.

From The Editor

Budget cuts push Hagel to review Obama defense strategy - News

March 21, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design

WASHINGTON. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered a reevaluation of the defense strategy announced 14 months ago by President Barack Obama. Responding to budget cuts that went into effect on March 1, Hagel spokesman George Little says the Defense Secretary intends to “examine the choices” underlying the current strategy in order to "define the major decisions that must be made in the decade ahead to preserve and adapt our defense strategy."

Radar/EW

Rugged rackmount & shelfmount computers, video wall controller from Trenton meet CE & UL requirements - News

March 20, 2013

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

ATLANTA, GA. Engineers at Trenton Systems have designed a new series with computing system configuration options that ease UL and CE certification compliance in industrial computing and video wall controller applications for military, facility security, and other markets.

Radar/EW

AN/TPY-2 radar from Raytheon delivered to Missile Defense Agency - News

March 19, 2013

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

TEWKSBURY, MA. Raytheon officials delivered their eighth AN/TPY-2 radar to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to serve in terminal mode as the fire control radar in the U.S. Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.

Comms

Trance 3 Typhoon fighter enters electromagnetic testing - News

March 18, 2013

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

LONDON. Officials at BAE Systems announced the they single seat fighter -- the Tranche 3 Typhoon -- has begun electromagnetic testing. EMC testing will last about eight weeks, then the single-seat no 116 aircraft will undergo avionics testing before moving to engine ground runs.

Comms

Visiongain report values military comms/COTS market at $17.4 billion in 2013 - News

March 15, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Visiongain

LONDON. The Visiongain "Global Military Communications & COTS Markets 2013-2023" report projects that military communications investment will reach $17.46 billion in 2013. Released in February, the defense and security report cites the operational advantages of advanced military communications networks as drivers of spending in both mature and emerging markets, and identifies Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) systems and increased public and commercial partnership as critical to the market estimate.

Unmanned

Common Imagery Processor from Northrop Grumman processes, transmits Global Hawk testbed data - News

March 14, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design Northrop Grumman

BALTIMORE. The Northrop Grumman Common Imagery Processor (CIP) demonstrated the ability to receive, process, and disseminate Global Hawk Block 40 data on the Distributed Common Ground System – Imagery (DCGS-I) testbed in a flight event at China Lake, CA in late 2012. After the testbed received Global Hawk Block 40 concurrent modes data, CIP processed and transmitted the data to downstream ground station components for analysis.

Avionics

Air Force endorses F-16 cockpit Center Display Unit from Raytheon - News

March 14, 2013

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

INDIANAPOLIS. Air Force officials endorsed the Center Display Unit (CDU) from Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC (RTSC) as the F-16 cockpit's primary flight reference (PFR). The Air Force also awarded Raytheon a contract to produce the first 100 CDUs. Full-rate production of these displays is already underway.

Unmanned

Navy orders more Fire Scout unmanned helicopters from Northrop Grumman - News

March 13, 2013

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

SAN DIEGO. Northrop Grumman won a U.S. Navy contract valued at more than $71 million to build six more next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. The Fire Scout endurance upgrade, dubbed the MQ-8C and based on Bell Helicopter's 407, will enable ship commanders to have greater range, endurance, and payload capacity over the current Fire Scout MQ-8B variant.

Comms

Troops learn to free fall, pull rip cord with virtual reality simulation - News

March 12, 2013

Alice Moss PARASIM

Avionics

Virtual F-15SA pilot training to be provided to Saudi pilots by Lockheed Martin - News

March 12, 2013

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

ORLANDO, Fla. Lockheed Martin won a $253 million contract agreement to begin designing ground-based maintenance training systems for Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA pilots as part of the country’s F-15SA upgrade program.

Unmanned

DARP's TERN mobile-at-sea UAV program poised for development - News

March 11, 2013

Alice Moss U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Unmanned

Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System qualifies for use on Bell Helicopter 407GT platform - News

March 08, 2013

Brandon Lewis - Technology Editor, Embedded Computing Design BAE Systems

YUMA, AZ. A test of BAE System’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) in Yuma, AZ proved the weapon’s safety and sustainability on a Bell Helicopter 407GT, leading to Bell’s qualification of the rocket for use on the platform. Seven APKWS 70 mm rockets were fired from the 407GT as part of the testing.