August 17, 2023 | International, Land, Security
Why new tech hasn’t revolutionized warfare in Ukraine
The Ukraine war is being waged with a host of advanced technologies, but in other ways this war seems very old.
September 18, 2018 | International, C4ISR
BAE Maturing microelectronics for next-generation radar, electronic warfare, and communications systems
BAE Systems has signed a cooperative agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for Phase 1 of a technical effort to transition gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology developed by the U.S. Air Force to our Advanced Microwave Products (AMP) Center.
We've signed a cooperative agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for Phase 1 of a technical effort to transition gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology developed by the U.S. Air Force to our Advanced Microwave Products (AMP) Center. As part of the effort, we'll transfer and further enhance the technology, and scale it to 6-inch wafers to slash per-chip costs and improve the accessibility of this defense-critical technology.
GaN technology provides broad frequency bandwidth, high efficiency, and high transmit power in a small footprint, making it ideal for next-generation radar, electronic warfare, and communications systems. Under the agreement, we will work with AFRL to establish a 140-nanometer GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) process that will be qualified for production by 2020, with products available to Department of Defense (DoD) suppliers through an open foundry service.
“Millimeter-wave GaN technologies today are produced in research and development laboratories in low volumes at high associated costs or in captive foundries that are not broadly accessible to defense suppliers,” said Scott Sweetland, Advanced Microwave Products director at BAE Systems. “This effort will leverage AFRL's high-performance technology and BAE Systems' 6-inch manufacturing capability to advance the state of the art in GaN MMIC performance, reliability, and affordability while providing broader access to this critical technology.”
The work on this project will primarily take place in our 70,000-square-foot Microelectronics Center (MEC) in Nashua, New Hampshire, where we research, develop, and produce compound semiconductor materials, devices, circuits, and modules for a wide range of microwave and millimeter-wave applications. The MEC has been an accredited DoD Category 1A Trusted Supplier since 2008, and fabricates integrated circuits in production quantities for critical DoD programs.
As part of the project, the AMP Center team will work closely with the company's FAST LabsTM research organization and MMIC design experts from ENGIN-IC.
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April 1, 2020 | International, Naval
Amentum Awarded $87 Million Navy Contract for Systems Engineering Support
Germantown, Md.; March 26, 2020 – Amentum, a leading contractor to U.S. federal and allied governments, has been awarded a new contract by Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division worth up to $87 million. Under the contract, Amentum will provide systems engineering support to naval weapons systems, weapon control systems, and warfare systems for ballistic missile and guided missile submarines and surface ships, including Aegis, Ship Self-Defense System, DDG-1000 Guided Missile Destroyers, Guided Missile Frigates, and U.S. Coast Guard cutters. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has one base year and four one-year option periods. “We have been a strategic partner to the Navy for more than 40 years providing systems engineering support at Dahlgren,” said John Vollmer, Chief Executive Officer of Amentum. “Many of our people there have decades of engineering and operational experience in the Strategic Systems Program Office and on Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile programs. Our unique experience combined with our engineering and software tools allows us to offer real-world solutions to complex and ever-changing combat system and fleet challenges.” Work under the contract will primarily be performed at Dahlgren, Va.; Dam Neck, Va.; Washington Navy Yard; and Pittsfield, Mass. ### About Amentum Amentum is a premier global technical and engineering services partner supporting critical programs of national significance across defense, security, intelligence, energy, and environment. We draw from a century-old heritage of operational excellence, mission focus, and successful execution underpinned by a strong culture of safety and ethics. Headquartered in Germantown, Md., we employ more than 20,000 people in 48 states and 28 foreign countries and territories. Visit us at amentum.com to explore how we deliver excellence for our customers' most vital missions. Contacts: For Amentum: Christine Fuentes +1 (540) 219-5636 christine.fuentes@amentum.com Follow @Amentum_corp on Twitter View source version on Amentum: https://www.amentum.com/2020/03/26/amentum-awarded-87-million-navy-contract-for-systems-engineering-support/
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June 29, 2018 | International, C4ISR
A Senate panel wants to spend an extra $400 million on microelectronics
By: Daniel Cebul When the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense released a summary of their spending priorities June 26, the bill included a significant increase for one emerging technology. The panel recommended setting aside an additional $447 million for microelectronics. Specifically, the committee wanted to ensure the Department of Defense has access to trusted microelectronics and can develop manufacturing processes for next-generation microprocessor chips. To do so, the bill raised the fiscal year 2019 research, development, testing and evaluation budget for microelectronic technology from $169 million in the president's fiscal year 2019 budget request to $616 million. Already, concern about the domestic production of microelectronics is expected to be part of a large defense industrial base review now underway. But what exactly are microelectronics, and why is their development worth so much to DoD? Microelectronic chips are essentially integrated electric circuits that regulate energy consumption, and perform complex computations that enable capabilities like global positioning systems, radar and command and control. Imagine all of the components that go into your computer ― memory, graphics processors, wifi modules, etc ― all on a single silicon chip, called a wafer. eading-edge wafers typically are 300 mm in diameter and loaded with transistors, resistors, insulators and conductors that control the flow of electrons (read electrical energy) across the chip. The smaller and smaller these components are, specifically transistors, the more can be fit on a chip, enabling faster and more efficient processing. Transistors themselves are measured in nanometers (nm), and are unfathomably small to most non-scientists and engineers. One nanometer equates to a billionth of meter! To put that into perspective, the average diameter of a human hair is 75,000 nm. The most cutting-edge transistors used in microelectronics measure between 10 and 7 nm, and are expected to get smaller in coming years. Smaller and smaller transistors will contribute to breakthroughs in “machine learning, data sorting for recognition of events, and countering electromagnetic threats,” according to a Defense Advance Research Project Agency backgrounder. Because Pentagon leaders believe this technology is vital for current and future capabilities, technology officials say it is important DoD can trust microelectronics are reliable and secure from adversary attacks and sabotage. For this reason, DARPA launched the five-year, up to $200 million Electronics Resurgence Initiative in September 2017 “to nurture research in advanced new materials, circuit design tools, and system architectures.” A key thrust of this initiative is partnership with top universities through the Joint University Microelectronics Program, or JUMP. The program enlists top researchers to work on proejcts like cognitive computing, secure cellular infrastructure to support autonomous vehicles and intelligent highways and other technologies enabled by microelectronics. Under the Senate defense subcommittee's markup, ERI received an additional $30 million to help “reestablish U.S. primacy in assured microelectronics technology.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2018/06/28/a-senate-panel-wants-to-spend-an-extra-400-million-on-microelectronics/