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March 25, 2021 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

Bluestaq wins $280 million contract for space situational awareness library

Bluestaq will continue its work on the Unified Data Library, a one stop shop for space domain awareness data.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/03/24/bluestaq-wins-280-million-contract-for-space-situational-awareness-library/

On the same subject

  • Rowan University Project Will Develop Composite Materials Used to Protect Soldiers

    August 27, 2019 | International, Land

    Rowan University Project Will Develop Composite Materials Used to Protect Soldiers

    By Kimberly Hoodin Rowan University will lead a $14.5 million Department of Defense/Army Research Lab project to create new composite materials – and ways to process those materials – that will help modernize the Army and improve the safety of soldiers in the field. The project, titled “Advancing Structural Materials for Army Modernization Priorities via Direct-Write Approaches,” will be led by researchers from Rowan University teamed with PPG, Drexel University, Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create new advanced composite and plastic materials and ways to process them. The project is driven by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory. The team will work on developing innovative materials by using “cold-spray” advanced manufacturing technologies. The work will focus on polymers, starting with polystyrene, then move on to more advanced composite materials and systems, as designated by the Army. “The high particle velocity of cold spray enables rapid cure and adhesion of polymers. This should result in the fast and efficient production of high-performance composite parts or repair of parts,” said John La Scala, associate chief the ARL's Materials and Manufacturing Sciences Division and cooperative agreement manager for the research program. “Additionally, this novel manufacturing methodology is a layer-by-layer production of composites, which should reduce void and flaw content. This should improve strength and durability significantly, thereby opening the potential of using this manufacturing technique to prepare composites for extreme conditions, while replacing the current expensive manufacturing methods with a much more economical methodology.” Researchers hope to develop materials to be used for making military equipment stronger and lighter, soldiers more agile and vehicles more durable. Longer-term, the team sees the potential for use of the materials in the fields of civil aviation, automotive, health care and space exploration. “We will work to make materials more quickly, to make them better and easier to repair offsite and, importantly, onsite in the field,” Dr. Joe Stanzione, associate professor of chemical engineering at Rowan University said. “That includes everything from parts for tanks and jeeps, to usable tools, and helmets.” http://compositesmanufacturingmagazine.com/2019/08/rowan-university-project-will-develop-composite-materials-used-to-protect-soldiers/

  • No Shipbuilding Plan, But Navy Works On New Ships To Counter China

    May 19, 2020 | International, Naval

    No Shipbuilding Plan, But Navy Works On New Ships To Counter China

    The Navy and Marine Corps' vision of a future surface fleet is starting to come together, even if they're still waiting for the Defense Secretary and Congress to give their blessings. By PAUL MCLEARY WASHINGTON: The Navy might not yet have an overarching plan to design and build its fleet of the future, but it is taking small steps that provide clues as to where service leadership wants to go. Over the past week, the Navy announced two industry days to meet with prospective shipbuilders for a new class of logistics ship that can operate under fire, and an unmanned anti-mine vessel, both new programs that would allow the Navy and Marine Corps to push deeper into contested territory in the Pacific, and keep troops and sailors resupplied once they get there. The Next Generation Medium Logistics Ship is the bigger effort, representing an entirely new class of manned ship designed to operate in a crowded environment while supplying ships at sea and a new, lighter, Marine force on the ground that is currently being designed by Commandant Gen. David Berger. A May 15 post on a government contracting website asked the defense industry for their ideas, explaining that the Navy is looking for ships that are “smaller than existing ships in the Combat Logistics Force, and will operate near contested environments, sustaining afloat (Surface Action Group) and ashore (Expeditionary Advanced Base) requirements.” The expeditionary advanced base idea is part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the Marine Corps to get lighter, faster, and more deadly by employing precision weapons the Corps hopes to integrate into its formations in the coming years. Berger is working to stand up several Marine Littoral Regiments, with the first based in Hawaii and falling under the Japan-based III Marine Expeditionary Force. The first three regiments, designed to move fast and have anti-air and possibly anti-ship weapons, will be based in the Pacific region, pointing to where Berger and the Marines see the pacing threat coming from in the future. Relying on smaller units armed with precision weapons that can operate inside the weapons range of an enemy, moving in tight waterways and using small islands to provide cover for naval air air forces is key to the emerging Marine Corps vision, which has its eye cast squarely on the South China Sea. More broadly, Berger plans to lop off a significant portion of the Corps' traditional strength — artillery, armor, and rotary wing lift — in favor of a leaner, more precise and much faster force. The Navy, conversely, while pledging to move forward with some unmanned ship plans, generally wants to retain its huge nuclear aircraft carriers, dozens of big deck amphibs, and an aging destroyer fleet while introducing a new frigate to the mix. Not all those ships would be able to move as far afield as the new Marine regiments, making support and resupply an issue, though a new class of frigates, which the Navy selected earlier this month, could possibly fit the bill. The small, multi-mission ships will be more maneuverable than Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and will come with the Aegis combat system, 32 vertical launch cells, the new SPY-6 radar system, and more power generation capabilities that will make it capable of sustaining new directed-energy weapons as they become available. “I see it doing multiple things, this is going to be a real workhorse supporting distributed maritime operations in the future,” Vice Adm. James Kilby, deputy chief for warfighting requirements and capabilities, recently said. To supply those Marines ashore, the Navy believes there are several types of commercial vessels which may be able to perform these missions, but is also considering” conversion of existing vessels, new construction, or a combination of conversions and new construction in order to acquire the required number of Next Generation Logistics Ships,” the solicitation said. On May 13, the Navy also announced a virtual industry day for the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vehicle program, one of several unmanned efforts the service is planning to bolster the larger, manned fleet. “The purpose of this industry day is to improve industry's understanding of how the MCM USV program fits into the Navy's plans to expand the use of unmanned vehicles,” according to the notice, which adds the MCM “will be a ship-launched or shore-launched, open architecture (OA), surface vehicle capable of autonomous safe navigation and mission execution.” The plans for both programs — and the frigate, as well — depend on what a study being helmed by Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist finds in his look at the Navy's Integrated Navy Force Structure Assessment, which the Pentagon blocked the Navy from releasing in February, as planned. After being briefed on the plan for building a 355-ship fleet over the next decade, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the Navy he was taking over the project, and putting Norquist in the lead of relooking the plan. It's not clear what issues Esper had with the plan, but some officials and experts have speculated that the Navy isn't moving fast enough to divest of older, larger ships in favor of smaller, faster and unmanned vessels. Esper has said he expects the study to be complete by July. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/no-shipbuilding-plan-but-navy-works-on-new-ships-to-counter-china/

  • Vietnam boosts defence cooperation with Canada, Australia

    June 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Vietnam boosts defence cooperation with Canada, Australia

    NDO/VNA - Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on June 16 engaged in two online talks with Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of Canada's Department of National Defence, and Peter Tesch, Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy & Intelligence at Australia's Department of Defence. Canadian and Australian ambassadors and military attaches to Vietnam also took part in the talks. During the talks, Vinh informed the Australian and Canadian officials on the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam, attributing the good outcomes in controlling the disease to concerted efforts of the entire political system, with the Vietnam People's Army serving as the core and vanguard force. Highlighting the importance of international collaboration in the fight against the pandemic, he thanked Australian and Canadian defence bodies' cooperation in sharing information on COVID-19 prevention, control, research and treatment. He hoped the joint work will last for long given the COVID-19 complexities. On the occasion, Vinh and his counterparts reviewed outcomes of Vietnam-Australia and Vietnam-Canada defence ties in the past time and sought agreement on future orientations with a stress on military medical coordination in disease prevention and control. All sides vowed that they will not allow the pandemic to hinder their thriving cooperation. The Vietnamese and Canadian officials expressed their delight at breakthroughs in the relations of the sides after their defence ministers exchanged visits, particularly in human resources training and UN peace keeping mission. The Canadian side said it plans to set up a military attaché office in Vietnam this year, and the two sides agreed to push for the establishment of a bilateral defence policy dialogue mechanism toward building a three-year cooperation scheme for the two defence ministries. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Australia took note of outstanding joint work, such as Australian military aircraft, for the second time, transporting personnel of Vietnam's level-2 field hospital to South Sudan for peacekeeping mission. The sides also began teaming up to organise activities in searching for Vietnamese soldiers going missing during wartime, shooting skills exchanges; and discussions on women, peace and security. Vinh stated Vietnam's Defence Ministry is committed to the effective implementation of defence cooperation with Australia and Canada based on signed documents and agreements for the benefit of the sides involved and of the region. The official also informed his counterparts on the schedule of activities during the year Vietnam serves as Chair of ASEAN 2020 and its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021. He highlighted Vietnam's determination in strengthening collaboration within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus. He stressed Vietnam backs Canada's responsible participation in the region in line with ASEAN's consensus principle and praised Australia's success in hosting the first informal ASEAN – Australia defence ministers' meeting. https://en.nhandan.org.vn/politics/item/8778302-vietnam-boosts-defence-cooperation-with-canada-australia.html

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