Contracts for July 21, 2021

On the same subject

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  February 13, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  Space Force awards $253.6M contract for protected comms

  By: Nathan Strout The Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $253.6 million contract to develop a payload that would provide a higher level of protection to war fighters relying on satellite communications on the battlefield. The contract is for the Protected Tactical SATCOM payload, the service announced Feb. 12. Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) is the Space Force's planned next generation anti-jamming satellite system, which will provide tactical communications for war fighters all over the world — including the polar regions — using the Protected Tactical Waveform. As PTS is developed, the Space Force plans to begin offering Protected Tactical Waveform communications over the Wideband Global SATCOM system and later commercial satellites systems. The Space Force said in a statement it will award up to four payload development contracts. According to the FY 2021 Space Force budget request, the service is employing a spiral development strategy that will incrementally deploy prototypes progressively demonstrating new anti-jamming technologies. The payloads will be designed to potentially be hosted on other satellites as a cost saving measure. The contract was awarded through the Space Enterprise Consortium. “We are excited to partner with Northrop Grumman to enable the rapid development of a protected communications prototype payload,” said Col. Dennis O. Bythewood, program executive officer for the Space and Missile Systems Center's Development Corps. “The technology maturation and prototyping effort conducted under the SpEC (Space Enterprise Consortium) Other Transaction Agreement will allow SMC to harness the innovation of partnerships between traditional defense and non-traditional/small business contractors with a projected on-orbit capability three years earlier than a traditional acquisition.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/02/13/space-force-awards-2536m-protected-tactical-satcom-contract

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  April 3, 2023 | International, C4ISR

  Space Force fleshing out second phase of missile-tracking program

  The program is one component of the Space Force’s plan to strengthen missile tracking capabilities against threats from Russia and China.

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  August 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  New Tool Developed to Improve Pilot Visibility

  8/14/2020 By Connie Lee Special Operations Command and the Army are adopting new technology to improve visibility during flight operations in degraded conditions. Sierra Nevada Corp. was selected for the third phase of the degraded visual environment pilotage system competition following a 2015 airborne test. The company's most recent contract modification includes full-rate production, according to a company news release. Paul Bontrager, Sierra Nevada's vice president for government relations, said the system will help pilots operate in areas with limited visibility such as fog and dust. “We've always had a hard time flying in snow and flying in dirt,” he said. “In Army aviation we've been waiting for this technology to mature, and it has.” To enable pilots to maintain their situational awareness, the product has multiple features such as cameras and radars, he said. The system also has light detection and ranging. By combining sensors, a pilot is able to see a more accurate picture of the surrounding environment. Additionally, there are different versions of the system with varying amounts of sensors, he noted. Sierra Nevada can take data from multiple sensors and fuse the imagery onto a screen, he said. “A camera can do so much,” he said. “But then a lidar can actually paint the landing area and give a lot of detail about the surface.” The military has often had to fly in challenging operating environments, he noted. In the Middle East, pilots would often experience “brown out,” which occurs when visibility is impacted by dust and sand which has resulted in crashes, he said. “When we got embroiled in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was a significant thing,” he said. “We actually had more losses in the more recent years when it wasn't direct combat operations. We have more losses annually due to flying into planet Earth unintentionally than we do from enemy fire.” The degraded visual environment pilotage system is likely to be used in Army Chinooks and Black Hawks, and any aircraft with lifting capacity, he noted. “These are aircraft that have to land and take-off ... in all environments,” he said. “This is where it's most likely to be used initially ... and hopefully all aircraft will be outfitted with this technology eventually.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/8/14/new-tool-developed-to-improve-pilot-visibility