Deep Learning Model Speeds Up, Automates Satellite Image Analysis

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  December 6, 2019 | International, Land

  FLIR Wins U.S. Army Heavyweight Robot Contract Worth Up to $109M

  Arlington, Va., December 4, 2019 - FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced that its Kobra™ robot has been chosen for the United States (U.S.) Army's Common Robotic System-Heavy (CRS-H) program. The five-year production contract to build upwards of 350 unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is worth up to $109 million. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191204005221/en/ The CRS-H program will give the Army a ‘program of record' to build and sustain a fleet of large UGVs for years to come. The CRS-H platform calls for a robot weighing up to 700 pounds. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units will use the system to perform a range of missions, such as disarming vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), unexploded ordnance, or related heavy-duty tasks. A variety of sensors and payloads also can be added to the UGV to support other missions. “We are pleased to be selected for the U.S. Army's CRS-H program and deliver lifesaving robotic technology to our soldiers,” said Jim Cannon, president and CEO at FLIR. “This award exemplifies why we acquired Endeavor Robotics earlier this year — to capture strategic programs of record that enable us to integrate advanced solutions for the warfighter, give us the fuel to grow our business, and strengthen our position as a leader in unmanned systems.” Over several months and two rounds of testing, the Army compared the FLIR Kobra with other vendor systems. Entrants were evaluated on robot reliability, maneuverability, and usability, among other factors before Kobra was selected as the winner. Previously, in 2017 the Army chose FLIR's legacy business, Endeavor Robotics, as its medium-sized UGV provider through the Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) contract. FLIR is delivering its Centaur™ UGV under this on-going program. “Our CRS-H platform will give soldiers a powerful, extremely mobile, yet highly transportable UGV, ready to deploy at a moment's notice to keep them out of harm's way,” said David Ray, president of the Government and Defense Business Unit at FLIR. “This win is a testament to our employees who've designed such an advanced, multi-mission UGV. We look forward to working with the Army to get this robot into the field and deployed with our warfighters.” FLIR Kobra delivers unmatched strength, power, and payload support in an easy-to-operate robot package. Kobra has a lift capacity of 330 lbs. (150 kg.) and can stretch up to eleven-and-a-half feet to access hard-to-reach places. Ready for indoor and outdoor use, Kobra maintains mobility on tough terrain and can overcome obstacles such as jersey barriers. The award covers a five-year production period with shipments beginning in the second quarter of 2020. For more on FLIR Systems' Unmanned Ground Systems platforms, visit www.flir.com/UIS/UGS. About FLIR Systems, Inc. Founded in 1978, FLIR Systems is a world-leading industrial technology company focused on intelligent sensing solutions for defense, industrial, and commercial applications. FLIR Systems' vision is to be “The World's Sixth Sense,” creating technologies to help professionals make more informed decisions that save lives and livelihoods. For more information, please visit www.flir.com and follow @flir.

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  July 18, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Meta Halts AI Use in Brazil Following Data Protection Authority's Ban

  Meta suspends AI use in Brazil after data authority's ban. Privacy concerns rise as personal data for AI training faces scrutiny globally.

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  September 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Who is Secretly Building the USAF’s New Fighter?

  MARCUS WEISGERBER Officials are mum, so here's a roundup of clues. Among the big questions surrounding the secret U.S. Air Force fighter-jet demonstrator revealed this week is: who built it? Will Roper, the head of Air Force acquisition, declined to say much about the new plane, other than it has actually flown, that some of the plane's systems have been flight-tested, and that it was designed and built using digital engineering. So let's look at some clues, starting with a likely predecessor to the Next Generation Air Dominance project that produced the new demonstrator. In January 2015, Frank Kendall, then defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee about a DARPA-led project that was developing new planes and engine technology for the Air Force and Navy. “The intent is to develop prototypes for the next generation of air-dominance platforms — X-plane programs, if you will," Kendall said. Dubbed the Aerospace Innovation Initiative, the project aimed to “develop the technologies and address the risks associated with the air dominance platforms that will follow the F-35, as well as other advanced aeronautical challenges.” Roper wouldn't say whether the NGAD and AII projects are linked, but they sound quite similar. He instead said that he disclosed the plane's existence, in part, to encourage companies to invest more in digital engineering. "The obvious candidates for the NGAD prototype are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, though General Atomics might be a possible designer—but that's a long-shot," Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, wrote in a Tuesday note to clients. "Textron's Scorpion program had recently proven that in one year's time, it could take a new clean sheet design to flight, but we doubt it's been able to elevate this skill to combat aircraft." The plane's engine, Callan wrote, was built by either GE or Raytheon Technologies' Pratt & Whitney. Here's the case for why each of the following companies could have built the new NGAD fighter. Boeing The Chicago-based aerospace giant already knows a lot about digital engineering, having partnered with Sweden's Saab to design and build their T-7A training jet in less than a year, near-lightspeed by U.S. military standards. Air Force officials have gushed about the T-7A, which beat out two other planes, the Lockheed Martin T-50 and Leonardo T-100, that were already being used by foreign air forces. The Boeing plane has a mission computer that can run third-party software and apps, allowing for easy updates. It is also designed for quick assembly: it takes just 15 minutes to assemble the forward and aft fuselages, compared with some 24 hours to assemble a F/A-18 Super Hornet fuselage, according to Leanne Caret, the CEO of Boeing Defense. Northrop Grumman It often gets overlooked that Northrop owns Scaled Composites — the Burt Rutan-founded, XPrize-winning design shop behind SpaceShipOne, the first aircraft to carry private citizens into space. Like Boeing, Northrop's Scaled built a plane from scratch for the Air Force's pilot training jet contest, but in the end didn't submit a bid. Northrop has seen an uptick in classified Pentagon work in recent years. It's been presumed that a sizable portion of that cash has gone to build B-21 stealth bombers, whose existence has been disclosed but are being built in secret. It's conceivable that some of the classified cash flowing into the company's Aeronautical Systems business is for the NGAD test aircraft. Northrop is also building the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, the new intercontinental ballistic missiles that will replace the Cold War Minuteman III, using the same digital design technology often touted by Roper. Lockheed Martin The company's Advanced Development Programs division — far better known as the Skunk Works — has long developed super-advanced, super-secret planes for the U.S. military, including the famed U-2 and SR-71 spy planes and the F-117 ground-attack jet. They also built the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. “ADP seems pretty busy across a number of fronts, but also...looking at the Digital Century Series and also looking at where the services are going to go in terms of sixth-gen and next-gen aircraft,” said Michele Evans, who leads Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and its Skunk Works operation, last week. Evans also touted Stardrive, a Lockheed effort to incorporate more commercial technology and practices into its manufacturing. “Think of model-based systems engineering, think about factory of the future, software development in terms of containerization technologies like Kubernetes, and agile [software] and then even into sustainment in terms of how we use data analytics and AI,” she said. “I think the technologies are just going to provide tremendous opportunities to speed up the development in the delivery of platforms going forward.” Someone else The most intriguing possibility is that the new jet may not be the product of one of the defense giants at all. There is evidence that the digital-design tools that Roper touted are allowing smaller upstarts to enter markets once reserved for only a few established contractors. In July, for example, an Air Force solicitation for proposals for drones to accompany manned jets drew 18 entries. “It shows there's a lot of interest from very large [companies], which you would expect, to very small,” Gen. Arnold Bunch, the head of Air Force Materiel Command, said in a Wednesday videoconference call with reporters. “I actually believe as we do the digital campaign and we look at doing digital engineering, it will actually open the door to more people to be able to participate that may not have before.” https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/09/who-secretly-building-usafs-new-fighter/168541/