Fighter jet future could fly with fusion of two European projects

On the same subject

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  August 17, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  Silvus Technologies develops toughened waveform for US Army

  Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — Silvus Technologies developed a new radio waveform that will make it more difficult for adversaries to intercept and detect communications signals of the U.S. Army, the company announced Aug. 13. Silvus has worked with the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's C5ISR Center — or the Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Center — since last August on developing a low-probability intercept/low-probability detect (LPI/LPD) waveform. Silvus and the C5ISR Center are now exercising a six-month option period, bringing the total award to $2 million. The funding for research and development will specifically go toward work the C5ISR Center is performing on a project called “Protected Communications for Manned/Unmanned Teams.” During the option period, Silvus is integrating several new capabilities with the LPI/LPD waveform, including the ability to shift operating frequency when communications are degraded, a capability to filter out interference and a technology that allows radios to control transmission power “to enable more discreet communications.” The secure communications for the manned-unmanned teaming project is focused on “high-throughput, secure, and low observable communications capabilities for manned/unmanned teaming operations,” the Silvus news release said. The new capability “brings together a powerful suite of anti-jam and LPI/LPD functions to enable robust, secure communications for the warfighter in congested and contested environments,” said Babak Daneshrad, founder and CEO of Silvus Technologies. The new waveforms will be tested in lab evaluations starting this winter into spring 2021, according to Edric Thompson, spokesperson for the C5ISR Center. He added that field demonstrations will take place during the center's ongoing Network Modernization Experiment in 2021 and Project Convergence 2021. For fiscal 2021, it has planned soldier touchpoint events at NetModX-22 and PC22. In May, Silvus was awarded nearly $4 million to provide 1,000 of its tactical Mobile Ad Hoc radios for the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System program. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2020/08/14/silvus-technologies-develops-toughened-waveform-for-us-army/

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  March 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  130 House members want 24 percent more F-35s procured in FY21

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — One hundred thirty members of the House of Representatives are asking key defense committees in Congress to increase the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 24 percent over the number requested by the Pentagon in fiscal 2021. “Our adversaries continue to advance surface-to-air missile systems and develop their own stealth fighters,” read the letter, released Wednesday. “It is essential that we continue to increase production of our nation's only 5th generation stealth fighter in order to ensure the United States maintains air dominance and to further reduce overall program costs.” The letter, addressed to the chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees and Appropriations Defense subcommittees, is authored by Reps. John Larson, D-Conn.; Marc. Veasey, D-Texas; Martha Roby, R-Ala.; and Michael Turner, R-Ohio — the four leaders of the bipartisan F-35 caucus. Last year, the four also joined forces to write a similar request, which garnered 103 signatories. The Defense Department's budget request asks for 79 F-35s, including 48 of the F-35A model used by the Air Force, 10 F-35Bs used by the Marines and 21 F-35C models used by the Navy. In the letter, the congressmen note that number is 19 less jets than Congress appropriated in FY20. However, that number creates “a capability gap that 4th Generation, or legacy, aircraft cannot fulfill,” the letter warned. “To reach the minimum 50% ratio of 5th Generation and 4th Generation fighters in the timeframe required to meet the threat, the U.S. must acquire F-35s in much larger quantities.” Instead, the members want a 24 percent increase in fighters procurement, going up to 98 total, including 12 more F-35As, two more F-35Bs and 26 more F-35Cs. Those numbers match the fighter increase listed by the Air Force in its unfunded requirements document sent to Congress earlier this year; the Navy requested only five more F-35C variants, while the Marines did not request more. The letter was first reported by Politico. In addition to the increase in planes bought, the members are seeking additional funding for “spare parts and depot level repair capability to meet the required availability rates and accelerate the stand-up of mandated, organic government repair capabilities.” Additionally, investments are sought for the program dedicated to the jet's reliability, maintainability and improvement, as well as a “long-term, outcome-based sustainment contract” that would guarantee performance metrics at a fixed price. The members then request the committees fully fund the budget request for the continuous capability development and delivery (C2D2) modernization effort and use existing funds to accelerate integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile onto the jet. Earlier this year, the Pentagon's independent weapons tester called the current schedule for C2D2 “high risk” and said the program office is struggling to stay on schedule. “C2D2 is critical to meeting the evolving threat in the mid-2020s and into the 2030s. Full funding is needed for the delivery of new weapons and critical capabilities necessary to keep the F-35 ahead of our adversaries,” the members wrote. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/03/19/130-house-members-want-24-percent-more-f-35s-procured-in-fy21/

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  December 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  The Air Force will need terminals that work with more than GPS

  By: Nathan Strout Congress wants the Air Force to develop a prototype receiver capable of using navigation signals provided by other countries, which could increase the resilience of the military's position, navigation and timing equipment. The primary source of the military's PNT data is the Global Positioning System, a satellite system operated by the Air Force. But with adversaries developing GPS jamming technology and anti-satellite weapons that could potentially knock out one or more of those satellites, Congress wants a receiver capable of utilizing other global navigation satellite systems. The annual defense policy bill, which was passed by both chambers of the legislature this week, calls on the Air Force to develop a prototype receiver capable of utilizing multiple global navigation satellite systems in addition to GPS, such as the European Union's Galileo and Japan's QZSS satellites. The belief is that if the GPS signal is degraded or denied, war fighters could switch to one of those other systems to get the PNT data they need. According to Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, the provision represents an evolution from the Department of Defense's stance on foreign GNSS signals from 15 years ago. “When Galileo was first announced, there was a big debate within the Pentagon about whether to cooperate with the Europeans or try and kill it,” Weeden wrote to C4ISRNET in a Dec. 18 email. “The big driver there was that the Europeans were going to park their protected signal on top of M-code and then sell their service as being unjammable by the Americans (assuming that the US couldn't jam the protected Galileo signal without also interfering with M-Code).” Efforts to kill Galileo ultimately died, Weeden noted, although the EU did move their protected GNSS signal off of M-Code, a more secure military version of the GPS signal that is in development. That concession and the subsequent development of GPS jamming capabilities by Russia and China has changed the thinking on Galileo and other GNSS signals. “It seems the Pentagon has decided that leveraging Galileo will make their PNT capabilities more robust as Russia or China would need to jam both of the separate military signals,” said Weeden. “There's some engineering and technical wizardry still to be worked out to create a good multi-GNSS receiver but it's doable.” Congress wants the Air Force to report on the benefits and risks of each potential GNSS signal, and it fences 90 percent of the funding for the Military GPS User Equipment Program until lawmakers receive that report. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2019/12/19/the-air-force-will-need-terminals-that-work-with-more-than-gps