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April 17, 2023 | International, Other Defence

How to accelerate innovation adoption at the Pentagon

Systemic barriers to innovation persist within the military’s acquisition system that prevent the adoption of emerging technology.

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/04/17/how-to-accelerate-innovation-adoption-at-the-pentagon/

On the same subject

  • DARPA issues solicitation for moving-target recognition project

    July 22, 2020 | International, Land

    DARPA issues solicitation for moving-target recognition project

    Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department's advanced research arm issued a broad agency announcement July 15 for technology that would use algorithms to identify moving military ground vehicles. The Moving Target Recognition program from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Strategic Technology Office is a “vital part” of DARPA's “Mosaic Warfare” vision, in which each weapon system is one “tile” in a large force package that overwhelms the adversary. For the program, DARPA is interested in algorithms and collection techniques that allow synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, sensors to “detect, geolocate, and image moving ground targets,” the announcement read. If the goals of the project are met, the MTR program will then work to develop automatic target recognition algorithms for the moving target images. “Emphasis is on military vehicle targets, including slow moving vehicles whose SAR signatures are superimposed on clutter,” the announcement noted. Test for moving target recognition will include airborne data collection experiments to test and evaluate the effectiveness of algorithms. Under the contract, performers will be required to provide the airborne radar sensors and flight services, while the government team will design experiments with moving ground vehicles. DARPA anticipates handing out multiple awards. The MTR program has two phases. Phase one will focus on SAR moving target detection, geolocation and imaging, according to the announcement. It has a performance period of two years and a six-month option. Phase two, which is solicited through the July 15 notice, will center on automatic target recognition. Second phase instructions will be provided to the phase one performers before the end of the phase one base period. No award amount was provided. The U.S. Army is also working through the challenges associated with advanced target recognition capabilities, such as ensuring that algorithms receive adequate and sufficient data to mature and learn. “If you're training an algorithm to recognize cats, you can get on the internet and pull up hundreds of thousands of pictures of cats,” Gen. Mike Murray, commander of Army Futures Command, said in June. “You can't do that for a T-72 [Russian tank]. You can get a bunch of pictures, but are they at the right angles, lighting conditions, vehicle sitting camouflaged to vehicle sitting open desert?” DARPA's mosaic warfare effort includes several other projects under the Strategic Technology Office, including one that would automate aerial dogfighting. The office is also developing two complementary systems that would identify combat systems in an area available for support missions and quickly plan their route to an area. https://www.c4isrnet.com/home/2020/07/21/darpa-issues-solicitation-for-moving-target-recognition-project/

  • Le délégué général pour l’armement, Joël Barre, favorable à une convergence entre le Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) et le programme Tempest

    May 5, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Le délégué général pour l’armement, Joël Barre, favorable à une convergence entre le Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) et le programme Tempest

    Rappelant que « les systèmes de combat (et) les systèmes d'armes sont de plus en plus complexes, de plus en plus chers, de plus en plus lourds et difficiles à développer », et la nécessité de construire l'Europe de la défense, le délégué général pour l'armement, Joël Barre, s'est exprimé en faveur d'une convergence des programmes SCAF (Espagne, France, Allemagne) et Tempest (Italie, Royaume-Uni, Suède). « Nous sommes (pour) l'un et l'autre en phase de conception. Je pense dans les années qui viennent que les choses pourront évoluer (...) De notre côté, la porte est ouverte. C'est-à-dire que si nous pouvons un jour rapprocher les deux projets d'avions de combat qui existent à l'échelle européenne, ce serait quand même une bonne chose pour tous", a indiqué Joël Barre qui s'exprimait le 3 mai sur le plateau de BFM Business. En outre, il espère une conclusion de l'accord étatique concernant le SCAF « dans les jours qui viennent ». L'Usine Nouvelle et BFM Business, 3 mai

  • Austal USA gets $128 million Navy floating dry dock contract

    June 23, 2022 | International, Naval

    Austal USA gets $128 million Navy floating dry dock contract

    Austal USA announced it has been awarded a $128 million contract for the U.S. Navy’s auxiliary floating dry dock medium (AFDM), to be built in Mobile, Ala.

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