April 29, 2024 | International, Land
Finland will purchase heavy Patria 6x6 vehicles
The first phase of the acquisition will include one pre-series vehicle and 20 Kongsberg’s remote weapon stations which will be integrated in the vehicles
December 12, 2019 | International, Land, C4ISR
Marines integrate upgrades to off-the-shelf UTVs
Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Marine Corps announced Wednesday that its Utility Task Vehicles are undergoing safety and performance upgrades.
"We bought the vehicle as a [commercial-off-the-shelf] solution, so it's not going to have everything we want right from the factory," said Jason Engstrom, lead systems engineer for the UTV at PEO Land Systems, in a Marine Corps press release.
The changes underway include high clearance control arms, new run-flat tires, floorboard protection, a road march kit, a clutch improvement kit and an environmental protection cover.
Mechanics discovered control arms were getting bent due to rocks in areas the Marines were driving, and sticks were puncturing the floorboards.
The UTV team is also adding covers for driving on hot days and upgraded tires inspired by the offroad racing industry.
UTVs, which the Marine Corps began using in 2017, are equipped with minimal armor to allow infantry to carry ammunition, equipment, provisions or injured personnel. Each UTV is about 12 feet long and can carry up to four Marines or 1,500 pounds of supplies. The vehicles can also fit inside Marine Corps aircraft, like the MV-22 Osprey or the CH-53 helicopter.
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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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January 22, 2024 | International, Naval
Aegis Ashore Poland enters maintenance period ahead of NATO acceptance