April 16, 2024 | International, Aerospace
Air Force to get a head start on GPS, target tracking efforts
The service's first two Quick Start efforts involve boosting GPS resilience and advancing moving target indication capabilities.
September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR
MDA to deliver mission-critical SAR information for maritime surveillance
ichmond, BC - MDA, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.), (NYSE: MAXR) (TSX: MAXR), today announced that it has signed a multi-million dollar contract with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) for a one-year maritime surveillance program that includes the delivery of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data products from the RADARSAT-2 satellite, using MDA's global network of ground receiving stations. The contract includes two additional option years.
As part of the Presidential program Operation Phakisa, SANSA has been tasked to acquire SAR imagery with the aim of enhancing the monitoring and protection of South Africa's coastal regions and oceans. Initiatives under this program are considered crucial in accelerating the delivery of South Africa's development priorities. Operations Phakisa estimates that the approximate total contribution of coastal resources (marine fishing, port and harbour development, attractive lifestyles, recreation and tourism) is 35% of South Africa's GDP. The information provided by the SAR data contributes to ensuring improved governance and enables the securing of South African resources, such as the National Ocean and Coastal Information System.
The South African Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is roughly 1.5 million square km and forms part of the economic resources and trade routes of South Africa. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organization will create the ship and oil detection products for SANSA to share with various government agencies.
“RADARSAT-2 provides a unique method of cost-effectively and accurately monitoring very large areas and providing information in near real-time, demonstrating immediate value to users,” said Mike Greenley, group president of MDA. “MDA has decades of remote sensing expertise to help our customers anticipate and address their most complex mission-critical challenges with confidence.”
Under this contract, using RADARSAT-2 information, MDA will provide systematic weekly broad-area surveillance over South Africa's EEZ and on-demand high-resolution image acquisitions. RADARSAT-2 Ocean Surveillance Mode is well suited for broad area maritime surveillance, and is unique as a single scene covers over 250,000 ㎢ and allows for the detection of ships and oil within the coastal and offshore regions regardless of light or weather condition.
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June 25, 2020 | International, Naval
Navy buys two used MQ-9A Reaper drones
Nathan Strout The Navy has purchased its first two MQ-9A Reaper drones, awarding General Atomics Aeronautical Systems nearly $27 million on June 22 for the unmanned air systems and associated ground control equipment. The MQ-9A Reaper is a multimission, medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft that is remotely piloted. According to the June 22 contract announcement, the Reapers will be used for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions as well as persistent strike efforts. The contract procures two MQ-9A Reapers, one dual-control mobile ground control station, one modular data center and one mobile ground control station. This is the first time the Navy has purchased Reapers, but it's already been using the unmanned aircraft overseas. According to fiscal 2020 fiscal 2021 budget documents, the two MQ-9A aircraft the Navy is purchasing have been used by the Marine Corps in a contractor-operated, contractor-owned arrangement since September 2018 to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to Task Force Southwest in Afghanistan. Because they are used, the Reapers will cost less than brand-new systems. The FY21 budget request estimates the cost of each system as being just under $12 million. Work is expected to be completed by December 2020. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/06/24/navy-buys-two-used-mq-9a-reapers/
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December 3, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Lockheed unveils pared-down F-35 trainer with same software capability but a 90% reduced footprint
Lockheed Martin spent its own money developing this LITE trainer over the last 18 months after hearing signals from F-35 customers that they needed more training capacity for less cost.