Millennium wins ‘FOO Fighter’ contract for SDA missile tracking

On the same subject

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  September 13, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Northrop partners with UK firm building semiconductors in space

  Space Forge was established in 2018 with ambitions to develop a spacecraft that can manufacture high-performance materials in orbit.

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  June 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Vietnam boosts defence cooperation with Canada, Australia

  NDO/VNA - Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on June 16 engaged in two online talks with Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of Canada's Department of National Defence, and Peter Tesch, Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy & Intelligence at Australia's Department of Defence. Canadian and Australian ambassadors and military attaches to Vietnam also took part in the talks. During the talks, Vinh informed the Australian and Canadian officials on the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam, attributing the good outcomes in controlling the disease to concerted efforts of the entire political system, with the Vietnam People's Army serving as the core and vanguard force. Highlighting the importance of international collaboration in the fight against the pandemic, he thanked Australian and Canadian defence bodies' cooperation in sharing information on COVID-19 prevention, control, research and treatment. He hoped the joint work will last for long given the COVID-19 complexities. On the occasion, Vinh and his counterparts reviewed outcomes of Vietnam-Australia and Vietnam-Canada defence ties in the past time and sought agreement on future orientations with a stress on military medical coordination in disease prevention and control. All sides vowed that they will not allow the pandemic to hinder their thriving cooperation. The Vietnamese and Canadian officials expressed their delight at breakthroughs in the relations of the sides after their defence ministers exchanged visits, particularly in human resources training and UN peace keeping mission. The Canadian side said it plans to set up a military attaché office in Vietnam this year, and the two sides agreed to push for the establishment of a bilateral defence policy dialogue mechanism toward building a three-year cooperation scheme for the two defence ministries. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Australia took note of outstanding joint work, such as Australian military aircraft, for the second time, transporting personnel of Vietnam's level-2 field hospital to South Sudan for peacekeeping mission. The sides also began teaming up to organise activities in searching for Vietnamese soldiers going missing during wartime, shooting skills exchanges; and discussions on women, peace and security. Vinh stated Vietnam's Defence Ministry is committed to the effective implementation of defence cooperation with Australia and Canada based on signed documents and agreements for the benefit of the sides involved and of the region. The official also informed his counterparts on the schedule of activities during the year Vietnam serves as Chair of ASEAN 2020 and its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021. He highlighted Vietnam's determination in strengthening collaboration within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus. He stressed Vietnam backs Canada's responsible participation in the region in line with ASEAN's consensus principle and praised Australia's success in hosting the first informal ASEAN – Australia defence ministers' meeting. https://en.nhandan.org.vn/politics/item/8778302-vietnam-boosts-defence-cooperation-with-canada-australia.html

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  April 24, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Pentagon developing artificial intelligence center

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is working on a plan to stand up an artificial intelligence center in order to streamline the department's myriad AI programs. The idea, which comes as defense officials are increasingly concerned about China's investments in AI capabilities, has now been embraced by both Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Michael Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. Speaking at the House Armed Services Committee April 12, Mattis said “we're looking at a joint office where we would concentrate all of DoD's efforts, since we have a number of AI efforts underway right now. We're looking at pulling them all together.” In hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Griffin elaborated on the state of that AI center, saying it is very much in the early stages. “I'm working right now with folks on my staff to answer questions like ‘who should lead it, where should it be, what projects should it do, and most importantly how does such a center fit into the overall AI strategy for the department and the nation?'” Griffin said on April 18. He added that the department counts 592 projects as having some form of AI in them, but noted that not all of those make sense to tie into an AI center. And Griffin wants to make sure smaller projects that are close to completion get done and out into prototyping, rather than tied up in the broader AI project. On Tuesday, Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive who chairs the Defense Innovation Board, said he hoped the AI center would be stood up in conjunction with one or more universities, in order to maximize the number of cutting-edge voices involved. The biggest benefit from creating an AI center may come from creating a clearing house of information which can be input into training an artificial intelligence, something Schmidt, who has previously been critical of how DoD handles data, said is vital. “The DoD, broadly speaking, has a great deal of data, which is not stored anywhere. It's stored in places which the programmers are no longer alive, [that] kind of thing,” Schmidt said. “And getting all that data in a place that's usable and discoverable and useful for the mission at hand is crucial.” Artificial intelligence is one of the key technologies, along with hypersonics and directed energy, identified by Griffin as a major focus for his time as the R&E head for the department. Part of that drive comes from the reality that Russia and, in particular, China have made whole-of-government efforts to invest in and develop AI capabilities. Schmidt himself has warned that by 2025, China will have surpassed the U.S. in AI capabilities, and has called for a “Sputnik moment” around AI. Those comments have been echoed by former deputy secretary of defense Bob Work. Members of the defense committees appear open to the Pentagon's goal of getting an edge on AI, with Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, having already introduced a bill to develop a new all-of-government commission to AI. https://www.defensenews.com/intel-geoint/2018/04/18/pentagon-developing-artificial-intelligence-center/