Montée en puissance des armées françaises : un effort budgétaire à prolonger

On the same subject

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  November 29, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contracts for November 26, 2021

  Today

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  September 17, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  SOCOM awards $47M for radio software

  By: Kelsey Atherton U.S. Special Operations Command awarded the Sierra Nevada Corporation Aug. 23 a contract worth $47 million to keep supplying and maintaining the software it uses in to ensure radios can communicate with one another across frequencies. Dubbed, TRAX, for “Tactical Radio Application eXtension,” the software “fills a [redacted] role in the Special Operations air-to-ground communication architecture," and it works on Android devices, too. The contract award is available online, and while the text omits several details, what can be seen is clear on why Sierra Nevada Corporation is the only contractor that can meet this need. Convenience is one factor. Sierra Nevada developed the software, so it makes sense to continue, and funding a new or redundant development to work in the same way and with the same interoperability would be added cost for no meaningful, tangible benefit. There is also the matter of specific intellectual property. Sierra Nevada owns the TRAX software. Keeping the TRAX program with the same provider avoids the legal battles and technical issues that could come with trying to replicate it elsewhere. While SOCOM solicited information about an alternative capability, the justification statement argues that whatever that redacted capability is, the decision was made to single track it. In the field, TRAX translates data protocols, allowing for communication across devices that otherwise couldn't speak to each other. While military machines from radios up through planes are designed with the knowledge that they will need to be used together, and often built around shared protocols to match, reality is messier than planning, so a reliable software medium is one way to retain a capability even if the equipment on hand isn't the equipment that was intended. Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/09/14/socom-awards-47-million-for-radio-software

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  July 22, 2020 | International, Naval

  Navy issues $14M more for continued Knifefish testing

  Nathan Strout WASHINGTON - General Dynamics will continue providing engineering support for the U.S. Navy's Knifefish, an unmanned undersea mine hunter, as the service looks to increase testing and evaluation before entering full-rate production.. The Navy issued a $13.6 million contract modification to General Dynamics for continued engineering support for Knifefish on July 20, just as the original $9.2 million contract issued last July was set to expire. Work is now expected to be completed in September 2021. The contract extension will support test and evaluation, engineering change proposal development and upgrade initiatives. The Knifefish is a medium-class unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) designed to be deployed from a littoral combat ship to detect bottom, volume and buried mines underwater. The two unmanned vehicles that comprise the Knifefish system use low-frequency broadband sonar and automated target recognition software to find mines and help their host ship steer clear. The program achieved its Milestone C authorization in August 2019, and the Navy issued the company a $44.6 million contract to prime contractor General Dynamics to begin low initial rate production of five Knifefish systems. The Navy has previously stated that it plans to purchase 30 Knifefish systems in total. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/07/21/navy-issues-14m-more-for-continued-knifefish-testing/