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May 7, 2019 | International, Naval

NAVSUP Showcases Innovation at Sea Air Space Expo 2019

By Matt Morrison, NAVSUP Public Affairs

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (NNS) -- Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) showcases innovative technology and processes at this year's Sea Air Space Exposition, May 6-8, in National Harbor, Maryland.

Featured in booth 1201 this year is the latest information on NAVSUP's reform initiative. NAVSUP's reform program is advancing with a series of initiatives to build on the efforts started in 2018. These initiatives are designed to enable audit and inventory accountability, aggressively accelerate contracting speed, deliver on our end-to-end supply chain integrator role, organize internally to deliver on fleet needs, enable the deck plate, and get more from the supply base. These efforts will improve warfighter readiness and lethality, and enable NAVSUP to improve business processes and better align with its customers in delivering supplies, services, and quality-of-life support to the Navy and Joint warfighters around the world. NAVSUP is the single point of accountability for the integrated Navy supply chain with full audit compliance.

NAVSUP is also demonstrating the latest in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology at the expo. AMR is an emerging technology that provides a powerful toolset to collect, monitor and react to important information regarding asset location. The AMR uses onboard radio frequency identification (RFID) readers to gather data from passive RFID tags placed on material in our warehouses. This provides the ability to constantly collect inventory data and immediately react to discrepancies. This solution does not require an expensive fixed infrastructure to deploy and will enable NAVSUP to perform wall-to-wall inventories on a regular basis and exceed inventory validity goals.

Representatives from the NAVSUP Office of Small Business Programs will be in the booth sharing information on NAVSUP initiatives to offer procurement opportunities to small business. The office of small business is committed to maximizing procurement opportunities for all small business concerns and minority-serving educational institutions. This effort is in support of the Secretary of the Navy's goal to identify and develop small businesses that can support the NAVSUP mission and the Navy/Marine Corps force for tomorrow. NAVSUP's procurement includes weapon systems spares and repair parts, Navy medical supplies and services, and commercial supplies and services that support the fleet.

Sea-Air-Space is the largest maritime exposition in the United States and is an extension of the Navy League's mission of maritime policy education and sea service support. The expo features the most current information and technology relevant to maritime policy.

Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and employing a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP's mission is to provide supplies, services, and quality-of-life support to the Navy and joint warfighter. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/navsup and http://twitter.com/navsupsyscom.

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from Naval Supply Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navsup/.

https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=109498

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  • How the Army plans to revolutionize tanks with artificial intelligence

    November 2, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR

    How the Army plans to revolutionize tanks with artificial intelligence

    Nathan Strout Even as the U.S. Army attempts to integrate cutting edge technologies into its operations, many of its platforms remain fundamentally in the 20th century. Take tanks, for example. The way tank crews operate their machine has gone essentially unchanged over the last 40 years. At a time when the military is enamored with robotics, artificial intelligence and next generation networks, operating a tank relies entirely on manual inputs from highly trained operators. “Currently, tank crews use a very manual process to detect, identify and engage targets,” explained Abrams Master Gunner Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Harris. “Tank commanders and gunners are manually slewing, trying to detect targets using their sensors. Once they come across a target they have to manually select the ammunition that they're going to use to service that target, lase the target to get an accurate range to it, and a few other factors.” The process has to be repeated for each target. “That can take time,” he added. “Everything is done manually still.” On the 21st century battlefield, it's an anachronism. “Army senior leaders recognize that the way the crews in the tank operate is largely analogous to how these things were done 30, 45 years ago,” said Richard Nabors, acting principal deputy for systems and modeling at the DEVCOM C5ISR Center. “These senior leaders, many of them with extensive technical expertise, recognized that there were opportunities to improve the way that these crews operate,” he added. “So they challenged the Combat Capabilities Development Command, the Armaments Center and the C5ISR Center to look at the problem.” On Oct. 28, the Army invited reporters to Aberdeen Proving Ground to see their solution: the Advanced Targeting and Lethality Aided System, or ATLAS. ATLAS uses advanced sensors, machine learning algorithms and a new touchscreen display to automate the process of finding and firing targets, allowing crews to respond to threats faster than ever before. “The assistance that we're providing to the soldiers will speed up those engagement times [and] allow them to execute multiple targets in the same time that they currently take to execute a single target,” said Dawne Deaver, C5ISR project lead for ATLAS. At first glance, the ATLAS prototype the Army had set up looked like something out of a Star Wars film, albeit with treads and not easily harpooned legs. The system was installed on a mishmash of systems — a sleek black General Dynamics Griffin I chassis with the Army's Advance Lethality and Accuracy System for Medium Calibur (ALAS-MC) auto-loading 50mm turret stacked on top. And mounted on top of the turret was a small round Aided Target Recognition (AiTR) sensor — a mid-wave infrared imaging sensor to be more exact. Constantly rotating to scan the battlefield, the sensor almost had a life of its own, not unlike an R2 unit on the back of an X-Wing. Trailing behind the tank and connected via a series of long black cables was a black M113. For this demonstration, the crew station was located inside the M113, not the tank itself. Cavernous compared to the inside of an Abrams tank, the M113 had three short seats lined up. At the forward-most seat was a touchscreen display and a video game-like controller for operating the tank, while further back computer monitors displayed ATLAS' internal processes. Of course, ATLAS isn't the tank itself, or even the M113 connected to it. The chassis served as a surrogate for either a future tank, fighting vehicle or even a retrofit of current vehicles, while the turret was an available program being developed by the Armaments Center. The M113 is not really meant to be involved at all, but the Army decided to remotely locate the crew station inside of it for safety concerns during a live fire demonstration expected to take place in the coming weeks. ATLAS, Army officials reminded observers again and again, is agnostic to the chassis or turret it's installed on. So if ATLAS isn't the tank, what is it? Roughly speaking, ATLAS is the mounted sensor collecting data, the machine learning algorithm processing that data, and the display/controller that the crew uses to operate the tank. Here's how it works: ATLAS starts with the optical sensor mounted on top of the tank. Once activated, the sensor continuously scans the battlefield, feeding that data into a machine learning algorithm that automatically detects threats. Images of those threats are then sent to a new touchscreen display, the graphical user interface for the tank's intelligent fire control system. The images are lined up vertically on the left side of the screen, with the main part of the display showing what the gun is currently aimed at. Around the edges are a number of different controls for selecting ammunition, fire type, camera settings and more. By simply touching one of the targets on the left with your finger, the tank automatically swivels its gun, training its sights on the dead center of the selected object. As it does that, the fire control system automatically recommends the appropriate ammo and setting — such as burst or single shot — to respond with, though the user can adjust these as needed. So with the target in its sights, weapon selected, the operator has a choice: Approve the AI's recommendations and pull the trigger, adjust the settings before responding, or disengage. The entire process from target detection to the pull of the trigger can take just seconds. Once the target is destroyed, the operator can simply touch the screen to select the next target picked up by ATLAS. In automating what are now manual tasks, the aim of ATLAS is to reduce end-to-end engagement times. Army officials declined to characterize how much faster ATLAS is than a traditional tank crew. However, a demo video shown at Aberdeen Proving Ground claimed ATLAS allows “the operator to engage three targets in the time it now takes to just engage one.” ATLAS is essentially a marriage between technologies developed by the Army's C5ISR Center and the Armaments Center. “We are integrating, experimenting and prototyping with technology from C5ISR center — things like advanced EO/IR targeting sensors, aided target algorithms — we're taking those technology products and integrating them with intelligent fire control systems from the Armaments Center to explore efficiencies between those technologies that can basically buy back time for tank crews,” explained Ground Combat Systems Division Deputy Director Jami Davis. Starting in August, the Army began bringing in small groups of tank operators to test out the new system, mostly using a new virtual reality setup that replicates the ATLAS display and controller. By gathering soldier feedback early, the Army hopes that they can improve the system quickly and make it ready for fielding that much faster. Already, the Army has brought in 40 soldiers. More soldier touchpoints and a live fire demonstration are anticipated to help the Army mature its product. In some ways, ATLAS replicates the AI-capabilities demonstrated at Project Convergence in miniature. Project Convergence is the Army's new campaign of learning, designed to integrate new sensor, AI and network capabilities to transform the battlefield. In September, the Army hauled many of its most advanced cutting edge technologies to the desert at Yuma Proving Ground, then tried to connect them in new ways. In short, at Project Convergence the Army tried to create an environment where it could connect any sensor to the best shooter. The Army demonstrated two types of AI at Project Convergence. First were the automatic target recognition AIs. These machine learning algorithms processed the massive amount of data picked up by the Army's sensors to detect and identify threats on the battlefield, producing targeting data for weapon systems to utilize. The second type of AI was used for fire control, and is represented by FIRES Synchronization to Optimize Responses in Multi-Domain Operations, or FIRESTORM. Taking in the targeting data from the other AI systems, FIRESTORM automatically looks at the weapons at the Army's disposal and recommends the best one to respond to any given threat. While ATLAS does not yet have the networking components that tied Project Convergence together across domains, it essentially performs those two tasks: It's AI automatically detects threats and recommends the best response to the human operators. Although the full ATLAS system wasn't hauled out to Project Convergence this year, the Army was able to bring out the virtual prototyping setup to Yuma Proving Ground, and there is hope that ATLAS itself could be involved next year. To be clear: ATLAS is not meant to replace tank crews. It's meant to make their jobs easier, and in the process, much faster. Even if ATLAS is widely adopted, crews will still need to be trained for manual operations in case the system breaks down. And they'll still need to rely on their training to verify the algorithm's recommendations. “We can assist the soldier and reduce the number of manual tasks that they have to do while still retaining the soldiers' ability to always override the system, to always make the final decision of whether or not the target is a threat, whether or not the firing solution is correct, and that they can make that decision to pull the trigger and engage targets,” explained Deaver. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/10/29/how-the-army-plans-to-revolutionize-tanks-with-artificial-intelligence/

  • Air Mobility Command exercise tests ability to operate in degraded combat environments

    October 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Air Mobility Command exercise tests ability to operate in degraded combat environments

    By: Diana Stancy Correll Operating in austere conditions, beyond well-defended bases, is likely in the event of a conflict with a near-peer adversary like Russia or China, according to Air Force leaders. As a result, the service has increasingly focused on its ability to operate in degraded combat environments the past several years. The biennial Mobility Guardian exercise now underway in Washington state is testing mobility aircraft's readiness to conduct their missions in such contested environments. For Air Mobility Command's largest readiness exercise, more than 4,000 U.S. and troops, including members of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps are now at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane and other Western locations to train for airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation and global air mobility support. The exercise is also designed to sharpen participants' abilities to conduct forcible entry, airfield seizure, strategic deterrence and humanitarian relief operations, according to the service. As just one example of the kind of training going on, airmen from the 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron employed a Fuels Operational Readiness Capability Equipment system, marking the first time the mobile fuel bladders have been used stateside in an uncontested environment. “We use the FORCE to help sustain bare bases and allow for fuel distribution anywhere around the world at a moment's notice,” said Master Sgt. Daniel Rey, 92nd LRS fuels information service center section chief. “The bladder can hold up to 50,000 gallons of fuel, which can help service a wide range of friendly aircraft.” Meanwhile, at Moses Lake, about 100 miles southwest of Fairchild, airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing provided tactical operations center support during a first-of-its-kind Ability to Survive and Operate scenario Sept. 16, according to an Air Force news release. In the scenario, aircrew from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker reported chemical contamination while performing an aeromedical evacuation. The Contingency Response Team at the TOC coordinated ground decontamination support and received the aircraft. “We provided command and control coverage, access to ramp space and a location to set up a decontamination line for aircrew flight equipment,” said Master Sgt. Jeremiah Ibarra, 321st CRT chief, in the release. “From the tactical operations center we coordinated with the air operations center to get AFE the equipment and supplies they needed.” CRTs deploy to locations that don't have established air support, and deploy forces that can open and operate an airfield. “We set up airfields and ramps, communicate aircraft landing, parking, maintenance, refueling and fleet service,” Ibarra said. “To my knowledge this is the biggest CRT operation that has ever happened.” The CRT is training alongside the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and the 521st AMOW, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, at Moses Lake to demonstrate the capability to operate as an integrated team. “To have the CRT embedded with us here isn't something that we do often, but it has been super beneficial.” said Capt. Jennifer Krutka, officer in-charge of Moses Lake, in the news release. “It has truly been a team effort. We have port airmen learning how to do maintenance and maintenance personnel learning port duties. One of Gen. [Maryanne] Miller's initiatives was to be more versatile airman, and we are doing that here.” Miller, the head of Air Mobility Command, stressed the significance of the exercise as it related to the 2018 National Defense Strategy at the Air Force Association's Air, Space Cyber conference last week. “It is imperative that we outpace our adversaries and best position the mobility air forces to defeat the threats of tomorrow,” Miller said. She also said the exercises align with the command's evolution over the past year into a “warfighting component command” that streamlines the mobility of forces through direct coordinating authority. “The world has changed and through our transformation efforts, AMC has adapted to meet the growing requirements and accelerated global demands,” Miller said. “As a more agile organization, we have increased our ability to fully leverage the full complement of our mobility resources.” The Air Force says another element of the exercise is fostering relationships with allies. There are nearly 30 international partners participating in the exercise this year. “The future of warfare will be increasingly joint,” Lt. Col. Joseph Monaco, director of Mobility Guardian, said in an Air Force news release Sept. 9. “This exercise is an unparalleled opportunity to develop joint-minded airmen who can integrate seamlessly with soldiers, sailors and Marines to compete and if necessary, win amidst great power adversaries.” The exercise, which kicked off Sept. 8 and concludes Sept. 28, employs aircraft including the KC-10 Extender, KC-135 Stratotanker, C-5 Super Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and C-130H/J Hercules and Super Hercules. Of the 4,000 service members, 2,500 are from AMC. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/09/25/air-mobility-command-exercise-tests-ability-to-operate-in-degraded-combat-environments

  • Elbit Systems Awarded a Contract of Approximately $260 Million by an International Customer

    May 23, 2024 | International, Land

    Elbit Systems Awarded a Contract of Approximately $260 Million by an International Customer

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