New Research Warns About Weak Offboarding Management and Insider Risks

On the same subject

• 

  August 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  USAF initiative Agility Prime demonstrates eVTOL advances

  The US Air Force's (USAF) initiative Agility Prime has demonstrated the developments in the electric vertical take-off and landing flight (eVTOL). Conducted at Camp Mabry in Texas, US, the first Agility Prime ORB flight demonstration was witnessed by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Air Force chief of staff general Charles Brown Jr, and Air Force chief master sergeant JoAnne Bass. The leaders were joined by Texas National Guard hosts and AFWERX personnel. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract recipient LIFT Aircraft demonstrated the flight. The company is one of the first small companies selected as participants for the Agility Prime ‘Air Race to Certification'. LIFT Aircraft has developed Hexa eVTOL to offer a fully autonomous people transport. Under the Agile programme, it will refine and accelerate the progress of Hexa by expanding its flight envelope. During the demonstration, LIFT CEO Matthew Chasen navigated Hexa over the Camp Mabry parade ground. Agility Prime lead and AFWERX director colonel Nathan Diller said: “We now have over fifteen of the leading aircraft manufacturers in the world applying to partner with Agility Prime, with many of them already on contract. “This flight today marks the first of many demonstrations and near-term flight tests designed to reduce the technical risk and prepare for Agility Prime fielding in 2023.” Agility Prime is a non-traditional programme seeking to speed-up the potential commercial market for advanced air mobility vehicles. These vehicles, or ORBs, could be used for specific operations such as medical evacuation, firefighting, civil and military disaster relief, search and rescue, and humanitarian relief. During the launch of the programme in April, Barrett said: “Agility Prime is a programme with a vision of world impact. “The thought of an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, a flying car, might seem straight out of a Hollywood movie, but by partnering today with stakeholders across industries and agencies, we can set up the US for this aerospace phenomenon.” Last month, AFWERX innovation programme prepared to host the first virtual TeamUp event with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/usaf-initiative-agility-prime-demonstrates-evtol-advances/

• 

  May 5, 2024 | International, Naval

  With Chinese warships anchoring in Cambodia, the US needs to respond

  Opinion: It’s past time for Washington to jettison its ad hoc, absent-minded approach toward Beijing’s basing pursuits.

• 

  July 24, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  This new antenna networks UAVs to expand battlefield comms

  By: Maddy Longwell Persistent Systems, a New York City-based global communications technology company, has introduced a portable antenna system to incorporate unmanned aerial vehicles into a networked battlefield. The auto-tracking antenna system is an easily collapsible ground-to-air antenna that operates on the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET), which Persistent Systems manufactures, a news release said. Persistent Systems hopes the antenna could be used in Special Operations Command's Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems III program. The 5-foot parabolic dish is designed to be deployed within 15 minutes and can track and rotate to follow MANET-connected technology in the air, expanding the network bubble. Persistent Systems predicts this will reduce costs by decreasing dependence on satellite communications. “The antenna helps connect far-flung forces, acting like a cheaper, locally controlled low-Earth satellite with a greater data rate,” Erik Schechter, a Persistent Systems spokesperson, said in an email. The IP67-rated antenna system, designed for any weather environment, has interchangeable S-Band, L-Band and C-Band MIMO feeds and supports high data rates, video and voice communications up to 130 miles, yet can be stored compactly and fit into a standard-sized SUV, according to the Persistent Systems press release. Schechter also said that the antenna can also be used for longer-range chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives command missions, like ones in Syria. The auto-tracking antenna system is expected to improve full-motion video and sensor data transmission from drones and is automatically calibrated to reduce user error. “The idea is for the Army, Navy, [Special Operations Command] and foreign customers to use it for better communications relays,” Schechter said. SOCOM announced in May that UTC Aerospace Systems had been selected for its MEUAS III program and would provide SOCOM with flight management and imaging systems. Previously, SOCOM had selected Insitu, a company owned by Boeing and Textron Systems, to provide technology for intelligence and surveillance. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2018/07/23/this-new-antenna-networks-uavs-to-expand-battlefield-comms/