Why ‘Help Wanted’ In A&D Doesn’t Mean The Same Anymore

On the same subject

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  September 30, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  U.S. Army Awards Lockheed Martin Contract To Develop Sentinel A4 Radar

  SYRACUSE, N.Y., Sept. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has been awarded a $281 million contract by the United States Army to develop the Sentinel A4 radar system. Sentinel A4 is a high-performance modification of the Sentinel A3 (AN/MPQ-64A3) air and missile defense radar that will provide updates to improve the existing Sentinel capability against cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems, rotary wing and fixed wing threats. The new Sentinel A4 radar will provide improved surveillance, detection, and classification capabilities against current and emerging aerial threats in order to protect Army maneuver formations and high value static assets to include: command and control nodes, tactical assembly areas and geo-political centers. This needed capability will help protect our warfighters for the next 40 years. "By leveraging our open scalable radar architecture and production efforts, we believe we provide the lowest risk and best value solution for the U.S. Army that will help protect our warfighters for years to come," said Dr. Rob Smith, vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin's Radar and Sensor Systems. "We have fielded numerous tactical Gallium Nitride (GaN) based radars beginning with the delivery of the TPS-77 Multi Role Radar to Latvia in 2018 and we are under contract with the Army to insert GaN into the Q-53 system." Proven Radar Experience With broad and deep experience developing and delivering ground-based radar solutions to our customers, our high-performing, high-reliability, solid state radar (SSR) systems specialize in counter target acquisition, early warning, situational awareness, and integrated air and missile defense. Our radars are designed with the highest degree of commonality and fully integrated SSR systems. They can operate in all environments, are available in highly mobile configurations and are deployed worldwide. It's why Lockheed Martin's ground-based radars are the choice of more than 45 nations on six continents. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-09-27-U-S-Army-Awards-Lockheed-Martin-Contract-to-Develop-Sentinel-A4-Radar

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  August 28, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Army announces winners of electronic warfare challenge

  By: Kelsey Atherton A platypus, several Australians and a thundering panda walk into an electromagnetic spectrum, then leave with $150,000. The result is, potentially, a technique and a tool that will allow soldiers to discover what signals in a war zone are relevant to their mission and what are merely noise. The Army Rapid Capabilities Office announced Aug. 27 the winners of the Army Signal Classification Challenge, a competition for artificial intelligence and machine learning with the goal of creating a thinking machine that can accurately classify signals on the fly. Platypus Aerospace, a team from the federally funded Aerospace Corporation, won the event, taking home $100,000. A group of data scientists from Australia competing as TeamAU won $30,000, and a team from Motorola Solutions named THUNDERING PANDA placed third, winning $20,000. These winners beat out a pool of over 150 teams from universities, industry, laboratories and government. The challenge ran from April 30 through Aug. 13. Participants had a 90-day period to develop a model and train on data sets provided by the Rapid Capabilities Office. After that, the models were tested against two data sets ranging in complexity. For the challenge, the Army office said that “the classic signal detection process is no longer efficient in understanding the vast amount of information presented to electronic warfare officers on the battlefield” thanks to the multiplicity of satellite signals, radar signals, phones and other devices transmitting across the electromagnetic spectrum. The understated goal is that the winners' creation is needed not just for a hypothetical future battlefield, or even any of the long-running active theaters where soldiers see combat today. Instead, as noted in the release, “this was the office's first competitive challenge, which grew from the fielding of electronic warfare prototypes to address operational needs in Europe earlier this year.” That “operational need in Europe” may refer to the electronic warfare taking place in Ukraine, which has become something of an open laboratory for both Russia and the United States. Or it might be a broader acknowledgement of the potential threat picture in the region generally. In June, the Army conducted an electronic attack within Latvia as part of a NATO training exercise. The Rapid Capability Office already outfitted the Army with several new electronic warfare tools for countering Russian electronic warfare in Europe, and in July announced that it was bringing those capabilities home to field with a unit stateside. Research into a versatile, flexible artificial intelligence that can find electronic warfare specialists the interesting signals amidst the irrelevant noise is likely to continue. The Rapid Capabilities Office will announce a Phase 2 for the program later this year. https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/08/27/army-announces-winners-of-ai-for-electronic-warfare-challenge

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  September 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Sikorsky Combat Rescue Helicopter Approved To Enter Production

  STRATFORD, Conn., Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced the Sikorsky HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program achieved a Milestone C decision from the U.S. Air Force, which moves the program into low rate initial production. The Combat Rescue Helicopter will perform critical combat search and rescue and personnel recovery operations for all U.S. military services. View the latest CRH video. The four instrumented test aircraft at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated their production readiness during rigorous U.S. Air Force (USAF) performance and flight load survey testing. The joint Sikorsky and USAF flight test team has executed over 150 hours of envelope expansion flights, which provided USAF the data necessary to execute a Milestone C decision. This decision allows Sikorsky to begin production of the aircraft, which is based on the venerable BLACK HAWK helicopter. "This affirmative Milestone C decision validates the modifications to Sikorsky's most successful BLACK HAWK helicopter, making it capable of saving downed airmen anytime, anywhere around the world," said Greg Hames, Sikorsky program director. "This establishes the Combat Rescue Helicopter as a production program." Prepared for Production There are five CRH aircraft in various stages of production at Sikorsky's Stratford facility. Sikorsky employees and our nationwide supply chain are ready to begin production and support delivering this all new aircraft to the warfighter. The USAF program of record calls for 113 helicopters to replace its predecessor, the Sikorsky HH-60G PAVE HAWKs. "We have just successfully gained approval to launch the production of a helicopter that will save the lives of our warfighters and our allies all over the world. This decision begins the transition to this more capable and reliable helicopter to fulfill the Air Force's mission to leave no one behind. I could not be more proud of our government-contractor team for making this happen," said Col. Dale R. White, Program Executive Officer, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Special Operations Forces, USAF. The CRH is significantly more capable and reliable than the HH-60G PAVE HAWK. The aircraft hosts a new fuel system that nearly doubles the capacity of the internal tank on a UH-60M BLACK HAWK, giving the USAF crew extended range and more capability to rescue those injured in the battle space. The CRH specification drives more capable defensive systems and enhances the vulnerability reductions, hover performance, electrical capacity, avionics, cooling, weapons, cyber-security, environmental, and net-centric capabilities beyond the current HH-60G. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/crh. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-09-24-Sikorsky-Combat-Rescue-Helicopter-Approved-to-Enter-Production