Philippines eyes future missile launchers purchase, to retain US Typhon system

On the same subject

• 

  November 28, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  DARPA, BAE to develop AI for interpreting radio-frequency signals

  By Stephen Carlson Nov. 27 (UPI) -- BAE Systems has been selected by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop machine learning algorithms to decipher radio frequency signals for protection against enemy hacking and jamming attempts. DARPA is awarding BAE $9.2 million for machine learning algorithm development, the company announced on Tuesday, which will build off of adaptive technology that has already been applied to face- and voice-recognition systems and drones operating autonomously for RF signal processing. "The inability to uniquely identify signals in an environment creates operational risk due to the lack of situational awareness, inability to target threats, and vulnerability of communications to malicious attack," Dr. John Hogan, product line director of BAE Systems Sensor Processing and Exploitation division, said in a press release. "Our goal for the RFMLS program is to create algorithms that will enable a whole new level of understanding of the RF spectrum so users can identify and react to any signals that could be putting them in harm's way," Hogan said. Under the Phase 1 contract, BAE will develop the RFMLS as part of its artificial intelligence efforts utilizing technology from DARPA's Communications Under Extreme RF Spectrum Conditions and Adaptive Radar Countermeasures programs. BAE Systems is already working on DARPA's machine learning and artificial intelligence research in RF called the Spectrum Collaboration Challenge. SCC is meant to help alleviate scarcities in available RF spectrum, which would dovetail with work being performed on RFMLS by identifying spectrum that could evade enemy jamming. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/11/27/DARPA-BAE-to-develop-AI-for-interpreting-radio-frequency-signals/2371543335188/

• 

  August 2, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  US Army increases investment on counter-drone program

  By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — Leonardo DRS has received an additional $13 million to continue engineering and testing a vehicle-mounted system that the U.S. Army hopes will protect soldiers from small drones, according to a July 31 Defense Department statement. Leonardo was awarded an initial $16 million contract by the Army in July 2017 to develop a counter-UAV capability dubbed the Mobile Low, Slow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defense System, or MLIDS, with hopes of deploying “numerous production systems in early summer 2018." At the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in October, the company announced it had received a $42 million production contract for an undisclosed number of MLIDS to fit the Army's requirement to defeat small, inexpensive unmanned systems such as quadcopters and fixed-wing aircraft that operate as airborne improvised explosive devices. “Drones are becoming an increasingly dangerous threat against our forward-deployed soldiers, and we are proud to support this urgent requirement to protect them from potentially lethal small unmanned aerial vehicles,” Aaron Hankins, vice president and general manager for DRS Land Systems, said in October 2017. “We are working hard to deliver the best capability to our soldiers as quickly as possible." Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2018/08/01/us-army-increases-investment-on-counter-drone-matv-program/

• 

  May 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed gets $1.4B contract for F-35 sustainment

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin on Monday won a $1.4 billion contract to sustain the global F-35 enterprise for the U.S. military and international customers. According to Lockheed, the contract provides for “air system maintenance; pilot and maintainer training; depot activation; sustaining engineering; Automatic Logistics Information System (ALIS) support, data analytics and predictive health management; and supply chain logistics” for all U.S. and international F-35s through April 30, 2019. Of the $1.4 billion sum, about 73 percent will be paid by the U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy, while the other 27 percent will be covered by international customers. The cost of sustaining the F-35 has been a growing concern for leaders across the Defense Department, from F-35 joint program executive officer Vice Adm. Mat Winter to Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. Bloomberg reported in March that the Air Force could be forced to cut as many as 590 F-35As from its 1,763 program of record should sustainment costs not improve. While Air Force leadership, including Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein, have said they have no plans to slash the program, reducing F-35 sustainment costs to that of fourth generation fighters like the F-16remains a big priority. Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin vice president of F-35 global sustainment, addressed the sustainment cost issue in a news release. “We are taking aggressive actions to improve F-35 aircraft availability and reduce sustainment costs. As the sustainment system matures and the size of the operational fleet grows, we are confident we will deliver more capability at less cost than legacy aircraft,” she stated. The company has already taken some steps to try to improve readiness and repair costs, including expanding the supply chain, buying spare parts ahead of need to boost availability and achieve economies of scale, and investing in diagnostic and data analytics technologies, it said. So far, more than 280 F-35s have been delivered and operate from 15 bases worldwide. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/04/30/lockheed-gets-14b-contract-for-f-35-sustainment/