Radars and drone killers: Revamped Marine office hastens tech creation

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  June 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  UN SUCCESSEUR DE NOUVELLE GÉNÉRATION POUR LE GRIPEN

  Par Stefan Barensky - 25 juin 2020 Stockholm souhaite moderniser sa force aérienne face à la menace posée par Moscou. Cela va passer par l'intégration dans son armée de l'air d'avions de combat Gripen E/F de Saab, mais aussi par la mise en chantier d'un chasseur de nouvelle génération. Il y avait déjà le NGF (Next Generation Fighter) franco-germano-espagnol du Système de combat aérien futur (Scaf) et le Tempest britannique, mais l'Europe va bientôt se retrouver avec un troisième chasseur de nouvelle génération en développement. L'annonce est intervenue discrètement, et de manière laconique, le 15 juin, dans un discours en téléconférence du ministre de la Défense suédois, Peter Hultqvist, lors du forum des chefs de mission de l'Otan, dont son pays n'est pas membre. Parlant du danger que représentent pour les démocraties les efforts de déstabilisation par la désinformation, il a surtout mis en avant son intention de mettre sur pied une agence de défense psychologique. https://www.aerospatium.info/un-successeur-de-nouvelle-generation-pour-le-gripen/

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  October 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

  USAF Scoping Out Upgrades to Counter-UAS Weapons

  Rachel S. Cohen The Air Force is in the market for upgrades to its counter-drone technologies, according to an Oct. 16 request for information posted on a federal contracting website. The service is in the early stages of deploying lasers, microwaves, and other weapons more advanced than a shotgun to deal with potentially threatening drones loitering around bases. In particular, the RFI is looking for ideas to fend off the smallest unmanned aerial systems like quadcopters. “These threats may have characteristics such as small size, low radar cross-sections, low infrared or radio frequency signatures (or no RF signatures), ability to hover, and low-altitude flight capability, which may render them difficult to detect and/or defeat,” the Air Force stated. “These UAS are typically either controlled remotely from a ground control station or capable of flying pre-planned routes.” Cheap aircraft can be turned into battlefield weapons when modified to drop hand grenades, and they can spy on military installations or heavily damage jets if sucked into an engine. American military officials have warned for years that small drones pose a pervasive threat to troops in the Middle East. Over the next year, the Air Force wants to pursue updates to counter-drone command-and-control, radar, and electronic warfare systems related to directed-energy weapons. It's soliciting concepts in 12 areas from lethality to crunching weather data. Responses are due Nov. 17. For instance, the service suggests automating the process of targeting, tracking, and shooting at an incoming drone instead of relying as heavily on a human operator. “At a minimum, the ideal configuration is for [a high-energy laser] system to have its beam director/optics automate all steps between acquisition, tracking, aimpoint selection, and only requires a human to interact with it through final approval to fire from operator/battle commander,” the RFI said. The service also considers being able to compile and send reports with the details of drone threats and conflicts to other units, which could give the military a better understanding of an enemy in a particular area. Pentagon researchers are looking into several different counter-UAS system designs spanning the weapons themselves to the subsystems that point and shoot them. The Air Force is currently testing high-powered lasers and microwaves overseas while it takes less-destructive approaches—like using gun-fired nets to trap quadcopters—in the continental U.S. https://www.airforcemag.com/usaf-scoping-out-upgrades-to-counter-uas-weapons/

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  March 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  DoD Stands Up New Biotech Manufacturing Center: Griffin

  WASHINGTON: DoD is opening a new manufacturing innovation center dedicated to biotechnology to figure out how to replicate “nature's manufacturing plant” on an industrial scale, Pentagon research and engineering head Mike Griffin says. This is “a key new initiative,” Griffin stressed. The idea, he said at the annual McAleese conference, is “to learn how to do in an industrial way what nature has done for us in so many areas of things that we harvest and mine and use ... now that we are beginning to learn how to manipulate genomes.” Such technology could lead to DoD creating its own fuel using synthetic biology methods, for example. This would be a leap beyond ongoing efforts by DARPA that Sydney has widely reported, designed to protect soldiers against an enemy's biotech weapons. “This is a nascent technical area in the world, and especially in the United States,” Griffin told the audience here. “We want the national security community to be out in front on this.” The new center will be the ninth so-called ManTech center, designed to help overcome the so-called ‘valley of death' between research and commercialization by reducing risks. It will be the second ManTech center with a biotech focus: The first, BioFabUSA in New Hampshire, opened in 2016 to develop next-generation manufacturing techniques for repairing and replacing cells and tissues, which for example could lead to the ability to make new skin for wounded soldiers. Griffin elaborated on several other key areas for his two-year old office. DARPA is investing $459 million in the 2021 budget for AI Next, a “campaign” aimed at automating critical DoD business processes; improving the reliability of Artificial Intelligence systems; and enhancing the security of AI and machine learning tech. Griffin said his office is also “working with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) under the CIO to bring about what we're calling AI Now: what can we do with AI that can get into the field and bring value to the national security community today, and the next day.” On 5G newtorks, he said that his deputy Lisa Porter is in charge of efforts to “figure out how we can use 5G to press our military advantage” and to protect US military networks. DoD launched that effort in 2019, with a $53 million reprogramming, he said. Congress added $200 million in the 2020 appropriations act, he added, and DoD is asking for $484 million in the 2021 budget. A key to future 5G networks and communications will be spectrum sharing, Griffin stressed. “There is no green field spectrum left,” he said, so DoD will have to figure out how to share spectrum to keep up with both its own demand and deal with pressure from commercial industry for it to give up spectrum. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/dod-stands-up-new-biotech-manufacturing-center-griffin