December 5, 2023 | International, C4ISR
February 22, 2023 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Space Force may hire companies to service orbiting satellites
The head of the Space Force's mobility enterprise said this week the service wants to buy commercial on-orbit logistics capabilities.
On the same subject
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November 29, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Australia chooses General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian RPAS
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has down-selected General Atomics' MQ-9B Sky Guardian for the programme to acquire an armed Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). Australia is looking to purchase the MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for its armed MALE RPAS requirement under Project Air 7003. The DoD has selected the MQ-9B over the MQ-9A unmanned aircraft for the A$1.3bn ($884m) programme. It will now work on preparing an acquisition proposal for government consideration, which is expected to take place in 2021-22. Australia Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said: “Cutting-edge technology of this kind, with advanced sensors and systems, would complement advanced aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and ensure that Australian Defence Force maintains state-of-the-art capability.” The team assembled by General Atomics to deliver the RPAS for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is known as Team Reaper Australia. It includes Cobham Aviation Services Australia, Flight Data Systems, Collins Aerospace, Raytheon Australia, Airspeed, CAE Australia, Sentient Vision Systems, Ultra Electronics Australia, Quickstep Technologies and TAE Aerospace. Australia Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said: “Local companies that provide a range of innovative sensor, communication, manufacturing and lifecycle support capabilities will have the opportunity to showcase their capabilities throughout this development process. “Australian defence industries are world-class and are extremely well-placed to be involved in projects like this.” The DoD select General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) to provide an armed RPAS solution in November last year. To be operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the MQ-9B drone is part of the MQ-9 series of unmanned systems. Belgium and the UK also selected the MQ-9B Sky Guardian to meet their defence requirements. https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/australia-general-atomics-mq-9b-sky-guardian/
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July 31, 2020 | International, C4ISR
From the lab to the battlefield: Soldiers put new network tools to the test
Andrew Eversden The Army's new network tools, set to be deployed to units in 2021, were heavily influenced by a new factor: soldiers. Through exercises and training events, the Army's Network Cross-Functional Team received feedback on its design decisions for Capability Set '21, the set of new network tools set to be delivered to soldiers next year as part of the service's network modernization efforts. “This is the first time really in recent history that the network has really focused on soldier feedback. And it's important and it played a huge role in that,” said Col. Garth Winterle, project manager for tactical radios at the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communication-Tactical. The Army recently completed its critical design review of Capability Set '21 and is in the beginning stages of procuring network pieces for delivery. In the lead-up to making purchases, feedback from units helped show the differences between how the new network tools perform in the field versus in a lab. “Soldier ingenuity, leader know-how, the skill craft that our soldiers bring and the tradecraft they utilize in the field is a lot different than how we conceptualize it back here,” Col. Rob Ryan, deputy director of the Network CFT at Army Futures Command, said at a C4ISRNET event in June. Testing for the capability set has been ongoing in lab-run experiments and with limited field tests in the last few months. Through the field experiments, the Army modernization team received feedback from units on what volume of various capabilities the soldiers needed, what capabilities were usable and what “attributes” of each capability soldiers found to be more important than others, said Winterle. Disruptions caused by both the coronavirus pandemic and a deployment of the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East at the end of December forced the modernization team adjust its testing plans. Defender 2020, a massive exercise scheduled to take place in June with European allies, was altered. Army leaders had planned to use the event to test network equipment with allies. However, network tests are “back on the calendar” in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, Winterle said. “The design decisions that were made at critical design review are still up on the table for revision or reassessing after continual soldier feedback,” Winterle said. “This is a continual evaluation, continual process.” Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, director of the Network CFT, said in a June 9 webinar with industry that several testing events, like a Joint Warfighting Assessment and Defender 2020, were altered, as were combat training center rotations and other exercises. Those “are always great venues for us getting feedback from soldiers and leaders on improving the network design,” Gallagher said. Ryan said that the network team received feedback from soldiers during the development, build and delivery phases of network design. In forthcoming testing events, the Army wants to figure out how many radios are needed and where they need to be located, Winterle said. The service also plans to evaluate if it undervalued and overvalued certain capabilities. https://www.c4isrnet.com/yahoo-syndication/2020/07/30/from-the-lab-to-the-battlefield-soldiers-put-new-network-tools-to-the-test/