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On the same subject

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  February 2, 2021 | International, Naval, Land

  BAE Systems to Sustain Air Traffic Control Systems Under $65.7M Navy Contract

  MCLEAN, Virginia – The U.S. Navy selected BAE Systems for a five-year $65.7 million single-award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for air traffic control (ATC) platform sustainment and engineering services, the company said in a Feb. 1 release. BAE Systems will continue to use its engineering, technical, and operational expertise to develop, produce, equip, test, evaluate, sustain, and update key expeditionary ATC aviation systems for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Webster Outlying Field. “With this win, BAE Systems will provide expeditionary forces with the capability to quickly establish an airfield with the radar and communications systems to safely recover and launch aircraft,” said Lisa Hand, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Integrated Defense Solutions business. “We serve as the automation expert and technical coordinator, responsible for development and improvement of real-time ATC computer systems. Our radar technicians deploy around the world to support the warfighter; their work is resulting in quicker turnover to the end user, improved hardware reliability, and more accurate installation and precision in the field.” This new contract continues BAE Systems' more than a decade of supporting critical work on key systems, including the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS); Air Traffic Navigation, Integration, and Coordination System (ATNAVICS); Airfield Mobile Tactical Air Navigation System (AMTAC); and ATNAVICS Data Link System (ADLS). Under the contract, the company will develop and maintain operational software and supporting test beds, field change programs, and supplies for ATC systems. These systems are integral ATC tools that enhance platform flight safety, especially when end users are operating in new or rough terrain airfields with no existing military base. https://seapowermagazine.org/bae-systems-to-sustain-air-traffic-control-systems-under-65-7m-navy-contract

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  July 18, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Alert: HotPage Adware Disguised as Ad Blocker Installs Malicious Kernel Driver

  Researchers uncover HotPage adware module masquerading as ad blocker, installing malicious kernel driver for elevated Windows access and browser.

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  January 17, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  The Army wants drones that make their own networks

  By: Kelsey D. Atherton Eventually, the Shadow will come to pass. The Army is looking for replacements to the venerable drone, first flown in 1991, through its Future Tactical UAS program. In the nearly three decades since, every aspect of drone technology has seen some improvement, including materials used, sensors to communication hardware and software, and even the batteries that power those computers and sensors. The Army has also seen the limitations of what it can and cannot do with a drone that has to either operate from a runway or be launched from a rail and caught on a hook. Into this mix of requirements and new possibility flies the Resolute Eagle, made by PAE ISR, complete with an ad hoc network system from Persistent Systems. The Army is looking at a range of drones for possible Shadow replacement, and the Resolute Eagle will have to compete with designs as varied as Insitu's ScanEagle and Integrator, Martin UAV's V-Bat, Endeavor Robotics' Firstlook and SUGV, QinetiQ's Talon and Dragon Runner. This is a somewhat crowded field, and to compete in it Resolute Eagle has a VTOL model, which essentially grafts booms with rotors to the drone's wings, allowing it to take off and land like a quadcopter. The VTOL configuration is listed as having 12 hours of endurance, compared to 18 hours for the purely fixed-wing version, and the booms are detachable, giving some flexibility when forward deployed. “Our reconfigurable platform (from fixed wing to VTOL), large payload capacity, and reduced ground support equipment requirements offers significant mission flexibility, both as a Shadow replacement for BCT expeditionary forces and as a complement to the existing platforms currently in use for military and civilian uses,” said Beth Beach, vice president of business development at PAE ISR. Besides military customers, PAE ISR is targeting the Resolute Eagle at a broad range of law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, humanitarian and commercial missions, according to Beach. Its ISR abilities could be used for pipeline and railway inspection, as well as evaluating the area after a natural disaster and looking for people in search and rescue. Key to this is an ability to operate beyond line of sight through satellite communications. Relying on satellites is a safe bet for civilian applications going forward, but across the Pentagon people are looking for other ways to retain or set up communications networks on the battlefield in the event that the satellite communication becomes untenable. One way to ensure communication via drones is equipping the drones with tools for an ad hoc network. For the Resolute Eagle, that comes in the form of Persistent Systems' MPU5 Wave Relay mobile ad hoc networking (MANET). “The beauty of the MANET is that it can be setup and deployed with ease,” said Robert Regan, sales engineer at Persistent Systems. “Users can leave and enter the network seamlessly due to its self-healing and self-forming nature. When dealing with RF it is important to remember that every use case is different. So when dealing with distances there are lots of variables that can affect distance: RF environment, terrain, frequency band selected and antenna selection, just to name a few. With our auto-tracking antenna system we have reached out to UAV's at 130 miles.” This MANET is platform agnostic, and could operate not just from Resolute Eagle drones, but from multiple drones, ground robots, and in systems carried by people on foot. To keep the communication secure, MPU5 radio operates with AES 256-bit Suite B encryption, ensuring that only those with the right decryption tools (or the proper key) can access it. As the Army looks for its Shadow replacement, the capabilities on offer are what's most compelling, since they suggest the full range of possibility for a new mid-sized tactical drone. Crossing over from offering to contract is a not insignificant task, and in November 2018 US Naval Air System Command awarded PAE ISR a $173 billion contract for ISR services by Resolute Eagle. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2019/01/16/resolute-eagle-brings-ad-hoc-networks-to-the-shadow-fight