January 23, 2019 | International, C4ISR
An Air Force radio that can run for a week in the sun
By: Adam Stone The Pentagon has long been looking for a way out from under its tradition of massive, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar projects. With the rapid pace of technological development, military leaders have sought tools and strategies for more rapid acquisitions. There's the Defense Innovation Unit, or DIUx, a Defense effort to make faster use of emerging technologies. Some organizations have also turned to contractual tools such as the OTA, or other transaction authority, as a means to accelerate the technology buying process. Recently, technicians at McConnell Air Force Base proved that homegrown ingenuity can make a difference, too. Workers there used a local partnership and a modest development effort to craft a portable, solar-powered communications system. “The military needs to be ready to go anywhere and solar enables that,” said Tech. Sgt. Clayton Allen of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing. As a non-commissioned officer in charge of the wing's XPX innovation team, Allen led the effort to shrink down the standard communications package and make it self-sustaining. The three-man team got the job done in about 400 hours, working in cooperation with Wichita State University's GoCreate rapid-innovation lab. “We took it from a box the size of a small room and made it something you can drag behind you like luggage, weighing about 150 pounds,” he said. An expeditionary force typically might have to spend a couple of days setting up its communications operation. The newly-developed unit works right out of the box and costs about $12,000 less, the team said. As a solar-power unit, it also does not rely on the presence of a generator, making it easier to deploy in a wider range of circumstances. “It is completely self-sustainable, powered by solar power, and the solar panel can extend the [battery life] out almost indefinitely,” Senior Airman Aaron Walls, an XPX innovation team member, said in an Air Force news release. Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2019/01/23/an-air-force-radio-that-can-run-for-a-week-in-the-sun