US Army’s next-gen protection system for helos cleared for full-rate production

On the same subject

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  January 23, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  DARPA Prototype Reflectarray Antenna Offers High Performance in Small Package

  DARPA's Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) is set for launch in late February to space-qualify a new type of membrane reflectarray antenna. The antenna, made of a tissue-thin Kapton membrane, packs tightly for stowage during launch and then will deploy to its full size of 2.25 meters in diameter once it reaches low Earth orbit. R3D2 will monitor antenna deployment dynamics, survivability and radio frequency (RF) characteristics of a membrane antenna in low-Earth orbit. The antenna could enable multiple missions that currently require large satellites, to include high data rate communications to disadvantaged users on the ground. A successful demonstration also will help prove out a smaller, faster-to-launch and lower cost capability, allowing the Department of Defense, as well as other users, to make the most of the new commercial market for small, inexpensive launch vehicles. Satellite design, development, and launch took approximately 18 months. “The Department of Defense has prioritized rapid acquisition of small satellite and launch capabilities. By relying on commercial acquisition practices, DARPA streamlined the R3D2 mission from conception through launch services acquisition,” said Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. “This mission could help validate emerging concepts for a resilient sensor and data transport layer in low Earth orbit – a capability that does not exist today, but one which could revolutionize global communications by laying the groundwork for a space-based internet.” The launch will take place on a Rocket Lab USA Electron rocket from the company's launch complex on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor and integrated the 150 kg satellite; MMA Design designed and built the antenna. Trident Systems designed and built R3D2's software-defined radio, while Blue Canyon Technologies provided the spacecraft bus. Rocket Lab will host a webcast and provide coverage of the launch via live stream: http://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-01-22b

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  April 25, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  Bombardier gets federal exemption from sanctions on Russian titanium | CBC News

  Bombardier is now the second large Canadian corporation known to have been granted an exemption from federal government sanctions on Russian titanium.

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  August 28, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Army announces winners of electronic warfare challenge

  By: Kelsey Atherton A platypus, several Australians and a thundering panda walk into an electromagnetic spectrum, then leave with $150,000. The result is, potentially, a technique and a tool that will allow soldiers to discover what signals in a war zone are relevant to their mission and what are merely noise. The Army Rapid Capabilities Office announced Aug. 27 the winners of the Army Signal Classification Challenge, a competition for artificial intelligence and machine learning with the goal of creating a thinking machine that can accurately classify signals on the fly. Platypus Aerospace, a team from the federally funded Aerospace Corporation, won the event, taking home $100,000. A group of data scientists from Australia competing as TeamAU won $30,000, and a team from Motorola Solutions named THUNDERING PANDA placed third, winning $20,000. These winners beat out a pool of over 150 teams from universities, industry, laboratories and government. The challenge ran from April 30 through Aug. 13. Participants had a 90-day period to develop a model and train on data sets provided by the Rapid Capabilities Office. After that, the models were tested against two data sets ranging in complexity. For the challenge, the Army office said that “the classic signal detection process is no longer efficient in understanding the vast amount of information presented to electronic warfare officers on the battlefield” thanks to the multiplicity of satellite signals, radar signals, phones and other devices transmitting across the electromagnetic spectrum. The understated goal is that the winners' creation is needed not just for a hypothetical future battlefield, or even any of the long-running active theaters where soldiers see combat today. Instead, as noted in the release, “this was the office's first competitive challenge, which grew from the fielding of electronic warfare prototypes to address operational needs in Europe earlier this year.” That “operational need in Europe” may refer to the electronic warfare taking place in Ukraine, which has become something of an open laboratory for both Russia and the United States. Or it might be a broader acknowledgement of the potential threat picture in the region generally. In June, the Army conducted an electronic attack within Latvia as part of a NATO training exercise. The Rapid Capability Office already outfitted the Army with several new electronic warfare tools for countering Russian electronic warfare in Europe, and in July announced that it was bringing those capabilities home to field with a unit stateside. Research into a versatile, flexible artificial intelligence that can find electronic warfare specialists the interesting signals amidst the irrelevant noise is likely to continue. The Rapid Capabilities Office will announce a Phase 2 for the program later this year. https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/08/27/army-announces-winners-of-ai-for-electronic-warfare-challenge