US DoD unveils NDIS-IP to modernise defence industrial base

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  July 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Four companies win contracts to build the Air Force’s Skyborg drone

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Kratos will move forward in the Air Force program to build an AI-enabled drone wingman known as Skyborg. Each company Thursday was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $400 million, but no seed money was immediately allocated as the firms will have to compete against each other for future orders. Through the Skyborg program, the Air Force wants to field a family of unmanned aerial systems that use artificial intelligence to adapt to battlefield conditions. The Skyborg drone should be cheap enough where the loss of aircraft in combat could be sustained, yet survivable enough so that it could move into a high-end fight and function as a wingman to manned fighter jets. “Because autonomous systems can support missions that are too strenuous or dangerous for manned crews, Skyborg can increase capability significantly and be a force multiplier for the Air Force,” said Brig. Gen. Dale White, who leads the Air Force's program office for fighters and advanced aircraft. “We have the opportunity to transform our warfighting capabilities and change the way we fight and the way we employ air power.” Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper has said that Skyborg could eventually become smart enough that, like R2-D2 in the Star Wars films, it can autonomously present information and conduct tasks to help decrease fighter pilot workload. The system learns from prior experiences how best to support human pilots. But in the near term, the Air Force wants to use the Skyborg program to integrate an autonomous air vehicle with open mission systems as a way to demonstrate that it can team with a manned fighter, the service said in a statement. “Autonomy technologies in Skyborg's portfolio will range from simple play-book algorithms to advanced team decision making and will include on-ramp opportunities for artificial intelligence technologies,” said Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, the Air Force Research Laboratory commander. “This effort will provide a foundational government reference architecture for a family of layered, autonomous, and open-architecture UAS.” https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/07/23/four-companies-got-contracts-to-build-the-air-forces-skyborg-drone

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  September 1, 2024 | International, Land

  Share of EU arms export to Ukraine rises from 19% to 34% in Q2, Eurostat says

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  October 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

  Aircrews to get hand-held devices linked via secure WiFi for improved air-to-ground operations

  INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) received a $48 million engineering services contract to support the integration and qualification of hand-held devices into platform-mounted WiFi systems secured up to secret. Loaded with situational awareness and mission planning applications, the mobile devices will improve air-to-ground communication between combat teams, enhancing situational awareness as the mission unfolds. "We're helping aircrews and ground forces better communicate and collaborate in real time on the battlefield," said Matt Gilligan, vice president at Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services business. "Right now Blackhawk crews and dismounted soldiers rely heavily on voice communications during a mission, and when dynamics are changing in the air and on the ground minute by minute, that's a huge challenge." The contract is part of the U.S. Army's Air Soldier System (Air SS), the service's effort to equip their rotary-wing aircrews with wearable electronics that increase their mission effectiveness and survivability. Under the contract, Raytheon will load mission applications on commercial off-the-shelf phones and tablets to allow air and ground users to access and share current weather updates, friendly force trackers, and secure text messages. To learn more about the program, watch the Tennessee National Guard use the system during a recent FEMA exercise Shaken Fury. About Raytheon Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I(TM) products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter. Media Contacts Heather Uberuaga +1.520.891.8421 iispr@raytheon.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aircrews-to-get-hand-held-devices-linked-via-secure-wifi-for-improved-air-to-ground-operations-300933119.html SOURCE Raytheon Company