23 avril 2020 | International, C4ISR

Air Force works to ‘mitigate’ Ligado deal’s impact on GPS

Aaron Mehta and Valerie Insinna

The U.S. Air Force is in the early stages of developing strategies to “mitigate” the damage expected to occur to Global Positioning System capabilities following the Federal Communication Commission's approval of a spectrum request by Ligado Networks, according to the service's top uniformed officer.

On Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said he was “very concerned about the Ligado decision,” adding those concerns are shared with Gen. Jay Raymond, the first head of the U.S. Space Force.

“We as a nation, and I would offer as a [world], rely on GPS to do so much that affects far more than military operations,” Goldfein said. “This is our quality of life. This is how we run businesses. This is how we fly airplanes. This is the ATM that requires that timing signal to get money. This is the blue dot on your phone that allows you to get from point A to point B, so we have come to just rely completely on GPS.”

On Monday, the FCC voted 5-0 in favor of Ligado's plan, which would allow the company to use L-band — a range of frequencies between 1 to 2 GHz, on which GPS relies in order to penetrate weather and dense vegetation. The company wants to use L-band as part of its plan to expand America's 5G capabilities, or next-generation connectivity.

The Defense Department and other government agencies have opposed the proposal for almost a decade over concerns it would impact GPS. C4ISRNET first broke the news April 10 that the FCC would move forward with Ligado's request.

“The best way I've heard it described — I'm a philosophy major and this works for me — if you're trying to have a quiet conversation and in the next room is a 500-watt speaker blaring music at you: That's a visual of what potentially could be the interference with this GPS signal that absolutely has got to be pristine, and the world relies on," Goldfein said. "So I am very concerned about it, and [Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force Gen. John “Jay”] Raymond and I are looking at different mitigation steps.”

Goldfein didn't go into details about what those steps might entail. Later in the day, Mark Lewis, the Defense Department's director of research and engineering for modernization, said he hadn't talked with Goldfein yet on next steps, but expressed similar sentiments about the Ligado plan.

“It's obviously a concern. Our ability to operate not only in space but in spectrum is critical. So I guess what I would tell you is right now we're considering what the implications will be and considering what the impacts will be,” Lewis said at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute.

It's something “we're working pretty actively,” Lewis added.

Outside of the technical mitigation efforts, there may be policy efforts underway to try and block L-band use by Ligado. In an exclusive op-ed for C4ISRNET, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees warned that Ligado's plan could ultimately “cost taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars and require the replacement of current GPS equipment just as we are trying to get our economy back on its feet quickly.”

“We encourage the FCC to withdraw its approval of Ligado's application and take this opportunity to work with the NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration] and other federal agencies, including the departments of Defense and Transportation, to find a solution that will both support commercial broadband expansion and protect national security assets. Moreover, we expect the FCC to resolve Department of Defense concerns before moving forward, as required by law,” the lawmakers wrote.

“If they do not, and unless President [Donald] Trump intervenes to stop this from moving forward, it will be up to Congress to clean up this mess.”

https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2020/04/22/air-force-works-to-mitigate-ligado-deals-impact-on-gps/

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22 octobre 2019 | International, Terrestre

Industry Brings Robotic Vehicles To AUSA, Army Awarding Deals For Initial Prototypes Next Spring
By Matthew Beinart | The Army will release a prototype proposal request for the Robotic Combat Vehicle light and medium of variants before November and award contracts for test vehicles next spring, the lead official for the program told reporters on Monday. The push towards the next phase of the Army's effort to grow a robotic vehicle fleet arrives as vendors such as BAE Systems, Germany's Rheinmetall, as well as a team of Textron Systems [TXT], Howe & Howe and FLIR [FLR] all unveiled potential offerings at this week's Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C. Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Army's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle cross-functional team, detailed plans this week for the next phase of the RCV program, which he said would “revolutionize the way [the Army] fights in the future.” The Army will begin to solicit proposals for RCV-Light and RCV-Medium prototypes before the end of the month, with plans to hold a demonstration next March to put the platforms through a platoon-level operations experiment. Following the demonstration, the Army will then select one vendor to build four RCV-Ls and one vendor to build four RCV-Ms, according to Coffman. Those vehicles will then participate in a 2021 experiment going through company-level operations, before ultimately informing a 2023 decision on how the Army wants to construct its robotic vehicle fleet including the addition of an RCV-Heavy. Coffman has said previously that RCV is intended to eventually replace soldiers in dangerous tactical situations on the future battlefield with vehicles that are payload agnostic, semi-autonomous and integrated with a range of sensors and weapon systems (Defense Daily, Aug. 22). BAE Systems unveiled its Robotic Technology Demonstrator at AUSA, which has already participated in a recent demonstration with the Army on an outdoor test track in Sterling Heights, Michigan. “RTD is our way to go after that leap-ahead technology. We've designed it as rolling lab. Our intent is to keep developing this thing. This is a test platform that allows us to keep moving ahead,” Jim Miller, BAE Systems' senior director of business development, told reporters. “This is probably not going to be an RCV-L. It's probably the medium and it may lead us to a heavy option if that's where the Army continues to go.” Miller noted RTD uses a hybrid-electric drive, is currently integrated with a 30mm gun, and contains a range of sensor suites, including a 360-degree situational awareness system and the company's RAVEN soft-kill active protection system. The vehicle also includes a tethered UAS and a legged ground robot developed by Ghost Robotics. Rheinmetall brought its Wiesel Wingman configured toward the RCV-L path, which combines technology from its digitized Weasel platform, in use with the German Army, and the Mission Master unmanned ground vehicle. “That platform already exists in a digitized version. So throw out the hydraulics, the electronic kits inside, the drive-by-wire steering and electric transmission, and you combine it with the sensor and autonomy kit of the Mission Master and then you basically get a new vehicle that we call the Weasel Wingman,” Florian Reisch, director of business development and sales for Rheinmetall's American business, told Defense Daily. Basically you combine the Weasel platform that is able to hold the autonomy kit and then you basically get what the Army is looking for with robotic combat vehicles.” Reisch added that Rheinmetall could be interested in exploring the heavier RCV variants, listing potential options with the company's Lynx or Marder infantry fighting vehicles. “Of course we would be interested in the medium as well because we have different platforms available. We did have different research and development programs where we were modifying these platforms to basically enable them to carry a medium-caliber remote controlled turret. So that would be possible and we are looking at that.” The team of Textron, Howe & Howe and FLIR showcased the Ripsaw 5 platform at AUSA. The companies said it could be scaled down for RCV-L or up to a heavier version for RCV-M. “It's capable for both the RCV light and the RCV medium mission sets that the Army has put forward. What this does is it optimizes the superior value, the logistics, the mission outcome. We've got extraordinary modularity of performance. It's scalable with its high degree of reuse between the light and medium variants, and that just brings unmatched value to the team,” Lisa Atherton, Textron's CEO, told reporters during a teleconference last week. Geoff Howe, senior vice president of Howe & Howe, said the company is continuing to pursue additional technology additions for Ripsaw to grow capability for the robotic vehicle while the Army assesses its needs for a future unmanned fleet. “We are running a parallel program. Our program, we don't stop for anything. We're pushing forward with this technology we've advanced, and our plan is to meet the Army down the road with that parallel program. We're not waiting for anybody. We're pushing this development as far as we can,” Howe said. QinetiQ and Pratt & Miller also announced at AUSA a new partnership to offer a variant of the Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV) for RCV. https://www.defensedaily.com/industry-brings-robotic-vehicles-ausa-army-awarding-deals-initial-prototypes-next-spring/army/
11 mars 2022 | International, Naval

Spending bill would add five ships, 12 Super Hornets to Navy acquisition plans
A federal spending package would give the Navy a significant boost in funding for ships and aircraft, after lawmakers were largely underwhelmed by the service's budget request last spring.
1 février 2021 | International, Terrestre

Elbit signs tank, armored vehicle contract with Asia-Pacific country
By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Elbit Systems will supply tracked light tanks and wheeled fire-support vehicles to an army in the Asia-Pacific region under an approximately $172 million deal, the Israeli company announced Tuesday. Elbit is acting as the prime contractor for the three-year program and will supply the Sabrah light tank, which is based on the tracked ASCOD platform manufactured by General Dynamics European Land Systems. Elbit will also supply the eight-wheel drive Pandur II vehicle manufactured by the Czech firm Excalibur Army. An Elbit news release said the 30-ton Sabrah “provides a unique combination of powerful fire capacity and high maneuverability.” Both the tank and vehicle platforms will be equipped with a 105mm turret as well as a range of subsystems, including electro-optical sights, fire control systems, Torch-X battle management systems, E-Lynx software-defined radios and life support systems. Elbit President & CEO Bezhalel Machlis said the contract “reflects the mutually beneficial strategic co-operation between Elbit Systems and GDELS, based on joint development and manufacturing of vehicle-turret solutions.” Elbit's news release did not reveal the numbers of each vehicle ordered nor identify the customer, although Defense News understands that the vehicles are destined for the Philippines. Previous unconfirmed reports suggest the contract will be for eight Sabras and 10 Pandur IIs, along with one command and one recovery vehicle. The Philippine Department of National Defense has not confirmed it is the end user for the tanks. But if it is, this would mark the latest success for Elbit in the Southeast Asian country, having previously upgraded the country's M113 armored personnel carriers. That upgrade included equipping the M113s with Elbit's battle management systems — the same ones that will be fitted to the Sabrah and Pandur vehicles in this new contract. The Philippines also previously acquired Hermes 450 and 900 drones from Elbit. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2021/01/29/elbit-signs-tank-armored-vehicle-contract-with-asia-pacific-country

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Air Force works to ‘mitigate’ Ligado deal’s impact on GPS

Sur le même sujet

Spending bill would add five ships, 12 Super Hornets to Navy acquisition plans A federal spending package would give the Navy a significant boost in funding for ships and aircraft, after lawmakers were largely underwhelmed by the service's budget request last spring.

Spending bill would add five ships, 12 Super Hornets to Navy acquisition plans
A federal spending package would give the Navy a significant boost in funding for ships and aircraft, after lawmakers were largely underwhelmed by the service's budget request last spring.