14 juin 2023 | International, Naval
Hydraulic warfare is here to stay. NATO should plan for it.
Sophisticated tanks and fighter jets are important to shift the balance of power in Ukraine. But water is equally critical.
4 mai 2018 | International, Aérospatial
DIUx wants drones that are out for blood
By: Kelsey Atherton
For drone delivery to make sense, with existing capabilities of drones, the cargo needs to be relatively light, it needs to have tremendous value, and it needs to urgently travel the last mile by air. This is why, to the extent we've seen drones used for delivery in the wild, it's more likely as a means to carry contraband into a prison than it is a practical alternative to the postal service.
But there's one other cargo that fits the description, and that's blood itself.
Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, the Pentagon's stand-up Silicon Valley-focused acquisition house, is looking for a drone that can carry a modest cargo of blood, through the dark of night toward where it's most needed. Call it “Dronesferatu.”
From FCW:
The specs of the solicitation from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental -- the ability to deliver a 5-pound package over 100 kilometers in “austere environments” -- strongly suggest that they're looking at an unmanned aerial vehicle system that supports refrigeration or other means of temperature control.
“These deliveries, ideally automated, will provide essential items to critically wounded military personnel as quickly as possible after an injury occurs,” the April 23 solicitation states. “Ability to sustain a very high frequency of operations over an extended period of time is critical. Speed of delivery, reliability and robustness to failure and interference, response time, and overall delivery throughput are critical.”
Getting the right blood to the right people as fast as possible means saving lives. To that end, DARPA's funded research into metabolic rate reduction to see if there's a way to make people bleed out more slowly, or into using female hormones to similarly prolong the survivable time without transfusion. In 2013, the U.S. Army conducted a study on pre-hospital transfusion for battlefield casualties being medically evacuated in Afghanistan, and in 2012 Canadian Blood Services even tested the viability of paratroopers transporting blood for transfusion.
Consider blood drones complementary to this field of work. Early tests by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Uganda's Makerere University proved that small vials of blood transported by drone were just as viable as blood transported by car. Those same researchers followed up with a test of blood delivery from ship-to-shore, for possible use in response to coastal areas hit by natural disasters, where the roads are impassable but drones could still safely fly. The American startup Zipline demonstrated its own blood delivery drones in 2016, and has for a year and a half worked on delivering blood by robot to parts of Rwanda.
DIUx's ask, that a drone fly over 60 miles and carry 5 pounds of blood, is not far off from what Zipline's drones can already do, with the company stating a range of 100 miles and a cargo capacity of just under four pounds. Weight and range tradeoffs are at the heart of aviation design, so it's likely that vendors have already pitched something within the bounds of the solicitation. Should that drone make a fast turnaround from ask to prototype to useful tool, the troops fighting abroad may gain a better shot at surviving otherwise-fatal blood loss. Unlikely that the reverse-vampire drones will look like bats, though.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2018/05/03/diux-wants-drones-that-are-drones-out-for-blood/
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Lockheed to develop 5G testbed for Marine Corps
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28 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Terma North America under contract with Lockheed Martin on the C-130J
Atlanta, February 26, 2020 - Lockheed Martin has awarded a $15M firm-fixed price contract to Terma North America to provide the ALQ-213A Defensive Aids Controller (DAC) and Range-Less Electronic Warfare Training (REWT) for the USAF HC-130J. The program allows integration of the Defensive System Suite to the HC-130J and provides the aircrew with the capability to perform realistic EW training while flying their mission. This provides a more flexible, cost-effective EW training compared to training on EW ranges. Terma has been providing EW Embedded Training systems for various military aircraft over the past 15 years with great success. REWT is latest version of advanced realistic EW training systems from Terma. Further the ALQ-213A based integration will provide the aircrew enhanced control of the HC-130J defensive systems and provisions that allow the addition of future systems to the Defensive Systems Suite. Lockheed Martin will be the prime contractor and will certify the Defensive Systems Suite capability on the HC-130J. “This program will provide the warfighters with capabilities that have long been sought after. The company leverages legacy products to ensure the safe return of pilots everywhere, so it's important that Terma deliver to the mutual mission of protecting those who use our products. It's important to focus on the overarching goal – to keep our warfighters out of harm's way, even when they fly into a potentially hostile environment,” said Lars Tolstrup, Business Development Director, Terma. Terma North America has provided the ALQ-213A DAC in the past for several international C-130J aircraft, where special defensive systems integration was required, under contracts with Lockheed Martin in Marietta. The company's primary focuses are providing advanced System Level Capabilities, hardware, integration, and sustainment to protect the warfighter. Because of the company legacy on these aircraft, Terma North America is honored to continue to provide hardware to the USAF C-130J fleet. Terma North America, Inc. Operating in the aeronautics, defense, and security sector, Terma North America supports customers and partners all over the world. Headquartered in Crystal City, Virginia, operating from two additional main offices in Georgia, Atlanta and Warner Robins, which hosts a production/repair facility. Terma NA also maintains remote locations, such as Crane, Indiana and Ft. Worth, Texas, where US team members work directly with customers on a regular basis. Terma Group Terma North America is part of the Denmark based high-tech Terma Group that develops products and systems for defense and non-defense security applications; including command and control systems, radar systems, self-protection systems for aircraft, space technology, and aerostructures for the aircraft industry. Follow us on www.terma.com Instagram Twitter Linkedin Youtube Media contact: Kasper Rasmussen T:+45 2022 6091 E:kar@terma.com View source version on Terma: https://www.terma.com/press/news-2020/terma-north-america-under-contract-with-lockheed-martin-on-the-c-130j/