L3, Northrop Selected for Next Generation Jammer Work; Program Stalled After Raytheon Protest

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  14 juin 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Saab’s sPAD is a tablet for the battlefield

  The smartphone is such an integral part of modern life that it's only natural to see battlefield adaptations. Today's novelty comes from Swedish defense giant Saab, and goes by “Soldier sPAD,” to give the convenience and utility of a small touch-screen computer, but make sure it can actually work in the kind of situations where soldiers might find iPhones or Androids lacking. The phone itself weighs just about six ounces, and the whole system, including battery, handheld tablet, cables between them, and pouches, clocks in at just under two pounds. The 3.7 inch pressure-sensitive screen of the sPAD is built to be used “with gloves, pens or any other item by putting pressure on the touch film.” The screen can both reflect light around it and be back-lit when ambient light is lacking. The sPAD is built to work in temperatures as cool as -22 degrees and as hot as 140 Fahrenheit, and can be safely stored in temperatures more extreme than those use parameters. There's an option of a non-rechargeable battery with 16 hours of power, rechargeable batteries, and hot-swapping of batteries so the tablet can remain in use even while changing out its power supply. As to what the tablet might actually be used for? App proliferation will invariably be constrained compared to commercial markets, but the present of a useful, touchable screen in the hands of troops means the possibilities are many and likely to be discovered through real-world use. Maps and communications are obvious. Displaying drone footage to an entire company through the tablet instead of just the drone operator could allow the formation to take advantage of real-time surveillance. Maybe tablets could even issue simple commands to mostly autonomous vehicles, allowing hunkered-down troops to play a bit of minesweeper in real life. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/06/13/saabs-spad-is-a-tablet-for-the-battlefield/

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  6 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Rafael acquires drone-focused firm in $240M deal

  By: Seth J. Frantzman JERUSALEM — Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems' acquisition of local firm Aeronautics Limited combines the former's expertise in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with the latter's ties to the UAS market. “We have a strong feeling and understanding that the world is changing and moving more operational requirements toward unmanned vehicles and specifically unmanned aerial vehicles,” said Yuval Miller, executive vice president of aerial and C4I systems divisions at Rafael. The 850 million shekel (U.S. $240 million) deal has been in the works for more than a year and received approval earlier this year. Under the agreement, announced Sept. 3, Rafael will hold a 50 percent stake in Aeronautics along with businessman Avichai Stolero. Rafael, which is known for its Iron Dome air defense system, Trophy active protection system, Litening pods and advances in artificial intelligence, sees an advantage in adding UAS to its global strategy. Aeronautics has a portfolio involving 50 countries and a spectrum of UAVs. Rafael says it has in-house capabilities such as sensors, systems and munitions that have been used on fighter jets and other platforms that can pair well with what it describes as Aeronautics' lower-tier UAVs. Rafael has historically cooperated with other local and foreign companies that make UAVs, such as Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. For instance, its RecceLite pod was integrated on General Atomics' Predator B/MQ-9s with the Italian Air Force in 2016. But Rafael noticed even more potential in the platforms made by Aeronautics, including its Orbiter UAV products, such as the Orbiter 3 lightweight drone that has a range of 150 kilometers and is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance missions. “These platforms are becoming more robust and their endurance has grown significantly,” Miller said. Indeed, the market is growing in size, to the tune of billions of more dollars in annual spending over the next decade alongside the bolstered capability and and further miniaturization of UAVs. “This has put us in a position to look for a partner, and we found that Aeronautics, which has an excellent portfolio in 50 countries around the world, and their UAV platforms on the lower tier are world leading, and binding that with Rafael's network and sensor capability looks like excellent synergy,” said Miller, who foresees a fast-growing business with the acquisition. Rafael plans to maintain Aeronautics as an independent company, which will evolve its business to Rafael's products. The two companies already partnered in acquiring Controp Precision Technologies in 2012. Controp makes electro-optical systems. Rafael envisions a productive meshing with its electro-optics for ISR missions and area surveillance. “We are talking about onboard advanced image processing and [artificial intelligence], and today that also is available in small and lightweight for lower-tier and low-cost UAVs,” Miller said. Currently, medium-altitude, long-endurance and high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs are costly, but stronger and smaller drones will evolve and combine more sensors and networks, fusing data for an overall customer gain, according to Rafael. Rafael did not discuss how it might mesh with Aeronautics' loitering munitions, such as the Orbiter 1K. The acquisition is part of a growing trend of consolidation in Israel, which saw Elbit acquire former state-owned IMI last year. In 2017 and 2018, Aeronautics was under several investigations that saw its exports restricted and stock price falter. Those hiccups now appear to be behind the firm. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/09/05/rafael-acquires-drone-focused-firm-is-240m-deal

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  14 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  AI’s dogfight triumph a step toward human-machine teaming

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Human fighter pilots, your jobs are safe for now. Weeks after an artificial intelligence algorithm defeated a human pilot in a simulated dogfight between F-16 jets, the Pentagon's director of research and engineering for modernization said Thursday at the Defense News Conference that it's more likely an AI will team with military pilots than replace them. “I don't see human pilots being phased out, I see them being enhanced, not physically, but I see their work, their effectiveness being enhanced by cooperation with artificial intelligence systems,” said Mark Lewis, who also serves as the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. The AlphaDogfight Trials in August marked the finale of the Pentagon research agency's AI air combat competition. The now-notorious algorithm, developed by Heron Systems, easily defeated the fighter pilot in all five rounds that capped off a yearlong competition hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ― which is overseen by Lewis and the Defense Department's research and engineering shop. “The key takeaway from that was the artificial intelligence system did so well because it wasn't so concerned about self-preservation, it was willing to do things that a human pilot wouldn't do. And that's the advantage of artificial intelligence,” Lewis said. “I think the real answer is teaming AI with a human for the best combination of both. So I'm pretty confident we're going to have human pilots into the future.” The AlphaDogfight Trials were a subset of the Air Combat Evolution program, or ACE, which is one of a few DARPA efforts exploring human-machine teaming, agency spokesman Jared Adams said in an email. ACE is using human-machine collaborative dogfighting to increase trust in combat autonomy, and the goal is for it to scale to more complex multi-aircraft scenarios to pave the way for live, campaign-level experimentation. Fiscal 2023 will see the first in a yearlong series of trials using tactical fighter-class aircraft (currently L-39 trainers), with safety pilots on board to assist in case of trouble. Those pilots would be given “higher cognitive level battle management tasks while their aircraft fly dogfights,” all while sensors gauge the pilot's attention, stress and trust in the AI, Adams said. DARPA foresees a single human pilot serving as a mission commander in a manned aircraft, orchestrating multiple autonomous, unmanned platforms that would all be engaged in individual tactics. ACE would ultimately deliver that capability. “ACE, therefore, seeks to create a hierarchical framework for autonomy in which higher-level cognitive functions (e.g., developing an overall engagement strategy, selecting and prioritizing targets, determining best weapon or effect, etc.) may be performed by a human, while lower-level functions (i.e., details of aircraft maneuver and engagement tactics) is left to the autonomous system,” Adams said. “In order for this to be possible, the pilot must be able to trust the autonomy to conduct complex combat behaviors in scenarios such as the within-visual-range dogfight before progressing to beyond-visual-range engagements.” In announcing the future trials using tactical aircraft on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said: “AI's role in our lethality is to support human decision-makers, not replace them.” “We see AI as a tool to free up resources, time and manpower so our people can focus on higher-priority tasks and arrive at the decision point, whether in a lab or on the battlefield, faster and more precise than the competition,” he added. But Esper warned that both Russia and China were pursuing fully autonomous systems, and drew a distinction between them and what he described as the U.S. military's ethically guided approach to AI. “At this moment, Chinese weapons manufacturers are selling autonomous drones they claim can conduct lethal targeted strikes,” he said. “Meanwhile, the Chinese government is advancing the development of next-generation stealth UAVs, which they are preparing to export internationally.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/09/10/ais-dogfight-triumph-a-step-toward-human-machine-teaming/