17 septembre 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Kelsey Atherton
U.S. Special Operations Command awarded the Sierra Nevada Corporation Aug. 23 a contract worth $47 million to keep supplying and maintaining the software it uses in to ensure radios can communicate with one another across frequencies. Dubbed, TRAX, for “Tactical Radio Application eXtension,” the software “fills a [redacted] role in the Special Operations air-to-ground communication architecture," and it works on Android devices, too.
The contract award is available online, and while the text omits several details, what can be seen is clear on why Sierra Nevada Corporation is the only contractor that can meet this need. Convenience is one factor. Sierra Nevada developed the software, so it makes sense to continue, and funding a new or redundant development to work in the same way and with the same interoperability would be added cost for no meaningful, tangible benefit.
There is also the matter of specific intellectual property. Sierra Nevada owns the TRAX software. Keeping the TRAX program with the same provider avoids the legal battles and technical issues that could come with trying to replicate it elsewhere. While SOCOM solicited information about an alternative capability, the justification statement argues that whatever that redacted capability is, the decision was made to single track it.
In the field, TRAX translates data protocols, allowing for communication across devices that otherwise couldn't speak to each other. While military machines from radios up through planes are designed with the knowledge that they will need to be used together, and often built around shared protocols to match, reality is messier than planning, so a reliable software medium is one way to retain a capability even if the equipment on hand isn't the equipment that was intended.
Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/09/14/socom-awards-47-million-for-radio-software
6 janvier 2024 | International, Terrestre
Opinion: The conflicts of the 21st century require unprecedented global coordination as threats operate across geographies, borders, and digital platforms.
1 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By Allen Cone April 30 (UPI) -- Boeing's prototype MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling drone is so huge it needed help from government agencies in Missouri and Illinois to move 40 miles. With assistance from law enforcement in both states, a truck carried the aircraft -- which is the size of an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter -- from Boeing's technical plant at St. Louis's Lambert International Airport across the Mississippi River to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, a small regional airport next to Scott Air Force Base in rural Illinois. The semi traveled on side roads and at 5-10 mph for much of the trip Sunday night, KDSK-TV reported. Temporary road closures were in Edwardsville, Marine and Lebanon as the jet moved through. The plane arrived before 6 a.m. Monday, KMOV-TV reported. The regional airport is in less crowded airspace, which "gives us some flexibility in how we can fly," Dave Bujold, the Boeing program manager overseeing drone project, told The Drive. Boeing plans to test fly the MQ-25 Stingray, known as known as T-1 or "Tail 1," before the end of the year. But first it must pass ground taxiing tests and the Federal Aviation Administration must certify the aircraft and grant clear airspace for it to fly. Ground control stations are being installed at the airport. The Boeing test aircraft later will undergo testing on the East Coast. The Navy will also hoist it onto an aircraft carrier for deck handling testing. "By the time the Navy's assets are jumping in the air, we will already have had thousands of test hours on the ground and hundreds in the air," Bujold said. The first Navy aircraft is scheduled to fly in fiscal year 2021. Last August, Boeing was awarded a $805 million contract to build four aircraft for the U.S. Navy. The drones, which won't carry weapons, will be based on aircraft carriers to refuel other aircraft mid-flight, including the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters. "The MQ-25 program is vital because it will help the U.S. Navy extend the range of the carrier air wing, and Boeing and our industry team is all-in on delivering this capability," Bujold said. Curtiss-Wright's Defense Solutions, which has been a Boeing contractor for 60 years, announced last week it has been awarded a contract by Boeing to supply data technology systems for the program. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/04/30/Boeings-MQ-25-refueling-drone-moved-to-air-base-for-flight-testing/5091556634478/
2 novembre 2022 | International, Naval
Fifteen of the 21 vessels have been delivered to 11 Pacific Island nations under the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Security Program, since 2018