24 juillet 2018 | International, C4ISR

This new antenna networks UAVs to expand battlefield comms

By:

Persistent Systems, a New York City-based global communications technology company, has introduced a portable antenna system to incorporate unmanned aerial vehicles into a networked battlefield.

The auto-tracking antenna system is an easily collapsible ground-to-air antenna that operates on the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET), which Persistent Systems manufactures, a news release said.

Persistent Systems hopes the antenna could be used in Special Operations Command's Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems III program.

The 5-foot parabolic dish is designed to be deployed within 15 minutes and can track and rotate to follow MANET-connected technology in the air, expanding the network bubble. Persistent Systems predicts this will reduce costs by decreasing dependence on satellite communications.

“The antenna helps connect far-flung forces, acting like a cheaper, locally controlled low-Earth satellite with a greater data rate,” Erik Schechter, a Persistent Systems spokesperson, said in an email.

The IP67-rated antenna system, designed for any weather environment, has interchangeable S-Band, L-Band and C-Band MIMO feeds and supports high data rates, video and voice communications up to 130 miles, yet can be stored compactly and fit into a standard-sized SUV, according to the Persistent Systems press release.

Schechter also said that the antenna can also be used for longer-range chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives command missions, like ones in Syria.

The auto-tracking antenna system is expected to improve full-motion video and sensor data transmission from drones and is automatically calibrated to reduce user error.

“The idea is for the Army, Navy, [Special Operations Command] and foreign customers to use it for better communications relays,” Schechter said.

SOCOM announced in May that UTC Aerospace Systems had been selected for its MEUAS III program and would provide SOCOM with flight management and imaging systems. Previously, SOCOM had selected Insitu, a company owned by Boeing and Textron Systems, to provide technology for intelligence and surveillance.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2018/07/23/this-new-antenna-networks-uavs-to-expand-battlefield-comms/

Sur le même sujet

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense – October 19, 2020

    21 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense – October 19, 2020

    ARMY Brockington and Associates,* Atlanta, Georgia (W912P9-21-D-0001); New South Associates Inc.,* Stone Mountain, Georgia (W912P9-21-D-0002); Southeastern Archaeological Research Inc.,* Orlando, Florida (W912P9-21-D-0003); and Environmental Solutions and Innovations Inc.,* Cincinnati, Ohio (W912P9-21-D-0004), will compete for each order of the $83,000,000 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, labor-hours) contract for providing multidisciplinary cultural resource-related services for projects undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 21, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity. NAVY Yahata Marine K.K., Yokohama, Japan, is awarded an estimated $61,000,000 under previously awarded Request for Proposal N68171-20-R-0001 multiple award of firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts to provide husbanding, management and integration services consisting of general charter and hire, utilities, force protection, communications and land transportation services to support maritime forces of the Department of Defense, other U.S. government agencies, and other nations to include Navy ships, Marine Corps, Military Sealift Command (MSC), Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and other foreign vessels participating in U.S. military or NATO exercises and missions. The contracts on the multiple award will run concurrently and will include a five-year base ordering period with one five-year option with individual requirements performed under task orders when specific dates and locations are identified. If the option period is exercised, the total estimated value of the contracts combined will have a ceiling value of $2,122,000,000. The ordering period of the contract is expected to be completed by October 2025; if all options are exercised, the ordering period will be completed by October 2030. This company will perform work in three geographic regions: Southeastern Asia 1 (49%); Oceania (26%); and Japan (25%). Due to the fact that the specific requirements for husbanding support cannot be predicted at this time, more specific information about where the work will be performed cannot be currently provided. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount, and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Additional funds will be obligated at the task order level with the appropriate fiscal year funding as issued by the main type commanders for each area of responsibility. Typical funding issued by each of the customers include operations and maintenance (Navy) funds from U.S. Fleet Forces Command; and working capital funds (Navy) from MSC. The requirement was competitively procured for the award of multiple contracts with the solicitation posted on beta.SAM.gov, Navy Electronic Commerce Online (NECO) and Euro NECO with 36 offers received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Sigonella, Naples Detachment, Italy, is the contracting activity (N68171-21-D-0036). Alabama Shipyard LLC, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded a $17,902,644 firm-fixed-price contract (N32205-21-C-4010) for a 76-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry-docking of USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11). The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $19,278,302. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by March 20, 2021. Funds in the amount of $17,902,644 are obligated in fiscal 2021 using working capital funds (Navy). This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the beta.SAM.gov website and two offers were received. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY The National Industries for the Blind,** Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $8,728,339 modification (P00008) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-B043) with four one-year option periods for moisture wicking t-shirts. This is an indefinite-delivery contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas, with an Oct. 30, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small business **Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2386753/source/GovDelivery/

  • Poland sends formal request to buy F-35s

    31 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    Poland sends formal request to buy F-35s

    By: Jarosław Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced May 28 that his ministry “sent a letter of request today” to the United States regarding Poland's plan to acquire 32 F-35A fighter jets. “I care about replacing post-Soviet gear in the Polish Air Force with the most modern one,” Blaszczak said at a defense conference in Warsaw, as reported by local news site Defence24.pl. The ministry aims to replace the Air Force's outdated Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 jets with fifth-generation fighters. The acquisition is to be carried out as part of Poland's military modernization program under which Warsaw plans to spend some 185 billion zloty ($48 billion) on new weapons and equipment by 2026. Last April, Blaszczak said that the deal to purchase F-35s was “not far away” from being signed, as the Polish cabinet was holding the talks in parallel to its negotiations with Washington on the permanent deployment of U.S. troops to Poland. Warsaw has pitched for the United States to build a military base in the country, offering to allocate at least $2 billion toward the project, dubbed “Fort Trump.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/05/29/poland-sends-formal-request-to-buy-f-35s

  • Army electronic warfare office seeks to adapt now for future threats

    2 septembre 2022 | International, C4ISR

    Army electronic warfare office seeks to adapt now for future threats

    The U.S. Army is reinvigorating its networks, sensors, electronic warfare arsenal and related tools following decades of counterterrorism operations.

Toutes les nouvelles