27 Jun 07. BOWMAN Team partners with Racal Acoustics to deliver improved ANR headsets. “A massive improvement” was the verdict of the trials team leader from the 3rd Yorkshire Battalion tasked with putting Racal Acoustics’ iCombat
Active Noise Reduction (ANR) communications headset through its final paces on Warrior earlier this year. Initial prototypes were demonstrated on CVRT Scimitar at the Armoured Trials & Development Unit, Bovington, Dorset in July last year and production units were trialled in January 2007. The headset has entered operational service in April 2007. The forerunner to the iCombat was the in-service RA195 Combat headset, itself a high performance headset designed specifically to overcome the noise and operational environment of tracked vehicles. It incorporated both ANR and Talk-Through technology that provides 360 degree situational awareness. The iCombat headset is an improved version of the successful Combat headset. So what’s been improved? Taking feedback from a wide range of stakeholders within the armoured and infantry user communities, the DLO and the Bowman and Tactical Communications & Information Systems IPT, Racal Acoustics set about a privately funded suite of improvements which included:-
• more durable ear cushion materials which will lead to better, long-term wearer comfort & reduced fatigue and therefore better operational effectiveness
• a new flexible microphone boom arm, which is easier to position and less prone to damage, providing better reliability and consequentially lower support costs
• a new microphone insert and improved ANR. In noisy tracked vehicles, ANR provides reduced noise at the ear which helps meet today’s more stringent health and safety legislation; the combination of the microphone insert and ANR ultimately leads to better speech intelligibility meaning improved operational safety and mission success.
03 July 07. Raytheon Company’s Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) business has been selected as part of a University of California at San Diego (UCSD)-led team to design and construct information technology and networking capability for the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The program was awarded by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. Raytheon IIS will assist the UCSD team in creating the blueprint for a digital infrastructure that will allow ocean observatories to collect, process and transmit data 24/7. The initial award is for $29m over six years, with total funding reaching $42m over the course of the 11-year project term. Raytheon’s role is valued at nearly $2.5m and includes the provision of systems engineering support to ensure consistency in the evolving Integrated Ocean Observing System architecture.
27 Jun 07. QinetiQ and NexxtDrive announce co-operation on hybrid electric drive technologies. QinetiQ and NexxtDrive have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate on hybrid drive technologies. Hybrid drive products and underlying
technologies are relevant to QinetiQ’s work on improving the energy efficiency of military vehicles where the growing power demands of the sophisticated electronic systems used are in conflict with the military requirement for extended range and maximising operational capability, while operating away from logistical support. QinetiQ has extensive expertise and products in the military application for hybrid propulsion technologies. NexxtDrive has developed a portfolio of patents in the field of energy efficient transmissions which have attracted strong interest in the automotive and off-highway industry. NexxtDrive’s patented transmission systems combine the functionality of continuously variable drives with powerful motor/generators.
27 Jun 07. QinetiQ launches new technology venture fund in partnership with Coller Capital. QinetiQ today announces the creation of a new technology venture fund (QinetiQ Ventures LP) to accelerate the development and realisation of seven of its venture in