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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
23 Oct 19. £1m innovation boost for service personnel’s welfare and training. The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is funding seven projects aimed at improving the welfare of Armed Forces personnel, it can today be announced. Nearly £1m is being invested to further develop and trial cutting-edge artificial intelligence, psychological, and neuroscience tools and technology such as brain scanners in a bid to boost the training, wellbeing, and mental health support offered to personnel.
Minister for Defence People and Veterans Johnny Mercer said: “We welcome this £1m investment from DASA aimed at improving the welfare of Armed Forces personnel. Our Armed Forces serve this country to an exceptional standard and help to keep us safe, so it’s only right that they receive the best possible training and support.”
Chief of Defence People Lieutenant General Richard Nugee said: “Defence innovation is about more than just the kit our Armed Forces use. It’s also about our men and women who serve our country. This £1m investment will see seven projects developed from improving training methods to boosting the pastoral care and mental health support we offer our people.”
The funding is part of the second phase of DASA’s Defence People Innovation Challenge funded by the Defence Innovation Fund which is managed by the MOD’s Defence Innovation Unit; and sponsored by MOD’s Chief of Defence People.
DASA – the Ministry of Defence’s innovation hub – finds and funds exploitable technology to give Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and UK security a strategic advantage over adversaries while supporting the nation’s prosperity.
The first phase of funding to this competition in 2018 saw nearly £1.5m of innovation contracts awarded to nine suppliers to develop their initial ideas, meaning nearly £2.5m has been awarded in total. The competition finds innovative solutions to boost recruitment, skills and training, retention, motivation, and rehabilitation.
The projects winning funding in phase 2 are:
Affect In Ltd has been awarded around £140,000 to test technology measuring cognitive loading to be trialled with Air Traffic Control and for Air Battle Management training at RAF Shawbury. The technology uses easily worn and harmless brain scanning technology to provide real-time feedback on how well the training is achieving its aims.
Affect In Ltd has also been awarded around £108,000 using similar technology as above to improve foreign language training courses. The project will be delivered with the Joint Force
Command’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham.
The University of Kent has been awarded around £141,000 to begin brain endurance training trials with the RAF to counter fatigue experienced by pilots and other military personnel by combining physical activity with cognitive tasks.
The University of Kent has also been awarded around £150,000 to further trial with the British Army brain endurance training to counter fatigue experienced by soldiers performing multiple tasks in different military environments. It will provide MOD with more robust tools which can be used across many commands.
DIEM Analytics has been awarded around £150,000 to further develop a ‘voicebot’ which will carry out interviews with service personnel which can give analysis of the experiences of troops. This has potential to save on costs and time of manually scheduling and carrying out thousands of one-to-one interviews. It also has the potential to improve the quality of data when personnel are more comfortable talking to a computer about some issues than a human.
QinetiQ has been awarded around £150,000 to pilot with the British Army an automated system gathering troops’ views and feeding back the results in real-time. This aims to reduce the time it takes to identify any issues experienced by personnel to allow solutions to be put in place quicker and to maintain staff morale.
Daden Ltd has been awarded around £150,000 to pilot a virtual life coach which can help with day-to-day personal, employment, and career issues with an aim to maintain motivation and supporting retention. The system will also track satisfaction, stress and help personnel set long-term personal and career goals. The system will be trialled at RAF Fylingdales.
Dr Adam Staines, DASA competition lead, said: “DASA is working with businesses of all shapes and sizes and academia to find and fund the latest innovations to benefit UK defence and security.
“Building on the successful first phase of this competition we are continuing to mesh cognitive science, artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest technologies to develop tools to support MOD personnel across their working lives.”
EUROPE
22 Oct 19. Turkey launches homemade submarine program. Turkey has launched the country’s first indigenous submarine program, known as MILDEN, a Turkish acronym for “national submarine.”
Under the plan, local defense contractors will design, develop and produce the R-class submarines at domestic shipyards by using the technology they earned from an ongoing submarine program.
Rear Adm. Mehmet Sari, deputy general director for the Defence Ministry’s shipyards department, said now that specialist teams have been assigned to the submarine program, the next phase is construction planning.
Delivery of the first sub to the Turkish Navy is expected by 2040.
The air-independent propulsion submarines will feature silent cruising, advanced heavy torpedoes and guided missiles. Several local contractors, from electronics specialists to missile makers, are to join the consortium that will build the submarines. The vessels will be constructed at the Gölcük naval shipyards.
“The program will be a copy of the German contract,” a naval specialist in Ankara told Defense News.
Under a 2011 contract worth €2.5bn (U.S. $2.8bn), six Type 214 submarines are to be built for the Turkish Navy, with some of the subsystems supplied by local contractors.
Turkish military electronics specialist Aselsan, a government-controlled company, is providing electronic support measures and sensor systems for the submarine program. Military software specialist Havelsan, another government-controlled company, will build an integrated command-and-control suite.
The Type 214 is based on the Type 209 SSK built built by German firm Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft. The Type 214 include design features from the German shipbuilder’s Type 212. The Turkish sub displaces 1,700 tons when surfaced, has eight torpedo tubes able to deploy heavyweight torpedoes — such as the Atlas Elektronik SeaHake — and has anti-ship missiles, such as the Harpoon and Exocet.
In 2017, Turkish and German naval specialists signed a letter of intent to cooperate on a contract to build a variant of the Type 214 diesel-electric submarine for the Indonesian Navy. (Source: Defense News)
USA
23 Oct 19. DOD Announces Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for 5G Technology. The Department of Defense today announced that in November it will issue a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) focused on large-scale experimentation and prototyping of 5G technologies. The draft RFP will include a description of four U.S. military installations where initial 5G experimentation will take place and will give industry an opportunity to provide feedback before the final RFP is issued.
“History is replete with examples of the DoD partnering with the private sector to foster innovation and collaboratively bring leap-ahead technology to the forefront,” said Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Lisa Porter during remarks at Mobile World Congress 19 in Los Angeles. “The DoD wants our American industry to lead in 5G. A strong American economy is vital to our national security.We will never let up on our commitment to continuously innovate with our partners in the private sector, as well as with our partners across the Government.”
Porter shared the stage with Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai and National Telecommunications and Information Administration administrator Diane Rinaldo.
Information gathered from responses to the draft RFP will factor into the creation of a final RFP planned for December, though the timing will depend on passage of a 2020 defense appropriations bill.
The first round of opportunities will focus on three areas.
- Establishing a dynamic spectrum sharing testbed to demonstrate the capability to use 5G in congested environments with high-power, mid-band radars.
- Integrating Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality into mission planning and training in both virtual and live environments on training ranges.
- Smart Warehouses to leverage 5G’s ability to enhance logistics operations and maximize throughput.
Installations selected for testing and experimentation will provide streamlined access to site spectrum bands, mature fiber and wireless infrastructure, access to key facilities, support for new or improved infrastructure requirements, and the ability to conduct controlled experimentation with dynamic spectrum sharing.
Proposed projects should demonstrate innovative prototypes and approaches to employing new commercial technologies that enhance military capabilities and speed 5G deployment. DoD plans to add new opportunities roughly every quarter, pending funds availability, and will hold an Industry Day prior to issuing the final RFP. (Source: US DoD)
23 Oct 19. Defense Department Announces Fiscal Year 2019 Research Equipment Awards to Minority-Serving Institutions. The Department of Defense has awarded $23.2m to 59 minority-serving institutions as part of the fiscal year 2019 DoD Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Research and Education Program. The awards range from $122,786 to $600,000 and support the acquisition of research equipment at 24 HBCUs, 34 MSIs and one Tribal College.
The DoD HBCU/MSI program enhances work in scientific and engineering disciplines critical to the national security functions of DoD, improves the capacity of HBCUs/MSIs to participate in DoD research programs and activities and increases the number of graduates, including underrepresented minorities, in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics important to the defense mission.
“Equipment awards are crucial to increasing foundational research in support of the Department’s science and technology priorities and expanding university education programs,” said Mrs. Evelyn Kent, director of the DoD HBCU/MSI Program and Outreach. “Alongside augmenting university research capabilities, these enhancements are designed to support students conducting research at their home institutions and further encourage them to pursue careers in STEM.”
The announcement is the result of a merit competition administered by the Army Research Office under policy and guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering with participation from the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. ARO will make the awards.
The 2019 funding opportunity announcement received 175 eligible proposals with combined requested funding totaling $71.6m. Applications were evaluated by the three military service research offices. All awards are subject to the successful completion of negotiations between DoD and the academic institutions.
Click here for the list of awardees https://media.defense.gov/2019/Oct/23/2002199422/-1/-1/1/FY-2019-DOD-HBCU-MSI-RESEARCH-AND-EDUCATION-PROGRAM-EQUIPMENT-AWARDS.PDF (Source: US DoD)
22 Oct 19. U.S. Wanting to Buy Fewer Chinooks Sees U.K., U.A.E. Buying More. Boeing Co. is close to selling 24 Chinook helicopters to the United Arab Emirates and the U.K., according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, a move that may assuage U.S. lawmakers who have rejected his service’s plans to curtail its purchases of the aircraft.
“I believe we will be the position here very shortly to take the next step for notification to Congress” of a proposed sale of 10 additional Chinooks to the U.A.E, with the U.K. likely to buy an additional 14, McCarthy said in an interview. “I’m personally involved with those efforts.”
The Army’s proposed five-year budget plan, starting in the current fiscal year, called for saving $962m from fiscal 2021 through 2024 by cutting 28 of 68 previously planned Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and shifting much of the money into two new reconnaissance and transport helicopter programs. Both House and Senate appropriations panels rejected that plan in their pending 2020 spending measures, but the fight will be rejoined next year.
The Chinook cutback is the most controversial part of the Army’s budget strategy to cut as much as $31bn from 186 existing programs through 2024 and to lower troop levels — all to provide funds for new projects intended to position the service for a potential conventional conflict with Russia or China.
McCarthy and senior Army leaders say the service already has 10% more of the latest model Chinook model than needed.
Philadelphia Plant
Army officials say the added foreign sales should be sufficient to ensure that scrapping 28 helicopters won’t cripple Boeing’s Philadelphia-area plant.
The U.K. is “going through the process with us on the pricing,” McCarthy said, and he met with his British counterpart a few weeks ago. “They’ll be back here in the November time frame” to keep working on details, he said, and agreement may be reached on a formal “letter of acceptance” next spring, one of the last steps to a contract.
McCarthy said the service is also looking at the potential to equip the Afghan National Security Forces with Chinooks “but that’s not nearly as mature at this point.”
“The CH-47 is largely alone in its class, and most militaries of any size need something large like this,” said Richard Aboulafia, a military aircraft analyst with the Teal Group. Export orders, continued U.S. special operations Army purchases and possible add-ons by Congress “will keep the line alive for the next five years at least,” he said.
The U.A.E. previously purchased 20 of the Chinook’s F model, the latest version, and the U.K. has 60 Chinooks of various versions. India and Singapore have recently purchased the copters directly from Boeing. The Chicago-based contractor also has additional potential sales opportunities for as many as 60 with Germany and 20 with Israel.
In their rejection of the Army’s cutback plan this year, the appropriations panels earmarked $28m for purchases of advanced parts for more F models.
Boeing Victory
The committee actions represented a major victory for Boeing and a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, where the helicopter is built or where most workers live. The members had lobbied heavily against the Army’s proposal.
“Boeing is working closely with the Army and Congress on a number of sales opportunities,” said company spokesman Andrew Africk. “Given the timing and quantity of these potential opportunities, we remain concerned that plans to cancel or truncate the CH-47F Block II upgrade program will diminish capabilities available to soldiers and harm the U.S. defense industrial base.”
Asked if the Army had failed to communicate its rationale for Chinook cutbacks effectively, McCarthy said, “Congress wants to know that there is a lot of vigor behind our methodology.”
“Congress is just asking, ‘How did you do it?’” McCarthy said. The proposal has generated “a lot of churn and energy, and we want to make sure that doesn’t turn into angst and aggravate them.” (Source: News Now/https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca)
21 Oct 19. The field narrows in US Army’s light robotic combat vehicle competition. The Army has invited four teams to compete to build prototypes for its future light Robotic Combat Vehicle, according to an announcement on the National Advanced Mobility Consortium’s website.
Out of a large pool of white paper submissions, a Textron and Howe & Howe team, a team of Qinetiq North America and Pratt & Miller, HDT Global and Oshkosh were each issued a request for prototype proposal.
The Army plans to procure a light, medium and heavy RCV as part of an effort to bring next-generation combat vehicle capability to the force by 2028. The RCV-Light competition is being managed by the NAMC. While the Army is the decision maker, the consortium is tasked to execute the competition and is also running the RCV-Medium effort.
The Army is expected to award up to two contracts toward the end of the second quarter of this fiscal year to deliver four non-developmental RCV-L surrogate vehicles for government evaluation, testing and manned-unmanned teaming experimentation over the course of a year.
The RCV-M effort is not far behind the RCV-L as white paper submissions are currently being evaluated for down-select.
NAMC also executed a week-long RCV market research demonstration with the Army at Texas A&M’s RELLIS campus in May in order to better inform requirements. Out of the companies chosen to move forward, only Oshkosh was not present at the event. At the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, Textron and Howe & Howe dramatically unveiled their RCV Ripsaw M5, which is based on Howe & Howe’s deep history of building unmanned ground vehicles, but adds technology like scalable armor and suspension and drive options to cope with the challenges expected in the future fight. FLIR Systems is also part of the team, contributing advanced sensors.
“Bringing together Howe & Howe, Textron Systems and FLIR Systems really represents a dream team,” Textron’s CEO Lisa Atherton, said in a statement released at the show. “We formed this team based on our shared focus to serve this customer with disruptive ideas and proven experience, and we are dedicated to meeting and exceeding their requirements through the RCV program.”
The team told Defense News before AUSA that it planned to submit a version of Ripsaw both for the light and medium variant of the Army’s RCV.
HDT brought its Hunter WOLF to AUSA, and Qinetiq North America announced its partnership with Pratt & Miller at the show.
Qinetiq and Pratt & Miller plan to submit a variant of the Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV) tailored for the Army’s needs. The offering combines Qinetiq’s modular open-architecture control systems with Pratt & Miller’s advanced mobility platform. (Source: Defense News)
18 Oct 19. Just One Bidder Is Vying for Two Pentagon Programs Worth $130bn. The defense acquisition chief is looking into the Army’s disqualification of a second bidder to replace Bradley armored vehicles.
It’s a pretty widely accepted business principle that competition is good for business. But for two separate programs potentially worth a combined $130bn. That’s prompted the U.S. Defense Department’s top weapons buyer to look into the U.S. Army’s $45bn effort to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Service officials recently disqualified one potential competitor, leaving just one company to bid.
“I’m just getting more involved in that one right now,” Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said at a Friday press briefing.
DoD leaders have spent the past few years delegating the oversight of most major acquisition projects to the individual military services, a move intended to remove bureaucratic hurdles, speed up development and get weapons to troops faster. This marks the first time that Lord, who has held her job since August 2017, has publicly said she would step in to review one of those programs.
Earlier this month, Defense News reported that the Army disqualified Raytheon and German teammate Rheinmetall from the competition to build a Bradley replacement that the Army has dubbed the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle. InsideDefense reports that the program to build for 3,800 vehicles could be worth $45bn.
“We’re committed and we’re looking for a way back in,” Stephen Hedger, the head of Rheinmetall’s U.S. business, said this week at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual convention in Washington. “We support the Army and want to have competition.”
Army officials disqualified Rheinmetall because it was unable to get its Lynx fighting vehicle to the United States. The company was unable to obtain the local permits needed to transport the armored vehicle to an airport. The maker of the Bradley itself, BAE Systems, did not.
But the Bradley effort is the not only big-ticket military competition that lacks multiple competitors. The Air Force had two potential bidders on the potentially $85bn program to build America’s next nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile — and then Boeing said it will not enter a bid because the rules favor rival Northrop Grumman.
Lord noted that the proposals for the new ICBMs are not due until December, so “nothing is finalized” yet. But she said the Pentagon was taking steps to make sure it does not get overcharged.
“What we did on that competition is, we put in language so that we have visbility [and] transparency in cost and pricing,” she said. “So we will be able to determine the value, if you will, of what’s being delivered.”
There are also “subsystems” with the new ICBM project “where there are multiple potential suppliers” on Northrop Grumman’s team, Lord said.
Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office found that the Pentagon did not compete 67 percent of major contracts.
“A competitive environment saves money, which could mean the department is overpaying for goods and services,” the office said.
Asked about GAO’s assessment in May, Lord said: “Competition is our friend. I am very, very supportive of competition.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense One)
REST OF THE WORLD
23 Oct 19. Australian Government backs small businesses with sovereign capability grants. Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price has announced the latest round of Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants worth a total of $2.3m to support the next-generation capability of the ADF.
Minister Price said four South Australian projects would receive $2.3m in total, which would allow them to purchase specialised tools and equipment.
“The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants encourage greater participation by Australia’s small businesses in our ambitious defence industry agenda,” Minister Price said.
Armor Australia will use its grant to purchase specialist tooling to produce the lightweight combat helmets, which will provide a unique export opportunity for the business and enable the expansion of the company’s infrastructure and staffing.
Another grant recipient, AEM Consolidated, will use the funding to improve how the company is repairing and overhauling motors for defence ships and submarines.
“We want to maximise small business involvement in delivering our $200bn build-up of defence capability, because this approach helps create new jobs right across Australia,” Minister Price added.
The Defence Industrial Capability Plan introduces the new Sovereign Industrial Capability Assessment Framework to provide a repeatable methodology to identify Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities.
In approaching development of the priorities, the government focused on a definition of sovereign industrial capability around access to, or control over, the essential skills, technology, intellectual property, financial resources and infrastructure within the defence industrial base as required.
The initial Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities are the result of a rigorous assessment framework that looked at the strategic, capability and resources dimensions of industrial sovereignty – and made judgements based on Defence needs.
The government’s priority is to provide the Australian Defence Force with cost-effective, cutting-edge capability while also maximising Australian industry involvement.
The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants launched on 21 November 2018 provide funding to industry to ensure that Australian SMEs have the appropriate capacity and resilience to support Defence’s most critical capabilities.
The intended outcome of the grants is to grow a robust and resilient Australian SME industrial base capable of providing a significant contribution to the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities announced in the 2018 Defence Industrial Capability Plan.
Priorities are described at the capability level with a focus on technologies rather than companies or products. This approach will encourage innovation and new developments across the Integrated Investment Program capability streams and individual projects.
Effective implementation of the priorities requires them to be embedded early into strategic planning and Defence capability planning processes and across the capability life cycle.
The grants program includes a number of features, namely:
- Grants of up to $1m will be available to buy, construct, install or fund capital equipment, including specialist software and security infrastructure, and any design, non-recurring engineering costs, workforce training and accreditation directly related to the project;
- A cap of $3m on total funding applies for a business over a three-year period and 50:50 matched funding is required; and
- This is a four-year grants program; available from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
Applications for Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants can be made at any time, submitted through the Centre for Defence Industry Capability website here https://www.business.gov.au/centre-for-defence-industry-capability
18 Oct 19. South Korea closes in on MOH 2 decision. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is preparing to select a platform to meet a Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) requirement for additional anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters.
The programme – named the Maritime Operation Helicopter batch-two (MOH 2) procurement – features the acquisition of 12 helicopters for about KRW900bn (USD804m). Under the MOH batch-one programme, Leonardo supplied eight AW159 Wildcat twin-engine multimission helicopters to the RoKN in 2016.
Bidding for the MOH 2 programme are two candidates: the AW159 and Lockheed Martin’s MH-60R Seahawk Romeo maritime multimission helicopter. Jane’s understands that a preferred tenderer is expected to be identified by DAPA by mid-2020.
Leonardo’s Brian J McEachen, vice president of Asia-Pacific government campaigns, told Jane’s at the 2019 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) that the company’s MOH 2 bid will leverage economies of scale – in terms of maintenance, infrastructure, and training activity – linked to the batch-one supply of eight AW159 aircraft.
He added that the company would also look to integrate local capabilities onto the helicopter. This has already been achieved through the first batch, said McEachen, supporting the integration of South Korean firm LIG Nex1’s K745 Blue Shark anti-submarine torpedo.
In May 2019, the Philippine Navy (PN) also took delivery of two AW159 helicopters, with the Blue Shark part of the export. The aircraft are expected to be deployed from the PN’s two new Jose-Rizal-class frigates, which are under construction at South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky MH-60R proposal is framed through the United States Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism, confirmed Lockheed Martin’s Mark Zavack, senior manager, mission systems business development. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
21 Oct 19. Defence Acquisition Council Chaired By Raksha Mantri Gives A Big Impetus to Indigenous Industry. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, met today and accorded approval for Capital Procurement for the Defence forces amounting over Rs. 3300 crores (approx. $465m—Ed.) of indigenously designed and developed equipment. Maintaining its impetus on the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the DAC accorded approval for three projects to be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by the Indian industry.
The first two projects include third generation Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) and the Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks. While the third generation ATGM would provide ‘Fire and Forget’ and “Top Attack” capabilities to the troops in an armoured battle, the APUs would enable incorporation of various upgrades to Fire Control System and Night Fighting capabilities of the Tanks.
Both these projects will be progressed under the ‘Make-II’ Category and will provide a boost to indigenous research and development in the Private Sector. With this, for the first time the Ministry of Defence has offered complex Military equipment to be designed, developed and manufactured by the Indian private industry.
The third indigenous project pertains to discrete Electronic Warfare (EW) systems for the mountain and high-altitude terrain, which would be designed and developed by DRDO and manufactured by design cum production partner from the Indian industry. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Indian Ministry of Defence)
22 Oct 19. Artificial intelligence to enhance Aussie search and rescue capabilities. Air Commodore Darren Goldie set a challenge for the Jericho program office to find a way to use a detector on an aircraft to enhance the ADF’s search and rescue (SAR) capabilities. While SAR is a critical role, it has largely been done in the same way for a hundred years – using unaided visual search to find objects in the water. AI-Search is a Plan Jericho collaboration with the Warfare Innovation Navy Branch, Air Mobility Group’s 35SQN and the University of Tasmania’s Australian Maritime College. More partners, including DST, have been engaged to contribute to future project phases.
Wing Commander Michael Gan, Plan Jericho’s AI lead, said, “Jericho saw the opportunity to use AI to augment and enhance SAR. The idea is to train a machine learning algorithm and AI sensors to complement existing visual search techniques.”
“Jericho enlisted the help of budding AI guru, Lieutenant Harry Hubbert, Warfare Innovation Navy Branch. We gave Harry a challenge – find an orange hull, in a large body of water, using AI, and do it in a month. Harry developed the algorithms in his own time within two weeks.”
LEUT Hubbert, Warfare Innovation Navy Branch, added, “It felt pretty amazing to be up in the C-27J gathering the data to train the algorithms that I had developed that week. There is a lot of discussion about AI in Defence – but the sheer processing power of machine learning applied to SAR has the potential to save lives and transform SAR.”
Group Captain Jerome Reid, Director Plan Jericho, said, “This is how we need to go after advanced capability for Defence; empower our bright sparks, connect them with mentors and resources, get out of their way and let the magic happen.
“Jericho is running EDGY Air Force, a new Jericho acceleration program, to bring out the talents of our people.”
The C-27J Spartan battlefield airlifter will complement the Australian Defence Force’s existing air mobility fleet. Its capabilities bridge the gap between Army helicopters, such as the CH-47F Chinook, and larger Air Force aircraft, such as the C-130J Hercules and C-17A Globemaster III.
The Spartan will provide airlift of people, equipment and supplies in Australia and our region. It can operate from unsurfaced airstrips, and support humanitarian missions in remote locations.
Both Defence and the Royal Australian Air Force encourage industry input and collaboration. To join EDGY Air Force, submit your idea to or visit here.
Up to $5m in ‘Edge Bounties’ are available for units and squadrons in FY19-20. The next EDGY Air Force Ignite will be held at East Sale on 16-17 October. (Source: Defence Connect)
15 Oct 19. India’s Border Security Force issues tender for counter-UAS system. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has issued a tender for counter-UAS system that can detect and destroy a lone or swarm of drones.
According to the tender document the system should be ground and vehicle based and comprise a radar, RF receiver, electro optic sensor, jammer and system controller. The system should be able to track multiple UAVs and be capable of neutralising the objects by jamming radio and GPS frequency links. The radar must have a 360 degree capability and a tracking accuracy of 10m at 10km; the RF receiver must operate in detection frequency bands 20MHz to 8GHz with a detection time of 10 seconds; the electro optic sensor comprises a day/night camera; the jammer must comprise GPS jamming time within 10seconds of detection and the system controller includes a MIL-STD 15.6 inch display.
The system “should be capable of real time scan, detect, track and neutralis(ing) flying objects (like multi copters, fixed wing UAVs and radio controlled UAVs in different categories in specified ranges) in 360 degrees…system should be scalable and support open architecture to integrate additional sensors like acoustic sensors, Lidar etc for future enhancement/upgrades.”
For more information
http://bsf.nic.in/doc/tenders/tdr649.pdf (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
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American Panel Corporation
American Panel Corporation (APC) since 1998, specializes in display products installed in defence land systems, as well as military and commercial aerospace platforms, having delivered well over 100,000 displays worldwide. Military aviators worldwide operate their aircraft and perform their missions using APC displays, including F-22, F-18, F-16, F-15, Euro-fighter Typhoon, Mirage 2000, C-130, C-17, P-3, S-3, U-2, AH-64 Apache Helicopter, V-22 tilt-rotor, as well as numerous other military and commercial aviation aircraft including Boeing 717 – 787 aircraft and several Airbus aircraft. APC panels are found in nearly every tactical aircraft in the US and around the world.
APC manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Large Area Display (LAD) display (20 inch by 8 inch) with dual pixel fields, power and video interfaces to provide complete display redundancy. At DSEI 2017 we are exhibiting the LAD with a more advanced design, dual display on single substrate with redundant characteristics and a bespoke purpose 8 inch by 6 inch armoured vehicle display.
In order to fully meet the demanding environmental and optical requirements without sacrificing critical tradeoffs in performance, APC designs, develops and manufactures these highly specialized displays in multiple sizes and configurations, controlling all AMLCD optical panel, mechanical and electrical design aspects. APC provides both ITAR and non-ITAR displays across the globe to OEM Prime and tiered vetronics and avionics integrators.
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