NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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24 Feb 05. Lockheed Martin initiated a two-year, $6.6m study contract to develop a Polymorphous Computing Agent Architecture (PCAA) that will perform cognitive tasks for military systems. Sponsored by the DARPA through the Air Force Research Laboratory, PCAA will enable computers to leap ahead of traditional information-processing capabilities used to perform cognitive tasks, such as deduction, reasoning, and learning. The contract was awarded September 2004. Computer architectures cannot effectively support real-time, data-intensive, multiple mission environments. The PCAA technology will make military computing applications significantly more flexible and agile. It will enable computing systems to approximate and deduce information without human operators and, thereby, support multiple mission tasks. The PCAA will be an important enabling technology for the Department of Defense, because it can transition into many applications, including intelligence analysis systems and unmanned aerial vehicle control.
22 Feb 05. New force in human sciences led by QinetiQ in bid for major new MOD contract. QinetiQ has joined forces with the Thales-owned Quintec and 25 other associated partners to form the Haldane-Spearman Consortium and to offer the UK MOD and other customers in government, academia and industry value for money access to best of breed human sciences practitioners across Europe. It has submitted a bid to the UK MOD for a contract that will underpin human factors research for the UK military.
24th Feb 05. The Pentagon is considering using lasers to warn pilots they’ve flown into restricted airspace, an unusual choice because the government also says terrorists might use the beams of light to blind pilots as they approach airports. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, has been researching the use of alternating red and green lasers as a way to communicate with pilots flying too near the Capitol or the White House when they can’t be reached by radio. NORAD tried the ground-based laser signals on a test planeflying into Washington’s Reagan National Airport last Friday. The low-intensity lights are safe for the eyes, the command said in a statement. If the system becomes operational, the Federal Aviation Administration would send a special notice to pilots describing the lights and telling them what to do if they see them.
24 Feb 05. TRL Technology Ships Production MRX3500 Receivers
after Successful 3-Month Trial. TRL Technology Ltd, part of the TRL Electronics plc group, has commenced shipping its MRX3500 Lightweight Miniature Receivers to customers in the UK, following a successful three-month trial in a hostile airborne environment. The MRX3500 units are being deployed in a variety of applications, including UAV and lightweight man portable EW systems, as part of a joint supply contract with a leading defence solutions company. TRL Technology’s MRX3500 receivers were selected on the basis of their compact size and low power consumption, combined with exceptionally high performance. The MRX3500 is the result of over 15 years’ R&D expertise, with TRL Technology consistently pushing the design boundaries for high performance spectrum surveillance systems for defence applications.
14 Feb 05. UK team secures multi-million pound next-generation maritime radar contract. QinetiQ and its partners AMS and Roke Manor Research Ltd have begun work on ARTIST (Advanced Radar Technology Integrated System Test-bed). This £8.1m UK contract is to build a research demonstrator system and assess techniques to support the next generation of maritime multifunction radar (MFR). The 44 month programme includes preliminary testing in the UK with more extensive trials taking place in a follow-on programme. The ARTIST programme includes collaboration with the US bringing together over 20 years of MFR expertise. The programme is funded in