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11 Oct 13. US Army National Guard trains on new intelligence tool. The US Army National Guard (ANG) is conducting operational training on the
company intelligence support team (COIST) workstation at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi, US. Introduced by the First Army Division East, 158th Infantry Brigade, 3-315th Engineer Battalion in March 2013, the workstation boosts soldier safety, while enabling them to better assess their surroundings during combat operations. First Army Division East 3-315th Engineer Battalion commander lieutenant colonel, Chris Kuhn, said the workstation has proven to be extremely valuable as a way to strengthen the intelligence function at company level. The pre-posted information in the COIST workstation can then be rapidly synthesised by the intelligence teams into a complete intelligence brief, which describes terrain and weather effects alongside enemy forces and tactics. Equipped with one station remote viewing terminal (OSRVT), a tactical ground reporting (TiGR) system and other tools, the workstation is said to be capable of accessing real-time aerial reconnaissance video feeds from a RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aerial system (UAS). Camp Shelby senior counter-improvised explosive devices observer-controller/trainer sergeant, Jason Thomas, said a UAS feed offers patrol overwatch for convoys, which is critical for early warning of threats. The ANG partners with the First Army Division East and Army Reserve to advise, assist, and train reserve-component units to better support overseas military operations. (Source: army-technology.com)
14 Oct 13. Raytheon Company announced the recipients of the 2013 Raytheon-FIRST® Robotics Scholarship. The program awards 40 individual scholarships of $1,000 each to FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) alumni pursuing undergraduate education as math, science, engineering or technology majors. The 40 recipients are high school seniors or full-time college freshmen, sophomores or juniors who participated in a FIRST Robotics Competition or were a member of a FIRST Tech Challenge team. Raytheon is a longstanding supporter of the FIRST Robotics Competition and Tech Challenge – international robotics competitions for middle and high school students. Raytheon sponsors about 30 teams each year. A Raytheon-sponsored team from Huntsville, Ala., won the FIRST Tech Challenge in May 2013. The company has offered the Raytheon-FIRST Robotics Scholarship since 2003; to date the program has disbursed $400,000 in scholarship money.
15 Oct 13. Special operators try out new mission-planning tool. United States special forces are working with a ‘one-stop’ application designed to help them better plan parachute insertion missions, keep track of friendly forces, navigate to a target, and safely call in close air support if needed. The prototype Android Terminal Assault Kit (ATAK) was developed by Draper Laboratory, in Cambridge, Massachusetts and operates on Android mobile devices tethered to handheld military radios, using the latter to share targeting co-ordinates, images and other data with other ground forces and aircrew circling overhead. Laura Major, human centred engineering group leader at Draper said that “the software is all map-centric. Even when users are looking at textual information, it’s side-by-side with the map.”(Source: Jane’s)
17 Oct 13. Sabtech announces the introduction of its Sabtech Data Display Computer (SDDC™). The SDDC is a rugged general-purpose computer designed to meet harsh environmental conditions. The SDDC has passed rigorous military and industrial test requirements for environmental conditions, design and safety, including electromagnetic interference (EMI), and is ready for immediate orders. In addition to industrial and general military applications, the SDDC