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21 Sep 17. Australian government releases R&D priorities. The Australian government has released a list of its investment priorities for research and development, Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne announced on 20 September. The country’s Defence Innovation Hub will be looking to prioritise three of the country’s six capability streams identified in the country’s 2016 Integrated Investment Programme (IIP) for 2017-18.
These priorities include: joint decision support, cyber, and joint capacity (part of the Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare, Space and Cyber stream); autonomous identification technologies (part of the Key Enablers stream); and land combat and amphibious warfare, with an increased focus on special operations capabilities (part of the Land Combat and Amphibious Warfare stream).
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
21 Sep 17. USAF to launch review to update science and technology strategy. US Air Force (USAF) secretary Heather Wilson has revealed plans to launch a one-year review into the service’s science and technology strategy. During the review, the USAF will identify important research areas for air and space power over the next ten to 20 years.
The review is intended to evaluate how the airforce can more productively partner with states, consortia, universities and other non-federal research entities to advance knowledge and its application.
Wilson said: “The airforce must reinvigorate its focus on basic and applied research to ensure the long-term domination of air and space.
“We must also re-evaluate how we manage our research enterprise and spend research dollars in ways that advance air and space superiority for the long-term.”
The Air Force Research Laboratory will lead the review and receive feedback and advice from the Air Force Scientific Advisory board.
The Air Force Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine will also conduct at least one workshop.
Wilson added: “Our adversaries are advancing rapidly.
“We need to update our research priorities, but validation of research areas isn’t enough. We need to rethink the way in which we manage our path-breaking research so that we can effectively partner with others to retain American dominance in air and space power.”
In partnership with American universities, the USAF will also provide universities with small grants to sponsor regional workshops and to gather input from academic researchers. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
20 Sep 17. Rockwell Collins Working with Spirent Federal to Develop M-Code (MNSA) Capability. Spirent Federal Systems, the nation’s leading provider of GPS/GNSS simulators, has announced today that they are working with Rockwell Collins to develop software that will support M-Code using the Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm (MNSA).
Spirent Federal announced earlier this year that they have received approval from the GPS directorate to begin development of software capable of supporting M-Code using the Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm (MNSA). Spirent is one of the first companies to receive approval from the GPS Directorate to begin developing this kind of software.
“We are excited to team with Rockwell Collins in developing our newest M-Code capability that can be added to the Spirent GSS9000 series simulator,” said Ellen Hall, President of Spirent Federal Systems. “We have a rich history of working with Rockwell Collins, and they expressed interest in this important project. We know that this product will be a valuable asset to the M-Code community.”
Until now, AES and SDS have been the only methods authorized to be used within a GNSS simulator to produce M-Code. Spirent Federal Systems has provided AES M-code and SDS M-code capable simulators for many years, and as the long awaited MNSA M-code signals become availab