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02 Nov 17. The U.S. Air Force has officially accepted Raytheon’s (NYSE: RTN) GPS Operational Control System launch and checkout system, also referred to as Block 0, signifying the company met all contractual requirements when it delivered the LCS to the service on Sept. 29. LCS is a fully modernized cyber-secure ground system complete with the computing hardware, operations center workstations, and mission application software necessary to launch the first GPS III satellite into orbit and perform initial on-orbit testing.
“This is a major milestone for the program, and it keeps the U.S. Air Force on track to launch the first modernized GPS satellite into space next year,” said Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. “We have strong forward momentum on the program, and we will deliver the full capability in 2021.”
LCS forms the basis for the full system delivery, referred to as Block 1, which will provide higher accuracy and globally deployed modernized receivers, to ensure anti-jam capability for military users. It will also provide control of both legacy and modernized satellites and signals, including the new international L1C and modernized Military Code.
02 Nov 17. Exercise Tests Interoperability of Army’s Military Affiliated Radio System. The Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command is calling on Military Auxiliary Radio System operators around the country to participate in a quarterly interoperability communications exercise Nov. 4-6. The exercise will simulate a power-outage scenario, and it will not affect any public or private communications, officials said, noting that there will be no power outages of communications systems. The exercise is designed to improve readiness, build cooperation and public awareness, and better prepare to defend the nation, they added.
The Army Military Auxiliary Radio System, which is part of Netcom, conducts interoperability communications exercises on a regular basis and has been doing so since 2013. Interoperability exercises are designed to test communications links among the Army, the Defense Department and the hundreds of trained volunteers who are MARS members.
Redundant Communications Capability
This community helps to provide redundant communications capability in the event of a large-scale power or communications outage, as well as emergency reporting information about local conditions across the country on a rapid scale, officials said.
These exercises are scheduled at least a year in advance to maximize training opportunities and enhance the proficiency and readiness of MARS members and organizations they support, officials said. MARS operators’ primary mission during these quarterly exercises is to serve as liaisons between supported organizations, emergency responders and the amateur radio community, they explained. (From an Army Network Enterprise Technology Command news release.)
01 Nov 17. America in Danger of Losing Lead in AI, Innovation Board Chair Says. Artificial intelligence is the new frontier, and the Defense Department must invest in this breakthrough or be in danger of not being competitive in the future, said Eric Schmidt, the chairman of the Defense Innovation Board, during a discussion at the Center for a New American Security today.
Schmidt, who also served as the chief executive officer of Google and parent company Alphabet, said of all the recommendations the board made, the most important was that DoD needs to catch up in AI.
He used vision as an example, saying that computers already can watch monotonous things for a long time and then notify a human if something out of the ordinary happens. Tests show, he said, that humans doing the same thing make errors a third of the time. Letting computers do this “seems like the simplest possible thing,” Schmidt said. “And yet, w