Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
————————————————————————
31 Aug 23. The Department of Defense Launches the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office Website. Today the department launched a website on the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office to provide the public with information concerning AARO and its efforts to understand and resolve unidentified anomalous phenomena.
This website will provide information, including photos and videos, on resolved UAP cases as they are declassified and approved for public release. The website’s other content includes reporting trends and a frequently asked questions section as well as links to official reports, transcripts, press releases, and other resources that the public may find useful, such as applicable statutes and aircraft, balloon and satellite tracking sites.
This fall, consistent with Section 1673 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, AARO will launch a secure reporting tool on the website to enable current and former U.S. government employees, service members, or contractors with direct knowledge of U.S. government programs or activities to contact AARO directly to make a report. The department is conducting its final reviews to ensure the reporting mechanism complies with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Whistleblower Protections Enhancement Act of 2012, the Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act), and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. In the interim, current U.S. service members, U.S. government employees, and civil aviators are encouraged to continue to use the existing reporting mechanisms available to them through their organizations. A mechanism for members of the general public to make reports will be announced in coming months.
The department is committed to transparency with the American people on AARO’s work on UAP. This website will serve as a one-stop shop for all publicly available information related to AARO and UAP, and AARO will regularly update the website with its most recent activities and findings as new information is cleared for public release.
You can see AARO’s new website at https://www.aaro.mil(Source: U.S. DoD)
30 Aug 23. Defense Innovation Unit embed to connect INDOPACOM to commercial tech. A Defense Innovation Unit embed will serve as the Chief Technology Officer for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s new Joint Mission Accelerator Directorate, helping the organization connect with the commercial sector.
Adm. John Aquilino, commander of INDOPACOM, announced the creation of the directorate at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies for Defense conference in Washington. The office will work to ensure the command’s top priority programs have a network of support within the Defense Department and industry.
As the Pentagon’s liaison to commercial companies, the DIU official embedded in the directorate will play a key role in making sure the connection between technological needs and industry solutions is strong, DIU Director Doug Beck told reporters Aug. 29 on the sidelines of the conference.
“The person will be somebody who is that dual-fluency talent, who combines deep expertise in relevant technical areas from the commercial sector as well as doing it live at DIU in a leadership role for a while, working with concrete commercial solutions to DoD problems,” Beck said.
The leader, who will serve as the Joint Mission Accelerator Directorate’s deputy director as well as the CTO, will be joined by a team of DIU staff working throughout INDOCPACOM, he added.
Through its Defense Engagement Team, DIU has officials embedded in other combatant commands and units throughout the military services, including U.S. European Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Beck said the arrangement with INDOPACOM is part of an effort to “dramatically” build the commercial innovation organization’s presence within existing offices.
“This is about taking that capability and going to a whole other level,” he said. “This is an embed role that’s about being part of the team to help solve a problem . . . help identify where the places are that commercial technology can make a difference.”
In a separate speech at the conference, Beck said the expansion of DIU’s partnerships within the Defense Department is part of a deliberate shift toward fielding military-relevant commercial technologies at a larger scale.
That means “being disruptors of the team to disruptors on the team,” he said. While DIU will maintain its focus on finding commercial capabilities and “serving them up,” Beck hopes that building deeper relationships within the department will help the organization “understand the demand signal and then make sure that we can help find the solutions to those problem.”
“There was a time when disruptors of the team was what was needed,” Beck said. “Now, what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be disruptors on the team. And that’s about disruption at scale.”
DIU has crafted a plan for this expanded role, which Beck said is awaiting review and approval from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
31 Aug 23. Australia and Singapore partner up on maritime AI and robotics. Artificial intelligence is unlocking the potential of the robotics sector, and Australia and Singapore are partnering up to exploit them for UUVs.
The Royal Australian Navy and Defence Science Technology Group representatives met with their Republic of Singapore Navy counterparts to discuss the development and evolution of autonomous maritime systems.
During Indo-Pacific Endeavour – Australia’s annual engagement activity with regional partners – the discussions in Singapore centred around both nations’ shared interest in robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (RAS-AI), and how both partner nations can collaborate on this technology.
Maritime Deployable Robotic Autonomous Systems and Experimentation Unit Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Charlie Kenney, said Singapore’s sophisticated unmanned surface vehicle technology makes them an important naval partner for Australia.
“Within the next decade, robotic technologies will transform the maritime industry and we’ll see an increase in uncrewed vessels and RAS-AI technology on and under the water,” Lieutenant Commander Kenney said. “Singapore is one of the leading nations developing in this space, so it makes sense that we collaborate.”
Market analysis
According to GlobalData forecasts, the robotics sector was worth $63bn in 2022, and by 2030 it will have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 17% to $218bn.
Given current geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, Western and Nato forces are adopting an expeditionary posture more suited to high intensity warfare. The use of autonomous robotic systems will provide supplementary support to ships and submarines.
Navies around the globe are increasingly investing in the development and integration of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) to create ‘hybrid’ fleet structures in the interest of enhancing survivability, increasing efficiency, and reducing the long-term costs of naval operations
Lieutenant Commander Kenney said the two nations’ similarities mean that both are focused on improving their UUV capabilities and USVs.
“This partnership is about sharing challenges and opportunities between both navies so we can create efficiencies that will lead to workforce capability benefits, cost benefits and technology improvements.”
(Source: naval-technology.com)
30 Aug 23. CPI TMD Technologies Awarded contract. A team of industry and research partners led by the TMD Technologies Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has been awarded more than £4m by Innovate UK’s SBRI Quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems competition, which issues contracts for pre-commercial procurement of innovative solutions, enabled by quantum technologies, to public sector challenges. Under this contract, CPI TMD Technologies and its partners will develop exceptionally high-precision quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems that can be used to identify an object’s exact position in time and space without the use of satellite signals.
CPI TMD Technologies Division’s compact grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) provides a precision sensing capability in applications ranging from academic research to civilian and defence applications
This “quantum inertial sensor” will be based on CPI TMD Technologies’ existing quantum technology, including the compact grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) subsystems and Calcium Ion Frequency Source (CIFS) clock, which provides unprecedented precision and accuracy in timekeeping. Unlike the global positioning system (GPS), which relies on the transmission and receipt of external signals, these quantum systems provide timing and positioning data through internal synchronization. This allows the systems to calculate accurate time and positioning data through dead reckoning, rather than by depending on satellite signals. As a result, the inertial guidance system is useful in locations and situations where satellite signals are impractical, such as underground transit systems, and for defence and military end uses.
“As a manufacturer of microwave technologies, CPI TMD Technologies has long focused on finding innovative solutions to challenging requirements in the defence, communications and industrial markets and putting them into production. For the past several years, we have turned that focus on helping move the promise of quantum technology from theoretical lab work to practical technology and products that can address real-world challenges. We are excited by the progress being made on cutting-edge quantum technology in conjunction with our business and university partners. The work that this team is poised to do on compact, high-precision inertial guidance systems will help revolutionize the use and accuracy of positioning systems in situations where the use of satellite signals is not ideal,” said Dave Brown, president of CPI TMD Technologies Division.
CPI TMD Technologies’ partners on this project include Alter Technology UK Ltd., Chronos Technology Ltd., Covesion Ltd., Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd., Imperial College London, NLA International Ltd., RedWave Labs Ltd. and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. CPI TMD Technologies’ work on this multi-year contract will be carried out at its facilities in Hayes, Middlesex, England. (Source: PR Newswire)
31 Aug 23. Get hands on with Getac’s next generation rugged solutions for the Army, Navy and Air Force at DSEI 2023. Getac has announced it will be showcasing its versatile range of next generation rugged solutions for the Army, Navy and Air Force at DSEI 2023, taking place from 12-15th September at ExCel London. Visitors to stand H7-H230 in Hall 2 will be able to get hands on with powerful fully rugged devices including the Getac B360 laptop, V110 laptop, F110 tablet, UX10 tablet and X600/X600 Pro mobile workstation, and many more.
An immersive on-stand experience for land, sea, and air defence
All these Getac devices will feature as part of an immersive on-stand experience highlighting key rugged use cases for land, sea, and air defence professionals, both when on foot and when travelling in vehicles.
The centre piece of the stand will be a full-size military buggy, complete with secure docking stations and Getac rugged devices, helping visitors see the operational advantages that such technology brings to defence activities first-hand.
Demonstrating embedded LiFi
Also included on the stand will be Getac’s LiFi embedded technology showcase.
LiFi technology harnesses the light spectrum to securely transmit data without utilising radio frequencies (RF). This capability enables new possibilities for rapid communication deployment and secure data transfer. Furthermore, LiFi has virtually no electromagnetic signature, meaning networks are hard to detect or penetrate.
Popcorn, patches and more
In addition to all the above, visitors will be able to claim a complementary patch and pick up a box of free popcorn, courtesy of Getac.
Phil Campion will also be signing copies of his latest book, Who Dares Wins, on the stand throughout the show.
A full list of Getac devices available to get hands on with at DSEI 2023 is as follows:
Getac immersive experience
- X600 Pro fully rugged workstation (featuring Eclypt* technology)
- X600 fully rugged workstation
- V110 fully rugged laptop
- S410 semi rugged laptop (featuring Eclypt* technology)
- UX10 fully rugged tablet
- K120 fully rugged tablet
- ZX70 fully rugged tablet
- ZX10 fully rugged tablet
LiFi technology demonstration
- B360 fully rugged laptop
- F110 fully rugged tablet
* Viasat’s Eclypt technology integrates sophisticated authentication, entire-disk encryption, and data storage into tamper-resistant internal or portable hardware that safeguards sensitive data. This provides instant data protection without any noticeable adverse effects on computer performance.
30 Aug 23. New DASA Market Exploration seeks facial recognition technologies.
DASA seeks solutions that can help increase the use and effectiveness of facial recognition technologies within UK policing and security
- DASA has launched a new Market Exploration: Facial Recognition (FR) technologies for policing and security applications
- This Market Exploration is being run on behalf of the Home Office and seeks technologies for the use of facial recognition
- Submissions must be submitted by midday on 12 October 2023
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to launch a new Market Exploration which seeks technological solutions for the use of Facial Recognition (FR) technologies within policing and other security stakeholders. Run on behalf of the Home Office, this Market Exploration is seeking to identify higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) capabilities that could be deployed to benefit the Home Office and Policing and within the next 18 months.
FR technology is an increasingly important capability for law enforcement and is already being used in a number of ways within UK policing and security settings to prevent and detect crime, enhance security, find wanted criminals, safeguard the vulnerable and protect people from harm. The use of FR technologies is at varying stages across UK policing and the use of this technology in an ethical and effective way is a priority for the Home Office.
The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire and Professor Paul Taylor, National Policing Chief Scientific Adviser have jointly supported progressing the use of this technology:
“The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire and I strongly support the development and implementation of facial recognition (FR) technology within the law enforcement sector and are encouraged by it’s potential. We firmly believe that embracing this advanced technology can significantly enhance public safety while respecting individual rights and privacy. Industry is pivotal to realisation of that mission.
“It is essential to acknowledge the concerns surrounding FR technology, particularly those relating to privacy and potential biases. However, responsible development and implementation of FR systems can address these concerns effectively. By establishing robust governance frameworks, implementing strict data protection protocols, and ensuring transparency and accountability, we can strike the right balance between public safety and individual privacy rights.
“To maximise the technological benefits and minimise the risks associated with FR, it is crucial that we support and encourage industry to continue developing capabilities which can be deployed effectively and ethically.”
Professor Paul Taylor, National Policing Chief Scientific Adviser
Do you have an innovation? Read the full Market Exploration document and submit a proposal.
What technologies is this Market Exploration seeking?
The Home Office is primarily interested in higher TRL innovative capabilities that can resolve identity using facial features and landmarks as well as technologies that support algorithm development, integration, and analytics. It is vital that proposed solutions are secure, accurate, explainable and free from bias.
The Home Office is seeking capability to support the following FR applications or use cases (although other use cases would be considered):
- Retrospective FR (RFR), a system to be used after an event to help establish who a person is or whether their image matches against other media held on image databases.
- Operator-initiated FR (OIFR), a system where an operator can decide that they need to take an image of a person and then use FR software to help them establish who that person is.
- Live FR (LFR), a system where cameras are focused on a specific area; when people pass through that area their images are streamed directly to the Live FR system.
This Market Exploration is not seeking technologies beyond the resolution of identity through facial recognition camera systems, such as iris detection, gait analysis and object detection.
Submit a proposal
Do you have a higher TRL innovation that could increase the ethical and effective use of facial recognition technologies within policing and other security stakeholders?
Read the full Market Exploration document to learn more and submit a proposal: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/facial-recognition
(Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
29 Aug 23. AI21 Labs Collaborates with Google Cloud to Integrate Generative AI Capabilities with BigQuery.
Google Cloud today announced a new collaboration with AI21 Labs, an Israeli startup that fundamentally changes the way people read and write using generative AI and large language models (LLMs). AI21 Labs is leveraging Google Cloud’s purpose-built AI/ML infrastructure to speed its model training and inferencing, and is also one of the first partners to offer generative AI features on top of BigQuery.
As a result of AI21 Labs’ and Google Cloud’s collaboration, customers can now use BigQuery connectors and functions to natively integrate several industry-specific generative AI capabilities. For example, retail customers can now use generative task-specific APIs for creating product descriptions or extracting insights from customer reviews, while financial services companies could use them to quickly analyze reports.
AI21 Labs has deployed Google Cloud’s home-grown AI supercomputers, Tensor Processor Units (TPUs), for training and serving its advanced LLMs. By leveraging Google Cloud TPUs, AI21 Labs can take advantage of the same custom-designed, machine-learning infrastructure that powers many Google products. In combination with Cloud TPUs, AI21 Labs also benefits from Google Cloud’s extensive portfolio of GPU VMs, including the recently announced A3 VMs powered by NVIDIA H100 GPUs. Google Cloud’s open approach to AI development and leadership in custom silicon equips AI21 Labs with a more seamless experience rooted in its scalable, secure, and stable infrastructure.
“Google Cloud’s vast portfolio of impressive AI hardware is why we chose to work with the company, and we’re proud to now double down on expanding our generative AI solutions alongside them,” said Ori Goshen, Co-CEO and co-founder, AI21 Labs. “Our partnership with Google Cloud has had a profound effect on our work to advance the possibilities of artificial intelligence and natural language processing, and today’s news of our deepened collaboration marks an important step forward in that journey.”
“AI21 Labs is a leading generative AI startup that is taking advantage of the incredible performance that Google Cloud’s leading infrastructure offers,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “Our new BigQuery integrations are a great example of how we are working together to bring the value of generative AI to businesses in every industry.”
To explore LLM-based capabilities from AI21 Labs, visit its website. To learn more about the AI/ML infrastructure powering AI21 Labs, visit cloud.google.com/tpu.
Additional Resources
- Keep up with the latest Google Cloud news on our newsroom and blog.
- Learn more about Google Cloud’s BigQuery here.
- Learn more about Google Cloud TPUs here and Cloud GPUs here.
- Learn more about AI21 Labs here.
About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates every organization’s ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google’s cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems. (Source: PR Newswire)
29 Aug 23. FirePoint Opens New Collaboration Facility Near Redstone Arsenal to Accelerate Army Aviation Innovation. The FirePoint Innovations Center today marked the grand opening of its new Applied Innovation Center (AIC) in Huntsville, Alabama, a new collaboration, prototyping, and testbed facility aimed at accelerating technology discovery and adoption throughout Army Aviation. The new facility features two on-site prototyping and testing labs along with the resources to support partnership collaboration between private-sector emerging technology companies and U.S. Army Aviation.
Strategically located near the Redstone Arsenal, a hotbed of Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA aviation development, the AIC will allow Army Aviation to collaborate with cutting edge, emerging technology companies that might otherwise go undiscovered, to tailor commercial solutions for Army Aviation specific requirements. It also provides an open avenue for small, cutting-edge companies to get introduced to the DoD and overcome some of the challenges non-traditional businesses face in the defense market.
Seasoned aviation and defense technical executive Matthew Pfrommer has been tapped to lead the effort as AIC Director. A 27-year veteran of the aerospace and defense industry, Pfrommer brings deep expertise on both sides of the table as both an experienced technologist and business developer with Fortune 500 experience, and as an Army acquisition civil servant. Pfrommer has spent the last decade as founder and principal consultant at Sawgrass Innovations, LLC, providing project management, innovation, strategy, and merger and acquisition consulting to companies in the aerospace and defense industry ranging from Fortune 500 firms to small businesses.
Pfrommer says that, unlike other DoD innovation programs, the Applied Innovation Center has the capacity and expertise to actually facilitate the development, integration, and deployment of new technologies and solutions to address capability gaps in Army Aviation. While executing on this mission the AIC plans to focus on smaller, non-traditional defense companies to help them get a foot in the door with the defense sector.
“This isn’t your typical ‘innovation theater’ program where both sides get together to discuss hypotheticals,” Pfrommer said. “The AIC is where DoD and private-sector engineers can bring their technologies, connect them up, experiment, and iterate to solve problems, rather than broadcasting corporate commitments to the latest buzz on social media or theorizing paper solutions in proposal documents. “I’m excited to see the accelerated innovation that comes out of these partnerships.”
This early-stage collaboration lowers risk for both the Army and non-traditional tech firms. For Army Aviation, it provides an opportunity to integrate and test private-sector technologies to ensure compatibility prior to acquisition. For small businesses, it shrinks the yearslong process and steep financial investment required to sell technologies into DoD and allows them to engineer specific solutions based on clear need, direction, and collaboration.
Ultimately, that means getting cutting-edge technologies into the Army Aviation pipeline faster and more economically for both sides.
FirePoint Innovations, a partnership between Wichita State University and the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center (DEVCOM, AvMC), is based in Wichita, Kansas. Pfrommer says the goal is to eventually expand and install AICs in other strategic locations around the country to meet the Army’s needs.
To learn more or become involved in Army Aviation collaboration, visit www.firepoint.info/aic.
About FirePoint
FirePoint is a partnership between Wichita State University and the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center (DEVCOM, AvMC) that accelerates joint technology development, transfer and commercialization among DEVCOM, universities, industry and other government organizations. FirePoint aims to support the educational, commercial and workforce development necessary to drive innovation and collaboration across the key Army modernization priorities. FirePoint initiatives support collaboration, partnering, and STEM workforce development to ensure modern Army combat readiness and overmatch in the multidomain battlespace. (Source: PR Newswire)
29 Aug 23. Curtiss-Wright Announces New Dual AMD® Versal™ Premium Adaptive SoC-based 100 Gbit Ethernet SOSA Aligned FPGA Plug-In Card. The CHAMP-FX7 FPGA engine and the recently announced CHAMP™-XD4 6U VPX Intel® Xeon® D-2700 HPEC and Cognitive DSP Processor are among the first members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100™ class of SOSA aligned system elements
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division today today introduced the CHAMP-FX7 (VPX6-476), its highest performance user programmable real-time processing module. Ideal for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system architectures, the CHAMP-FX7 is designed to ingest extremely large quantities of digital sensor data over optical fibers for wide bandwidth, latency-sensitive parallel signal processing applications. With unprecedented amounts of on-board fast fiber optic and backplane connectivity, the module takes user programmability and functionality to the next level.
The rugged 6U OpenVPX™ board features dual AMD Versal Premium ASoC (Adaptive System on Chip) FPGA devices that add many advanced on-chip features not found on traditional FPGAs. Supporting a range of Versal Premium devices, each device features advanced high-speed I/O and digital signal processing (DSP). The devices speed internal data traffic with a unique low-latency deterministic Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture that far exceeds the performance of the previous generation of AMD UltraScale+™ FPGA boards.
The CHAMP-FX7 Adaptive SoC devices, which support up to 64 lanes of VITA 66.5 fiber optic connectivity directly to the backplane and are rated at up to 28 Gbps/lane, support the most demanding deployable EW, Radar and SIGINT applications. Designed to deliver ultra high-speed processing of digitized sensor data, the CHAMP-FX7 features quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports on the VPX Data Plane, dual 10 GbE TSN-capable Control Plane interfaces, and 32 flexible lanes of PCIe Gen 4 connectivity on the Expansion Plane. The CHAMP-FX7 module joins the recently announced CHAMP-XD4 Xeon D-2700 Processing module as the first 6U members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100 family of SOSA aligned processing engines. This extremely high-performance board-set delivers a powerful, closely coupled solution specifically designed for the most compute demanding DSP applications, such as EW, Multi-mode Radar, SAR, SIGINT and EO/IR.
Aligned with the SOSA Technical Standard, the rugged CHAMP-FX7™ module is available in a conduction-cooled 6U VPX form factor with two-level maintenance covers. The module also supports alternate cooling mechanisms such as air flow-through (AFT) and liquid flow-through (LFT).
About Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 Suite of 3U and 6U OpenVPX Modules and Systems
Fabric100 brings 100Gbit Ethernet and high-performance PCIe Gen4 interconnect speeds to tomorrow’s new generation of rugged deployable computing architectures. Today, system integrators struggle to satisfy their C5ISR applications’ insatiable appetite for sharing ever-increasing volumes of information. The higher-speed interconnects required to support these performance demands introduce significant integration challenges for systems integrators. What’s more, the ability to meet the industry’s goal of simplified interoperability, in other words, to quickly and effectively build systems using open standards-based building blocks and make them work well together, becomes increasingly risky as system designers migrate to faster 16Gbaud and 25Gbaud signaling technology and faster data throughput architectures. To address this daunting problem and reduce the system design risks associated with higher-speed interconnects, Curtiss-Wright has developed Fabric100, a complete end-to-end ecosystem of high-speed rugged OpenVPX modules and system components. It is not enough to simply provide 100Gbps connections between a system’s modules yet fail to support the ability to process all this data within the modules themselves. Recognizing that Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 board architectures are designed to deliver full 100Gbps performance through the entire processing chain, eliminating data bottlenecks that might otherwise compromise system performance.
For information about availability of development boards and Quick Start Kits (QSKs) to support your program needs, please contact us at , visit our website at www.curtisswrightds.com, or contact your local Curtiss-Wright sales representative.
For additional information about Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions products, please visit www.curtisswrightds.com, LinkedIn, and X @CurtissWrightDS.
29 Aug 23. Curtiss-Wright Announces First SOSA Aligned 6U VPX Dual Intel Xeon D-2700 HPEC and Cognitive DSP Processor to Support Quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity.
The new CHAMP™-XD4 module and CHAMP-FX7 AMD® Versal™ Premium Adaptive SoC (FPGA) board are among the first members of Curtiss-Wright’s recently announced Fabric100™ class of SOSA aligned system elements
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division today introduced the CHAMP-XD4 (VPX6-485), the industry’s highest performance, security-enhanced, 6U OpenVPX™ module for compute-intensive Industrial, Aerospace and Defense applications. Ideal for the most demanding intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system architectures, the CHAMP-XD4 features dual Intel Xeon D-2700 processors. The module is highly scalable and can be configured with 12,16 or 20 cores per device. The CHAMP-XD4 complements the AMD Versal based CHAMP-FX7 user-programmable Adaptive SoC (FPGA) module. The two modules are the first 6U form factor members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100™ family of SOSA aligned processing engines, offering customers a powerful board-set specifically designed for the most compute-intensive digital signal processing (DSP) applications, such as Multi-mode Radar, SAR, SIGINT, EO/IR and EW.
The CHAMP-XD4 is the first Xeon D-2700 module to support four 100GbE fabric connections and 32 lanes of Gen4 PCIe, as well as four banks of memory per processor. This enables customers to take full advantage of the extended core capability of the Xeon D-2700 processors without being restricted by memory or I/O bottlenecks. To address the increasingly important issue of data security, the CHAMP-XD4 also features an AMD MPSoC FPGA device that provides enhanced TrustedCOTS™ security functionality. An MPSoC FPGA toolkit is available for applications that require greater design versatility for adding security IP. The toolkit enables integration of advanced security IP, such as Raytheon’s Night Cover™ product suite and Idaho Scientific’s Immunity™ cryptography cores. The MPSoC FPGA can also support co-processing and general-purpose I/O requirements via its embedded quad-core Arm® A53 processor and dual-core R5 real-time processor.
Aligned with the SOSA Technical Standard, the CHAMP-XD4 supports quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Data Plane interfaces, dual 10 GbE Control Plane interfaces, and 32 lanes of Gen4 PCI Express® (PCIe) on the Expansion Plane. The rugged module is available in a conduction-cooled 6U VPX form factor with two-level maintenance covers. The module also supports alternate cooling mechanisms, such as air flow-through (AFT) and liquid flow-through (LFT).
About Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 Suite of 3U and 6U OpenVPX™ Modules and Systems
Fabric100 brings 100Gbit Ethernet and high-performance PCIe Gen4 interconnect speeds to tomorrow’s new generation of rugged deployable computing architectures. Today, system integrators struggle to satisfy their C5ISR applications’ insatiable appetite for sharing ever-increasing volumes of information. The higher-speed interconnects required to support these performance demands introduce significant integration challenges for systems integrators. What’s more, the ability to meet the industry’s goal of simplified interoperability, in other words, to quickly and effectively build systems using open standards-based building blocks and make them work well together, becomes increasingly risky as system designers migrate to faster 16Gbaud and 25Gbaud signaling technology and faster data throughput architectures. To address this daunting problem and reduce the system design risks associated with higher-speed interconnects, Curtiss-Wright has developed Fabric100, a complete end-to-end ecosystem of high-speed rugged OpenVPX modules and system components. It is not enough to simply provide 100Gbps connections between a system’s modules yet fail to support the ability to process all this data within the modules themselves. Recognizing that Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 board architectures are designed to deliver full 100Gbps performance through the entire processing chain, eliminating data bottlenecks that might otherwise compromise system performance.
For information about availability of development boards and Quick Start Kits (QSKs) to support your program needs, please contact us at , visit our website at www.curtisswrightds.com, or contact your local Curtiss-Wright sales representative.
For additional information about Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions products, please visit www.curtisswrightds.com, LinkedIn, and X @CurtissWrightDS.
29 Aug 23. Understanding Warfighter Demands, Emerging Solutions Give U.S. Edge. The Pentagon’s top research and engineering official said she remains laser focused on providing the warfighter with an asymmetric advantage in fielding future capabilities.
Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said Tuesday that the close coordination with each military service, the combatant commands and industry is critical in ensuring the military invests in the right technology to meet the demands of the battlefield.
In addition to assessing the evolving threat landscape, she said she also analyzes what technologies DOD is investing in to determine where potential gaps exist.
“There’s multiple ways to close the gap,” she said. “I’m looking for lower cost, asymmetric ways to close the gap. That’s exactly what I’m focusing on.”
Shyu said understanding the convergence of the emerging threat and current technology is critical in maintaining a strategic advantage across domains and threat environments.
To maintain that perspective, she said she’s in constant contact with defense leaders and industry.
For example, it’s not uncommon for her to have breakfast in a sensitive compartmented information facility when she meets with Navy Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, during trips to the Indo-Pacific region, she said.
“We can talk about anything, classified things that are ongoing, so he knows what I’m working on,” she said. “This type of dialogue is incredibly important.”
In order to match the demands from the warfighter with solutions from the private sector, Shyu said she hosts a series of recurring meetings industry partners—ranging from major prime contractors to small businesses—to broadcast defense department needs and survey industry solutions.
Shyu said understanding the full picture is critical for maintaining U.S. advantage.
“I look at the entire scope,” she said.
“I’m not going to horse race with you,” she said of competing with potential adversaries. “Just because you’ve got 1,000 missiles, that doesn’t mean I have to have 1,001. I look at the whole situation and whole landscape very differently.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
30 Aug 23. VTT is developing a cooling technology based on microelectronics and electric current, which can be utilised by low-temperature electronic and photonic components. The new technology reduces the size, power consumption and price of cooling systems. The method has a wide range of application fields: one topical example is quantum technology.
Many electronic, photonic and quantum technology components require cryogenics, as they only operate at very low temperatures. For example, a quantum computer built from superconducting circuits has to be cooled near to the absolute zero (-273.15 ℃). Currently, such temperatures are achieved by complex and large dilution coolers. VTT’s electronic method can replace and complement existing solutions and thus reduce the size of the refrigerators. Accordingly, this makes it possible to significantly reduce the size of quantum computers.
Electronic method as a part of the cooling system
Current dilution refrigerators are based on multistage pumping of cryogenic liquids. Although these coolers are commercial technology today, they are still very expensive and large. What makes the cooler technology complicated is especially its coldest stage, where refrigerant is a mixture of helium isotopes. New electric cooling technology could replace this part. This would make the system much simpler, smaller, more efficient and more cost effective. A cooler the size of a car, which cools a silicon chip of about a square centimeter in size, could be shrunk by orders of magnitudes down to a size of a suitcase, for example.
“We believe that this purely electric cooling method can be utilised in numerous applications requiring cryogenics, from quantum computing to sensitive radiation detectors and space technology,” says VTT Research Professor Mika Prunnila, who is leading the cooler development.
New business opportunities
VTT researchers have already experimentally confirmed the functionality of the cooling method. The method is now being refined into a commercial demonstrator in SoCool-project which was granted to VTT in the highly competitive EIC-Transition program of the European Commission. VTT will also continue the highly important fundamental research of electronic coolers in the CoRE-Cryo-project, funded by the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation.
Electric cooling can be used to actively cool components directly on a silicon chip or in large-scale general purpose refrigerators. It is a platform technology that is suitable for numerous applications and creates opportunities for new business. The active part of the cooler is manufactured using microelectronics manufacturing methods on silicon wafers, which makes the manufacturing very cost-effective.
“Making the refrigeration systems more user friendly, smaller and cheaper can significantly boost the application of cryo-enabled technologies to new areas. We see that our electronic cooling technology can play an important role in this development,” Mika Prunnila says.
Cryogenics has become an area of increasing interest thanks to quantum technology. Systems developed for the extreme demands of the quantum technology can be also used in various sensors, space technology and possibly also in classical computing. Compact and easy-to-use cooling methods contribute to the large-scale adoption of these technologies. Quantum technology is expected to be only the tip of the iceberg for cryogenic, cryo-electronic and cryo-photonic applications.
29 Aug 23. TactoTek® signed a Recycling Ecosystem Partnership Agreement with Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC (URT).
- IMSE® (In-Mold Structural Electronics) Recycling Ecosystem established with North America coverage
- Signed Recycling Ecosystem Partnership Agreement to support IMSE adaptation
- The Recycling Ecosystem brings together recycling professionals and IMSE manufacturers
- This is part of a series of press releases for Recycling Ecosystem Partnership Agreements
Global Recycling Ecosystem Partnerships Support the Adaptation of IMSE Technology throughout the Lifecycle
TactoTek, a leading provider of In-Mold Structural Electronics (IMSE) technology, has signed a Recycling Ecosystem Partnership contract with Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC (North-America). As a part of TactoTek’s sustainability approach and the objective to develop more environmentally friendly electronics, TactoTek is building a global Recycling Ecosystem. This development promotes efficient recycling of manufacturing waste and IMSE end-of-life parts. The Recycling Ecosystem Partnership enables TactoTek’s licensees to recycle IMSE production-related electronics waste in an efficient, environmentally friendly, and sustainable way. The recycling is done by the partner companies in the Recycling Ecosystem.
Tackling the Challenge of Electronic Waste While Improving the Material Recovery and Circularity of IMSE
When introducing a new technology to the market, it is crucial that sustainability aspects are taken into account in the early phase of new technology adaptation. To maximize material recovery and circularity of its novel technology, TactoTek is continuously studying IMSE recycling with the help of global recycling partners and research facilities. By building a Recycling Ecosystem, TactoTek aims to support IMSE manufacturing licensees during all stages of the IMSE value chain. Efficient recycling and subsequent material recovery are vital in all businesses, especially in the electronics industry, as electronics waste, commonly referred to as e-waste, is the largest growing waste stream in the world. Currently, only 20% of the waste is formally recycled.
IMSE Recycling Ecosystem Brings Together Recycling Professionals and IMSE Manufacturing Licensees
By being part of the IMSE Recycling Ecosystem, the recycling company will be introduced to the IMSE manufacturing licensees. This relationship between the parties is independent and non-exclusive – each party being in full control of their businesses. TactoTek verifies the recycling partners by providing them with an IMSE-related sample set, and they in turn provide TactoTek with reports to confirm their capability of recycling the IMSE waste fractions.
Now-Signed Agreements Act as Important Step in Building a Global IMSE Recycling Ecosystem
Sampo Pirilä, Manager of Product Planning & Sustainability at TactoTek states: “We are happy to have signed the first Recycling Ecosystem Partnership Agreements. These partnerships are important building blocks in our mission to take concrete actions to support our clients during the whole lifecycle of our technology and maximizing its circularity. Sustainability and environmental performance are at the core of our business, and efficient recycling of our technology is vital for the future.”
“We are excited to see where this journey takes us, and how we can help TactoTek in serving the IMSE clients in North America” stated John Kendall, Director, Environmental Health & Safety, Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC (URT).
About TactoTek®
TactoTek is the leading provider of Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE®) solutions that integrate printed circuitry and electronic components into 3D injection molded smart surfaces. Leading IMSE use cases include human-machine interfaces (HMI), connectivity, and electronic styling features for automotive, smart homes, appliances, and other markets. IMSE outperforms conventional electronics manufacturing methods by reducing Greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Benefiting from simulated design processes and reduced material use, IMSE Designed smart surfaces are considerably lighter in mass, leading to substantial lifetime greenhouse gas reductions. TactoTek develops and industrializes IMSE technology, creates mass production-ready IMSE prototypes, and licenses IMSE technology for 3rd party IMSE part design and global mass production.
TactoTek is funded by international leaders in finance and industry committed to advancing technology solutions that benefit consumers and the environment. TactoTek investors include Conor Venture Partners, 3M Ventures, Repsol Energy Ventures, Faurecia Ventures, Voima Ventures, Tesi, Nidoco AB, and Cornes. For more information, please visit tactotek.com.
About Universal Recycling Technologies
As a multi-certified leader in the electronics recycling industry, Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC (URT) provides full-service electronic and universal waste solutions to everyone from governments and OEMs to the individual consumer. We strive to provide full circular solutions for all materials, while maximizing its value. URT offers complete downstream transparency, giving our partners the peace of mind to know their materials have been processed in an ethical, safe, and secure manner. To learn more about URT, visit www.URTsolutions.com.
28 Aug 23. EDGE Group Signs Agreement with the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of the Brazilian Air Force. EDGE Group PJSC (EDGE), one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence groups, today announced the signing of a strategic agreement with the Brazilian Air Force’s Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), the national military research centre for aviation and space flight.
The signing ceremony took place in the city of São José dos Campos as part of an ongoing high-level EDGE delegation visit to Brazil, and was witnessed by members of EDGE’s senior management and the General Director of the Department of Aerospace Science & Technology, Air Force General Maurício Augusto de Medeiros.
During their itinerary, the group also met with local dignitaries and major Brazilian industry players and partners, including SIATT and Turbomachine. The visits will enable EDGE to pave the way for greater collaboration on knowledge exchange, R&D cooperation, and the co-development of advanced defence systems, among others.
As per the agreement, the two organisations will explore opportunities to jointly develop projects in the Air and Space, Smart Weapons, and unmanned and autonomous platform domains, as well as other areas . The agreement is in line with EDGE’s strategy of building mutually beneficial partnerships supporting defence capability development in the UAE and Latin America, where EDGE recently established its first international office, located in Brasilia.
EDGE recently announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Brazilian Navy to co-develop a long-range anti-ship missile, as well as provide advanced solutions, such as anti-jamming technology, which is developed by EDGE in the UAE. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/EDGE)
25 Aug 23. Kraken Technology Group have today announced the launch of their new in-house design capability. Pairing Kraken’s existing visionary maritime concept development and advanced vessel engineering team with a truly world-class design and naval architecture expertise is a considerable force multiplier. This will enable Kraken to push further and faster with development of their portfolio of definitive, high-performance, littoral security maritime vessels end-to-end and entirely in-house.
Key to this is the addition of Alec Lynn-Rodgers who joins the Kraken team to lead and further develop this capability. Alec is a highly innovative chartered naval architect with 9 years leading design teams and contributing to some of the most progressive next-generation naval platforms. His specialisms in building and leading design teams, implementing technological advancements in CAD and VR systems, and interests in the latest rapid prototyping and AI analytical techniques completely align with Kraken’s mission to conceptualise, design and build the best possible game-changing craft for future maritime needs through use of advanced technologies.
Alec Lynn-Rodgers, comments on his new role:
“I am delighted to be joining the Kraken team at such an exciting point in their journey. I look forward to leading this in-house capability and to accelerating the development of Kraken’s portfolio of transformational littoral security boat capabilities.”
Mal Crease, Founder and CEO of Kraken Technology Group, commented:
“Launching this in-house design function and welcoming Alec to the team represents an enormous uplift in Kraken’s in-house capability and compliments the already extraordinary product development talent we have in the business. This enhanced end-to-end control of the product development process will allow us to accelerate our plans and delivery timescales to better fulfil end user need for innovative littoral capabilities more quickly.”
Kraken continues to grow its team as it expands across the maritime security industry.
25 Aug 23. US Pentagon provides BlackWatch with semiconductor support worth up to $96.9m. US government institutions try to boost their domestic semiconductor industry as the commodity becomes a hot topic in the nation’s tech war with China.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has offered BlackWatch International, a small tech business based in Virginia, manufacturing sustainment and engineering support to produce semiconductors.
Support for the company will help boost America’s semiconductor industrial base in a time of global supply chain challenges and a contentious rivalry with China.
GlobalData Defence Analyst Sourabh Banik explained: “Just like other industries semiconductors play a crucial role in aerospace and defence sectors, especially when armed forces worldwide are gradually gearing toward network-centric warfare.
“Almost all types of modern military platforms ranging from airborne, land, naval, and space systems, have components and sub-systems that use semiconductor chips.”
In this context, BlackWatch will benefit from government support worth up to $96.9m; the DoD has so far provided support amounting to $7.2m from FY2023 funds at the time of award.
Biden’s plan to secure the chip industry
US President Joe Biden has orchestrated a plan of action that essentially involves spending a seemingly limitless amount of money in propping up the capacity of domestic companies to produce microchips and source all the components.
At the end of July 2023, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) and the DoD signed an agreement to expand collaboration to strengthen America’s semiconductor industrial base.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale argued “It is essential for the DoD and DoC to consult one another to ensure we are making complementary investments that support a robust semiconductor industrial base.”
A total tech war?
Although this strategy may help struggling chip manufacturers to boost their production of the critical technology while also feeding the US military with new chip-enabled capabilities, a large degree of security in this global industry depends on diplomatic co-operation with China.
Likewise, America’s Indo-Pacific allies – Japan and South Korea – similarly contend that blocking China’s acquisition of critical chip components will not stall their shared adversary’s development of advanced technologies that require chips, such as artificial intelligence. Yang Hyang-ja, a South Korean legislator and former chip engineer, affirmed this in an interview with the Financial Times.
Similarly, in an Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS) webinar on allied co-operation in the global semiconductor industry at the end of June, one Japanese commentator Ota Yasu, a Tokyo-based columnist and TV commentator for Nikkei, proposed a divergent solution.
“Japan should not just follow the US but get together with [South] Korea and Taiwan. Maybe Japan should co-ordinate the voices of the Asia-Pacific and bring it to Washington.”
Decoupling from China is one thing, but America’s ‘total tech war’ is another – as America’s Asian allies are overburdened by the China-shaped whole in the global semiconductor industry.
(Source: army-technology.com)
————————————————————————-
Oxley Group Ltd
Oxley offer a range of Military Marine NVG friendly LED lighting that includes navigation lights and controls, flight deck landing lights and interior compartment lighting. Our lighting products are used by Navies around the world including our own Royal Navy on UK Aircraft Carriers, Canadian Frigates, Swedish Submarines, Australian Surface vessels and Submarines, on board French Naval Carriers and in Naval Gun Turrets.
https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-r/
The technology is extremely energy efficient and built robustly, with proven long life. The lighting is NVG friendly, dimmable and programmable to allow for operations with aircraft pilots using military night vision goggles. They offer superior design giving high reliability for the most demanding environments with high sealing and the ability to meet the most stringent EMC standards.
https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-y/
Oxley are proud to say that we are working in partnership with SeaKing to enable a control panel to be offered with our LED Navigation Lighting. All of Oxley navigation lights have been specifically developed for vessels over 50 metres.
Contact Marcus Goad on 07850 917 263 for more information or to arrange samples.
Oxley specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic and electro-optic components and systems for air, land and sea applications within the military sector. Established in 1942, Oxley has manufacturing facilities in the UK and USA and enjoys representation worldwide. The company’s products include night vision and LED lighting, data capture systems and electronic components. Oxley has pioneered the development of night vision compatible lighting. It offers a total package incorporating optical filters, equipment modification, cockpit and external lighting along with fleet wide upgrade services including engineering, installation, support, maintenance and training. The company’s long experience of manufacturing night vision lighting and LED indicators, coupled with advances in LED technology, has enabled it to develop LED solutions to replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting in existing applications as well as becoming the lighting option of choice in new applications such as portable military hospitals, UAV control stations and communication shelters.
———————————————————————-