Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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28 Feb 24. Oxley Group, a world leading manufacturer and designer of high specification LED lighting and electronics for the defence industry, has been recognised for its work developing the next generation of manufacturers after overcoming significant hurdles along the way.
The firm, based in Ulverston since 1942, took home the top prize in the Developing Future Talent category at Make UK’s prestigious National Manufacturing Awards, held in London, after impressing judges with their determined approach to navigating the area’s difficult skills landscape.
The firm’s achievements are impressive when considering that they have been operating against the backdrop of Cumbria’s brain drain of working age people, with 2021 Census data revealing 15,000 fewer 16-64 year olds in the county than a decade prior.[1]
And in a real David versus Goliath situation, Oxley has found itself in competition for the remaining local talent with multi-national defence giant BAE Systems, whose submarine site in Barrow-in-Furness (just a 20 minute drive away) is currently upscaling with a requirement to recruit over 5,000 people in the coming years.[2]
Despite facing these challenges, and the industry-wide difficulties in recruiting and retaining employees, the company remains committed to the local area and the manufacturing sector, and has proven this with the steps it has taken.
The firm’s ‘Grow Our Own’ programme sets out an ambitious 10 pillar plan involving a wide range of outreach initiatives, in collaboration with local schools, colleges, universities, careers advisers, BAE Systems and other SMEs in the area, to boost STEM interest among young people.
Examples of this work include a recently launched apprenticeship programme and graduate scheme, employability workshops with local schools covering skills such as CV writing and interviews, as well as an entrepreneurship programme for year 5 students.
The firm currently has 14 apprentices on its books and is recruiting for more. It also prides itself on being an equal employer having achieved a 48% female workforce, exceeding its own target of 30%.
Jayne Moorby, Head of Marketing, Oxley Group
“We’re delighted to have been recognised for this prestigious award, it’s a credit to all of the team for the work they do developing young people within the business and through outreach work in the community.
“At Oxley we believe in collaboration and our success in developing future talent has been achieved through working in partnership, we also believe in inclusive growth and enabling every young person to have a access to the high skilled and high value roles available in manufacturing.
“Oxley has been in Cumbria for over 80 years, by investing in developing future talent we will be thriving here in another 80 years.”
Stephen Phipson CBE, Chief Executive of Make UK, said: “These awards are a testament to the dynamic companies and individuals working within engineering and manufacturing. The sector remains at the heart of creating wealth across the UK and there will be a bright future for companies and individuals that make the most of their talent.”
About the awards
The National Manufacturing Awards, sponsored by HSBC Commercial Banking and organised by Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, were held at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on January 25th to recognise the achievements of companies from across the UK, following the regional award ceremonies held in Autumn of last year.
About Make UK
Make UK, The Manufacturers’ Organisation, is the representative voice of UK manufacturing, with offices in London, Brussels, every English region and Wales.
Collectively we represent 20,000 companies of all sizes, from start-ups to multinationals, across engineering, manufacturing, technology and the wider industrial sector. We directly represent over 5,000 businesses who are members of Make UK. Everything we do – from providing essential business support and training to championing manufacturing industry in the UK and the EU – is designed to help British manufacturers compete, innovate and grow.
From HR and employment law, health and safety to environmental and productivity improvement, our advice, expertise and influence enables businesses to remain safe, compliant and future-focused.
27 Mar 24. DARPA Aims to Develop AI, Autonomy Applications Warfighters Can Trust.
An important goal of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing artificial intelligence that is trustworthy for the Defense Department — particularly for making life-or-death recommendations to warfighters, said Matt Turek, deputy director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.
AI, machine learning and autonomy are being used by about 70% of DARPA’s programs in some form or another, Turek said today at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
Another reason AI development is such a priority is to prevent an unexpected breakthrough in technology, or “strategic surprise,” by adversaries who might also be developing advanced capabilities, he said, adding that DARPA also aims to create its own strategic surprise.
To accomplish those goals, DARPA is looking for transformative capabilities and ideas from industry and academia, Turek said.
One of the many ways the agency gets these capabilities and ideas is to hold various types of challenges where teams from the private sector can win prizes worth millions of dollars, he said.
An example of that, he said, is DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge, which uses generative AI technologies — like large language models — to automatically find and fix vulnerabilities in open-source software, particularly software that underlies critical infrastructure.
Large language models involve processing and manipulating human language to perform such tasks as secure computer coding, decision-making, speech recognition and making predictions.
Turek said a unique feature of this challenge is the partnership between DARPA and state-of-the-art large language model providers that are participating in the challenges, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Most likely, large language model improvements will also benefit the commercial sector, as well as DOD, Turek said.
An example of the use of autonomy and of AI that DARPA has been testing with the Air Force involves its F-16 fighter jets, he said.
Turek said DARPA has four areas of AI research involving industry and academia partners:
- Proficient artificial intelligence;
- Confidence in the information domain, which includes tools that detect things like manipulated media;
- Secure and resilient systems; and
- Defensive and offensive cyber tools.
Turek noted that there’s a lot of synergy across those four areas. (Source: ASD Network/U.S. DoD)
28 Mar 24. Hermeus readies Quarterhorse high-speed test aircraft for first flight. Hypersonic aircraft startup Hermeus unveiled its Quarterhorse aircraft on Thursday at its Atlanta factory where the company is preparing the vehicle for its first flight test this summer.
The aircraft, dubbed Mk 1, is the second version of Quarterhorse, a high-speed test platform Hermeus is developing iteratively with a goal of demonstrating autonomous, reusable, near-hypersonic flight by 2026. The company’s initial vehicle, Mk 0, completed its ground-based test campaign last November. Mk 1 will be the first to take flight.
Hermeus’ goal is to build one test vehicle per year, and CEO AJ Piplica told C4ISRNET that as Mk 1 prepares for flight in the next few months, refining the company’s processes for quickly building and testing aircraft is just as important as the capability it will demonstrate in flight.
“That’s something that is very different about the approach we’re taking to aircraft development — being this iterative and really pushing to do one aircraft per year,” he said in a March 28 interview. “I think this particular problem requires it. High speed airplanes and pushing the bounds of what’s been done before really requires it.”
While Quarterhorse in its multiple iterations serves as a stepping stone toward the company’s larger goal of developing hypersonic aircraft — which can reach speeds of Mach 5 or higher — for defense and commercial customers, the Pentagon is interested in using the aircraft to help test its own systems.
The Defense Department lacks the flight test infrastructure to support the more than 70 hypersonic development programs being pursued by the military services. In recent years, the department has been working to increase its flight cadence by funding commercial systems like Quarterhorse and developing flying testbeds for advanced materials and components.
The Air Force Research Laboratory was an early investor in Quarterhorse, awarding Hermeus a $1.5 million contract in 2020 and another $60 million the following year. Last November, the Defense Innovation Unit selected the aircraft for its Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program, or HyCAT, which aims to increase DOD’s flight testing capacity.
Hermeus had planned to fly Quarterhorse in 2023, but its decision to build Mk 0 as a ground test platform pushed that target to this year. Piplica said the delay was disappointing, but noted that spending more time wringing out the technology and processes on the ground has started to payoff as the company shifts its focus toward flight.
Following a 204-day build process, Mk 1 will now move through ground testing in Atlanta before it is shipped to Edwards Air Force Base in California for additional tests, Piplica said.
‘Push the envelope’
The goal of the first flight, which will take off from Edwards, is to demonstrate high-speed takeoff and landing. Piplica declined to detail specific speed and altitude targets but said Mk 1 is designed for a “pretty limited” flight envelope. Once Quarterhorse achieves those objectives, the company will see if it can move beyond those limits.
“We’ll push the envelope, get as much data as we can, and we’ll certainly take technical risk in doing so,” he said. “One of the key pieces to our approach is to really push learning as far to the left as early as you can.”
Hermeus will provide data from the flight to AFRL, DIU and other customers. The test will also inform Mk 2, which is set to fly next year and achieve supersonic speeds.
A key difference in that vehicle is that it will feature Hermeus’ Chimera II propulsion system, which includes Pratt & Whitney’s F100 engine. That engine is what will ultimately fly in Hermeus’ first hypersonic aircraft, Dark Horse.
“We’ll be flying that engine about three years earlier than we had originally planned in our roadmap,” Piplica said.
Mk 3 will follow in 2026, and Piplica said he expects that’s the timeframe in which Quarterhorse will start supporting Defense Department testing. As for how or when future vehicles may be incorporated into DOD aircraft fleets, Piplica declined to speculate, though he compared Mk 2 to an F-16-scale, autonomous aircraft.
“How does that play into the future force roadmap of the Air Force and the Joint Force writ large?” he said. “For us, it’s an aircraft on a roadmap that we have to do anyway. That alignment, I think, is really powerful.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
27 Mar 24. DARPA Aims to Develop AI, Autonomy Applications Warfighters Can Trust. An important goal of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing artificial intelligence that is trustworthy for the Defense Department — particularly for making life-or-death recommendations to warfighters, said Matt Turek, deputy director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.
AI, machine learning and autonomy are being used by about 70% of DARPA’s programs in some form or another, Turek said today at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
Another reason AI development is such a priority is to prevent an unexpected breakthrough in technology, or “strategic surprise,” by adversaries who might also be developing advanced capabilities, he said, adding that DARPA also aims to create its own strategic surprise.
To accomplish those goals, DARPA is looking for transformative capabilities and ideas from industry and academia, Turek said.
One of the many ways the agency gets these capabilities and ideas is to hold various types of challenges where teams from the private sector can win prizes worth ms of dollars, he said.
An example of that, he said, is DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge, which uses generative AI technologies — like large language models — to automatically find and fix vulnerabilities in open-source software, particularly software that underlies critical infrastructure.
Large language models involve processing and manipulating human language to perform such tasks as secure computer coding, decision-making, speech recognition and making predictions.
Turek said a unique feature of this challenge is the partnership between DARPA and state-of-the-art large language model providers that are participating in the challenges, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Most likely, large language model improvements will also benefit the commercial sector, as well as DOD, Turek said.
An example of the use of autonomy and of AI that DARPA has been testing with the Air Force involves its F-16 fighter jets, he said.
Turek said DARPA has four areas of AI research involving industry and academia partners:
Proficient artificial intelligence;
Confidence in the information domain, which includes tools that detect things like manipulated media;
Secure and resilient systems; and Defensive and offensive cyber tools.
Turek noted that there’s a lot of synergy across those four areas. (Source: U.S. DoD)
27 Mar 24. Kollmorgen, a global leader in motion control systems, today announced the latest update to its AKD2G servo drive. With the introduction of these new features, Kollmorgen has broadened its offerings to additionally support PROFINET IRT and Ethernet/IP with CIP Sync alongside CANopen®*, EtherCAT®*, and FSoE time-synchronized communication protocols. Each protocol is rigorously tested with a variety of motion controllers and certified by industry standards organizations.
The AKD2G servo drive update allows for synchronized motion between multiple drives using a wide variety of control architectures. Thanks to its flexibility and high performance, AKD2G is the ideal drive for use in applications that require highly precise coordination across multiple axes of motion.
The drive features industry-leading power density in a compact package and is easy to mount — with one- and two-axis variants available. Engineers can leverage single-cable Smart Feedback Device (SFD) or HIPERFACE®* DSL connections or choose from a wide range of other feedback devices.
Finally, the drive features an optional SafeMotion® Monitor (SMM) firmware with a safety level of SIL3/PLe to meet functional safety needs and enable a wider range of applications.
“The AKD2G servo drive is an ideal option for automation designers and OEMs that are actively optimizing their designs — offering increased performance, a smaller footprint, and greater design flexibility,” said James Davison, Senior VP/GM at Kollmorgen. “It’s a system designed with our customers in mind to make automation engineering easier, more efficient, and more powerful.”
The AKD2G paired with AKM2G motors is part of the 2G Motion System, a suite of motion products designed to work together for ultimate ease of setup and higher performance. Engineers also can take advantage of the drive’s compatibility with a wider range of controllers and feedback devices — or with other motors, as needed.
27 Mar 24. Ricardo and Greenjets celebrate important eVTOL propulsion milestone. Following support from Ricardo, Greenjets has celebrated a significant milestone on the journey to future sustainable electric propulsion in the aerospace industry.
Ricardo, a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company, has supported Greenjets, pioneers of bespoke, compact jet engines for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) applications, to create the first generation of an electric fully operational demonstrator propulsion module (InCEPTion) for use in aircraft weighing less than five tonnes.
The design is fully scalable, efficient and aims to reduce operating costs. It is the culmination of an 18-month project involving design engineers, electrification specialists and project engineers to deliver a bespoke wrap around, immersion cooled, ultra-high-performance battery, using 32 connected modules. In addition to the design and build of the fully integrated module, Ricardo has been responsible for the compete thermal management system, incorporating increased safety aspects from the initial design stage.
Matt Beasley, Director of Global Engineering and Operations at Ricardo, said: “We’re delighted to have supported Greenjets on this innovative design and build system that will deliver future sustainable electric propulsion in the aerospace industry. Our engineers have designed, developed and built a system that is fully scalable which also enables different combinations of the same module to power multiple aircraft concepts, from large drones, electric vertical take-off and landing applications, general aviation aircraft and sub-regional aircraft. The system is versatile and can be 100% battery or fuel cell hybrid powered.”
“Our engineering expertise within the automotive industry is now enabling us to deliver innovative, sustainable projects in the aerospace and maritime industries, including in the design and development of future sustainable propulsion systems. It’s an exciting time to be involved in these types of projects in support of future decarbonisation across mobility.”
Anmol Manohar, CEO of Greenjets, added: “The architecture of our largest engine, the IPM500, has benefited greatly from our collaboration with Ricardo. With Ricardo’s one-of-a-kind battery pack integrated into the nacelle of our engine, we make vital savings in efficiency and weight along with close integration with the rest of the powertrain. It also improves safety by moving significant battery weight away from the fuselage. Ricardo has been an incredible partner on our development programme, and we look forward to leveraging their battery and thermal management expertise in the upcoming ground and wind tunnel test campaigns”
InCEPTion incorporates 20 kWh worth of battery pack capacity into a very constrained toroidal shape and has been designed to form part of the structure of a propulsion system, with shared cooling and structural elements, making its delivery challenging and complex. The composite module is lightweight, power dense and enables rapid charging. Its cutting-edge design is configured in a 360-degree orientation, with bonded composites and a foam structure to help reduce weight.
Greenjets now plans to undertake ground and wind tunnel tests to support eventual integration into an engine, with the aim of eventual use in commercial aircraft. (Source: ASD Network)
26 Mar 24. Leonardo DRS Introduces New Mounted Form Factor Mission System to Address the U.S. Army’s CMOSS Modernization Initiative. Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRS) announced today its newest combat computing product as its latest addition to the company’s proven tactical computing portfolio of products used across U.S. and allied militaries. This new offering is fully compliant with the U.S. Army’s C4ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS).
This modular open systems architecture (MOSA) platform will enable flexibility and advanced capabilities intended to converge select Army warfighting capabilities – such as mission command, movement and maneuver and fires. The company’s new platform is well positioned to address the U.S. Army’s requirements under the CMOSS Mounted Form factor (CMFF) Program.
This new DRS-designed CMFF system is an innovative, next-generation combat vehicle computing hub that is a ruggedized, lightweight, open architecture hardware system designed to deliver state-of-the-art capability to future Army combat computer networking needs. It enables users to insert plug-and-play networked 3U-VPX capability cards including assured positioning navigation and timing (APNT), mission command applications, and multi-band software defined radios.
This next generation, open architecture capability will enable the U.S. Army to field future technology capabilities continuously, while avoiding the delays and costs due to proprietary IP and “vendor lock.” Additionally, this advanced CMFF platform will provide soldiers with improved situational awareness and networking on the battlefield.
“We are excited to unveil this advanced system in support of an important Army network modernization initiative,” said Bill Guyan, senior vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Land Electronics business. “DRS has a proven 25-year track record of providing mission critical tactical computers, and CMFF is the latest demonstration of our full commitment to that partnership and support of the Army modernization goals. We are focused on continuing to deliver the quality products that allow soldiers to execute their missions on the modern battlefield.”
DRS’s current mission critical computing platforms are used throughout the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps ground combat and tactical wheeled vehicle fleets, enabling the execution of mission command, logistics tracking and fire control on today’s multi-domain battlefield.
The new DRS CMFF computing system is a natural product evolution that fully aligns the Army’s Network modernization vision. It represents the company’s commitment to open architecture standards and employs our deep engineering understanding of combat vehicle environmental requirements. This combination ensures the delivery of a low-risk solution for the U.S. Army. Additionally, it is designed as a dependable mission critical CMOSS capability that warfighters can use in the conduct of large-scale combat operations without hesitation.
DRS proudly supports Modular Open Systems Approach and is a leading participant of the CMOSS efforts and architectures; it is also a principal member of the SOSA consortium. This critical involvement ensures DRS products are interoperable for warfighters across all military branches.
Network computing is a key strategic focus for the company as it continues to be the leading provider of advanced C5 technologies, delivering increased data and communications needed for situational awareness in multi-domain battlefield operations. The company is investing in the future of C5 for the DoD through the development of the next generation of MFOCS Systems, AI processing solutions and advanced CMOSS/SOSA aligned mounted systems – all aimed at enabling future network and platform processing to improve sensor fusion, situational awareness and reduce the cognitive burden for commanders and crews. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
26 Mar 24. The USAF’s Secret New Fighter Jet Has Moved Out of the Shadows. With a fresh $20bn in funding, a modern era of aerial combat is approaching, blending manned and machine precision.
- The U.S. Air Force is allocating nearly $20bn over five years to develop the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter jet, the replacement for the F-22 Raptor.
- NGAD will include not only a manned plane, but unmanned fighter-like drones, too.
- The U.S. will also buy more NGAD fighters than it bought F-22s, as each manned plane will control several in combat.
The U.S. Air Force is about to drop some serious coin on the future of air power. The service will spend almost $20bn over five years to develop Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), its secret new sixth-generation fighter jet and future replacement for the F-22 Raptor. NGAD will also be the first aircraft program conceived from the start as a combination of both manned and unmanned aircraft.
Raptor Replacement
In 2020, then Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Will Roper revealed the air service had designed and flown a prototype of the NGAD fighter in just one year, with the help of new digital engineering technologies. The aircraft design and other details were never revealed, nor was the identity of the defense contractor involved.
Since then, the service has teased out a handful of other details. The name itself, Next Generation Air Dominance, makes it clear that the aircraft is not a fifth-generation jet like the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II, but a generational leap ahead that will make it, unless another country beats America to it, the world’s first sixth-generation fighter. NGAD’s capabilities could define the new generation. These could include daytime or optical stealth, laser weapons, and the use of artificial intelligence to reduce pilot workload.
In May 2022, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said each manned NGAD aircraft will cost “multiple hundreds of ms of dollars.” A F-35A Lightning II, by comparison, costs $82.5m. Air & Space Forces Magazine reports that the service will buy between 200 and 250 manned NGAD aircraft, about the same as the number of B-21 Raider bombers the service would ultimately prefer. The Air Force has also said there might be two versions of the manned fighter, one for the European Theater, perhaps carrying a larger weapons payload, and one for the Pacific Theater, with a longer range.
Now, Air & Space Forces reports that the service will spend $19.5 bn over five years on NGAD. The Air Force will pick two companies this year to develop their versions of the manned NGAD aircraft, with one ultimately picked to build the final design.
Manned and Unmanned
Unlike previous fighters, the manned NGAD fighter will be complemented by unmanned aircraft known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). CCA will be a stealthy, high performance autonomous aircraft with the ability to carry a variety of payloads, from sensors to jammers and weapons.
Unmanned CCA planes will operate as extensions of the manned NGAD fighter, adding firepower and sensor reach. CCA planes will fly ahead of the manned NGAD plane, using their own sensors to sweep the skies and the ground below, allowing for early detection of threats. This delegating of sensor use could allow the manned plane to operate with its sensors off entirely, making it even harder to detect by enemy forces.
In the air-to-air role, NGAD could direct its unmanned minions to ambush enemy aircraft at long ranges while remaining hidden, acting as flying magazines of missiles. In the air-to-ground role, CCA bots could fly ahead and jam enemy radar and communications, paralyzing the enemy’s ability to mount an effective defense, then destroying surface-to-air missile threats. The intent is to allow the NGAD pilot to act as the puppet-master, with the robotic aircraft taking all the risks.
The Air Force will spend $8.8bn over the same 5-year period to develop CCA, which will be individually cheaper, thanks to the lack of a pilot, life support systems, and a more specialized mission profile. This allows the Air Force to buy the drone in greater numbers; ultimately, the service wants as many as 1,000 CCA drones. The Air Force will pick three companies later this year to build and fly prototypes, with one or two becoming the final aircraft.
Wargaming the Future
In 2023, the Mitchell Institute, an air-power think tank, ran a wargame simulation designed to test the effectiveness of pairing sixth-generation aircraft and CCAs. Over the course of an air campaign designed to destroy Chinese air and naval forces surrounding Taiwan, CCAs were able to “disrupt, confuse, overwhelm (People’s Liberation Army) air defense targeting,” “identify targets for follow-on attacks,” and “gain the degree of air superiority needed to enable Allied penetrating strikes.”
Wargamers playing the Allied side used CCAs to force China’s KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft to reveal themselves, allowing the Allied players to target and kill them. This had the result of blinding Chinese forces operating out of range of their land-based radars, reducing their effectiveness at long ranges. The cheap, unmanned planes also acted as missile sponges, sacrificing themselves in order to exhaust Chinese fighters of their missile stores, which in turn left them vulnerable to American planes. (Source: News Now/https://www.popularmechanics.com/)
26 Mar 24. Leonardo introduces ECOS-E multimode Radio Base Station, a significant leap forward in communication technology. Leonardo, the leading global Aerospace, Defence and Security company, presents to North American market the ECOS-E DTA7000 multimode Radio Base Station, a cutting-edge advancement in communication technology. Designed to meet the evolving needs of modern communication systems, the ECOS-E sets a new standard for versatility, reliability, and performance and is poised to redefine the way organizations communicate and collaborate in the digital age.
The solution is on display in Leonardo’s stand #1115 at IWCE 2024, the leading conference for critical communications taking place from March 25 to 28.
The ECOS-E DTA7000 combines advanced features with unparalleled flexibility, supporting different protocols, architectures and operating modes. The solution is part of the DTA product line that supports Simulcast and Multicast DMR, P25, Analog FM and the TETRA standard. DTA7000 is also part of Mosaic, Leonardo’s framework for hybrid networks that allows a seamless integration between land mobile radio systems and broadband technologies through the MCX 3GPP compliant solution. Whether deployed for public safety, emergency response, transportation, utility management or commercial communications networks, this innovative radio system delivers unparalleled connectivity and interoperability.
The ECOS-E DTA7000 boasts several key features:
- Multimode capability: Simulcast and Multicast DMR, P25 and Analog FM are supported
- Secure communication: an embedded firewall increases communications security against possible cyber attacks
- Adaptive networking: dynamic networking capabilities optimize connectivity and adapt to changing operational conditions, ensuring reliable communication in challenging environments
- Robust and compact design: engineered to withstand harsh environmental conditions, it delivers high RF power in a compact form factor
- Intuitive interface: user-friendly controls and interface design streamline operation, reducing training requirements and enhancing usability
Additionally, the company’s solutions are backed with an industry leading five-year warranty and 10-year obsolescence guarantee.
For the first time, IWCE visitors will also be able to see Qualcomm’s unique 5G-Sidelink technology utilized by Alea (a Leonardo company) and Softil MCX solutions to demonstrate 3GPP standards-based off-network/direct mode communications.
This technological development will be demonstrated on Wednesday, March 27th at 1:30 pm and at 2:30 pm at Leonardo’s booth and again on Thursday, March 28th at 12:00 pm.
More info about the ECOS-E DTA7000 and other products and solutions: leonardocompany-us.com/lmr. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
25 Mar 24. Untether AI and J-Squared Unveil Groundbreaking AI-Enabled Rugged PC Chassis at AUSA. Untether AI®, the leader in energy-centric AI acceleration technology, in partnership with J-Squared Technologies, renowned for their ruggedized computer systems, today announced the availability of an AI-powered object detection solution at the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Huntsville, AL. This technology showcases the integration of Untether AI’s tsunAImi® tsn200 inference accelerator card within J-Squared Technologies rugged Vanguard 2U rackmount server, showcasing counter-drone detection for both commercial applications and defense sectors.
This joint computer vision application showcases an Untether AI optimized “You-only-look-once” (YOLO) neural network, trained by J-Squared Technologies for counter-drone detection, running in their ruggedized hardware. This partnership delivers both companies’ commitment to deploying AI compute and operational efficiency in high-reliability applications.
“J-Squared Technologies is proud to partner with Untether AI to deliver a solution that meets the rigorous demands of both defense and commercial applications,” said Andrew Woollard, Chief Technical Officer at J-Squared Technologies. “Our SWAP-C optimized systems designed to withstand harsh environments combined with Untether AI’s energy efficient AI acceleration, provide unmatched operational durability, computational capabilities, and AI performance per Watt.”
“Our collaboration with J-Squared Technologies marks a significant milestone in the deployment of AI technologies in the field of defense and commercial airspace safety,” said Bob Beachler, Vice President of Product at Untether AI. “By combining our energy efficient AI acceleration technology with J-Squared Technologies, we’re not only enhancing counter-drone capabilities but also setting the benchmark for high-reliability AI deployment at the tactical edge.”
The AI-enabled demonstration detects, and tracks unmanned aerial threats through advanced machine learning algorithms, offering a robust detection against increasing drone-related security challenges. This application extends beyond military use, providing commercial airports and critical infrastructure with a state-of-the-art tool to ensure airspace security and public safety.
Untether AI will be exhibiting at the upcoming The AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exhibition, March 26 – 28, 2024. Attendees are invited to view the demonstration at the Untether AI booth #2132, where Untether AI and J-Squared Technologies experts will be available to discuss the technology’s applications and benefits in detail. For more information, visit www.untether.ai and www.jsquared.com.
About Untether AI
Untether AI® provides energy-centric AI inference acceleration from the edge to the cloud, supporting any type of neural network model. With its at-memory compute architecture, Untether AI has solved the data movement bottleneck that costs energy and performance in traditional CPUs and GPUs, resulting in high-performance, low-latency neural network inference acceleration without sacrificing accuracy. Untether AI embodies its technology in runAI® and speedAI® devices, tsunAImi® acceleration cards, and its imAIgine® Software Development Kit. Founded in Toronto in 2018, Untether AI is funded by CPPIB, GM Ventures, Intel Capital, Radical Ventures, and Tracker Capital. More information can be found at www.untether.ai.
About J-Squared
J-Squared Technologies Inc. has over 30 years of experience supporting and supplying the North American electronics marketplace. Each of our divisions offers specific skills and services to address our customers’ product lifecycle requirements; from conceptualization, design, build and test to long-term in-service product support. Our core principle to exceed customer expectations, combined with our focus on continuous improvement, has resulted in extensive success across a wide range of industries and markets. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
26 Mar 24. Avanta range of high-performance MIL-SPEC COTS power supplies to launch at DPRTE 2024. Designed and manufactured to the highest levels of quality, efficiency, and durability, Avanta offers a limited assortment of MIL-SPEC plug-and-play power supplies designed to meet the immediate needs of valued customers across the defence industry. This new product line will be unveiled at the highly anticipated DPRTE exhibition in March, marking a significant milestone as the company continues to innovate and enhance its delivery of pioneering products to customers worldwide.
- An innovative provider of adaptable power solutions for advanced and high-technology sectors, On-Systems has identified a selection of core products it will make available off the shelf as part of the new Avanta range.
- To enable faster access to a limited range of quality power supplies designed, built, and qualified to military specifications, Princeps has been appointed as the worldwide stocking distributor for the new Avanta brand.
Avanta represents a step-change in the supply chain structure, allowing organisations to source MIL-SPEC market-leading power supply technology that delivers unparalleled performance, reliability, and efficiency on a next-day delivery service.
Initially, the Avanta range will comprise high reliability, base plate cooled DC-DC, AC-DC, DC-AC (inverter), Dual Input deployable UPS, and PCB-mounted surge and transient filter products that offer unrivalled quality in design and build. Further products will be added over time to reflect developing customer needs.
Princeps will serve as the global stocking distributor for the Avanta product range, with support provided by a network of technical sales specialists in selected markets. This collaboration will ensure that Avanta power supplies are readily available off the shelf, providing customers with quick and convenient access to these high-quality solutions.
Princeps is a leading specialist in tailored procurement support services, with a reputation as the expert in delivering solutions to Electronic, Electro-mechanical or Electrical (EEE) component supply problems. Princeps offers expertise in sourcing a wide range of safe traceable, obsolete, and hard-to-find components for customers in multiple advanced industries including defence, transport, medical, and aerospace. Princeps prides itself on quality and exceptional customer service, ensuring customers will receive the product and technical expertise they need when and where they need it.
The forthcoming DPRTE event will provide an exclusive opportunity for industry professionals to experience Avanta first-hand. Our team is excited to showcase the features and benefits of this new product line, highlighting its potential to elevate operations across various sectors.
Mike Harvey, Brand Manager for Avanta, shares an insight into how the introduction of Avanta products will help customers reduce development time and qualification risk:
“We are delighted to introduce Avanta to the market, representing our unwavering commitment to evolving our supply chain to meet the needs of our clients. With Princeps as our trusted global stocking distributor, we are confident our clients will be able to source quality products that deliver compliant performance and reliability from stock.”
About Avanta
Avanta is the brand name of Mil-COTS products designed and manufactured by On-Systems.
Founded in 2011, On-Systems supports clients across the defence, aerospace, and other industries with award-winning and innovative total vehicle power solutions developed for effective use in hostile and demanding environments.
Further information can be found online at the Avanta website.
www.avanta-power.com
25 Mar 24. The robots are coming: US Army experiments with human-machine warfare. Looking like a toy helicopter, a small black drone rose up over a cluster of adobe buildings in a quiet desert village, emitting a faint buzz.
The drone, an Anduril Industries’ Ghost-X, paused and then rose higher, disappearing into the clouds. Another followed.
Seemingly small and unthreatening, the drones were serving as the eyes of an infantry company concealed by the surrounding mountains and readying to reclaim a village held by the enemy.
And those drones were not alone.
All at once, an overwhelming group of air- and ground-based machine fighters burst onto the scene. An “octocopter” lumbered through the sky with precision munitions and other robots attached to its belly, dropping three 60mm mortar rounds on a roof and other small, hand-held, cylindrical “throwbots” on the ground.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Turnley-Butts tosses a Throwbot during a demonstration Aug. 5, 2020, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Samuel King Jr./US. Air Force)
Robotic combat vehicles rolled into view, armed with .50-caliber and M240 machine guns, firing on enemy positions and providing cover for troops maneuvering into the village.
Meanwhile, a four-legged dog robot stepped out from a thick cloud of smoke, giving the soldiers monitoring from afar another view.
The scene was the culmination of a U.S. Army effort to understand how it can use human and machines together on the battlefield. Service leaders descended on Fort Irwin, California — home to the National Training Center — in March for a large exercise known as Project Convergence.
The demonstration was a glimpse of the Army’s future, according to top officials. Gen. James Rainey, who leads Army Futures Command, expects the service’s future force to be so integrated with machines that humans will face a much lower risk.
“We will never again trade blood for first contact,” he frequently says, promising to deploy robots instead.
But getting these formations right won’t be easy, leaders acknowledge. For human-machine integration to work, a functional and user-friendly network must underpin it, it requires protection from cyberattacks, and the systems must have the right amount of autonomy.
Leaders also say it’s not technology that will prove the most difficult factor, but rather breaking from antiquated acquisition processes that prevent rapid purchases and slow down deliveries to soldiers.
“The pace of the threat and the pace of technology — the evolution is much faster, and there’s no way that we’re going to succeed if we continue to acquire technology or even choose to develop” it at the usual pace, Joseph Welch, the Army’s C5ISR Center director, said at the March event.
Forward progress
The Project Convergence exercise followed months of effort focused on integrating humans and machines into service formations. It was a chance to see what works and what doesn’t as the Army prepares for a fight against adversaries with advanced capabilities.
The service insists it’s now ready to move forward with human-machine integrated formations.
The fiscal 2025 budget request marks the first time the Army has included funding for these formations, also called H-MIF. It’s seeking $33 m for the first step, which provides an initial human-machine integration capability to infantry and armor formations. The Army was experimenting with both at Project Convergence.
The service wants machines in these new formations to “offload risk” and provide soldiers with “additional information for decision making,” according to the service’s budget documents.
The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is spearheading the effort for Futures Command. The office is creating prototypes using existing air and ground robotic programs and payloads while incorporating common architecture, communications and network capabilities.
The FY25 funding, the Army has said, will fund the movement of concepts through prototyping as well as enable soldiers to evaluate them in exercises and experiments. At the Project Convergence event, the Army flooded the battlefield with robots, sensors and other machines meant to help soldiers in complex flights. The experiment included air and ground robots with reconfigurable payloads, tethered drones, counter-drone systems, and a ventriloquist decoy emitter that emulates radio frequency traffic to confuse the enemy.
The service used more than 240 pieces of technology, including capabilities from allied militaries in the U.K., Canada, Australia, France and Japan.
The pressure to transform
The decision to rely more on robots isn’t a choice, according to Alexander Miller, who is now serving as chief technology officer to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.
George and Miller both watched the experiment in March; Miller carried a cellphone with an app demonstrating the Army’s new Tactical Assault Kit. The app superimposes the location of soldiers and robots as well as enemy positions in real time.
The service knows it has to do this, or “we will fall radically behind,” Miller said of human-machine integration. “There are bad people who are willing to use robotics, and if we don’t figure it out we will be behind the curve, we will put men and women in harm’s way.”
Integrating robots into formations is also accelerating because “there has been a cultural shift,” Miller said. “It’s been 12-18 months where we have stopped treating robots as a one-for-one augmentation for soldiers and started saying: ‘What are the dull, dirty, dangerous, disruptive things that robots can really do that are not just combat power? How do we augment them without taking a single rifleman off or multiple riflemen off the line to control a robot?’ ”
At the March experiment, for instance, the Army sent a ground robot with a mine-clearing line charge to deploy along enemy lines. As it fights the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military is using these to disarm enemy minefields and trenches, but transporting them in crewed vehicles.
At the experiment, the robot shot the line charge out of a small launcher. The line didn’t explode as intended.
Army leaders said glitches are common and making this work would provide a much safer way for soldiers to clear mine fields.
Also enabling new models for human-machine integration is the progress of commercial technology, according to Welch. “That has accelerated tremendously across many different technical domains,” he said.
Artificial intelligence is getting smarter; sensors are getting smaller, lighter and more versatile; connectivity solutions are more abundant; and air-, ground- and space-based capabilities are easier to use.
Obstacles ahead
Army leaders acknowledge there is plenty of work ahead to integrate robots and soldiers on the battlefield. The experiment itself illustrated “just how complicated it’s going to be … where we really proliferate lower-cost, cheaper options and we clutter the environment intentionally,” Miller said.
At one point during Project Convergence, the Army jammed itself, causing a friendly drone swarm to fall out of the sky. The service fixed the problem by turning on a capability allowing smart routing management for its Wi-Fi, Miller said.
Beyond technical challenges, George said, the Army must convince Congress to alter the procurement process so the service can acquire or adapt capabilities within broader funding lines. The goal, he explained, is to be more responsive to what is working for soldiers and to able to rapidly buy small amounts of that equipment.
He said he’s working with Congress “so that we can move money a little bit.”
“We want and need the oversight, [but] it’s a matter of how we go back to them and tell them, ‘Here’s what we’re going to buy inside that funding line, and here’s how we’re doing it,’ and get feedback,” George added.
Indeed, one focus is on marking sure the Army can change systems without needing reprogramming authorization or new funding.
The technical and operational ways the Army is going to employ human-machine integrated formations today “doesn’t mean that’s how we’re going to employ it two years from now,” said Mark Kitz, the service’s program executive officer for command, control, communications-tactical.
“We don’t historically treat robotics as a software program. It’s really a software program,” Kitz explained. “So how do we use some of our unique acquisition authorities then to build that flexibility upfront?”
HIVE unmanned aircraft systems prepares to take flight during a human-machine integration experiment during Project Convergence at Fort Irwin, Calif., on March 11, 2024. The drones provide service members on the ground with real-time situational awareness. (Sgt. Gianna Chiavarone/U.S. Army)
Miller said another potential obstacle is ensuring sufficient U.S. production of components.
“We have to have components that are approved and valid and we aren’t scared to employ because they were made by an adversary,” he said. Welch noted the Army is working with U.S. government labs to address some of the component concerns.
The service is also working internally to revamp its approach to finding capabilities.
“There’s a much tighter coupling … not only externally with our industry partners and other key stakeholders, whether it be over on [Capitol] Hill or up in [the Office of the Secretary of Defense], but also internally,” said Lt. Gen. John Morrison, the Army’s deputy chief of staff in charge of command, control, communications, cyber operations and networks. “We’ve got requirements with acquisition, with testers, and they’re all centered around soldiers, getting that direct feedback.”
Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank where he focuses on wargaming, said he’s “optimistic” about human-machine integration but that it may take longer than the service expects.
“Most people overestimate the speed at which you can develop new concepts of employment around even proven engineering,” he said. “It often takes years outside of a major war to build entirely new formations and structures.” (Source: Defense News)
25 Mar 24. New VPX 2-slot Backplane Speeds Low-cost Development of Systems Using VITA 62 Power.
Designed with power studs to feed power to connected backplanes in same chassis
- Includes one VPX power and ground slot, and one VITA 62 power supply slot
- Enables easy design and test in OpenVPX, SOSA aligned and custom systems
- Can serve as power connection for other Elma backplanes in a single chassis
Elma Electronic Inc. now offers a 3U OpenVPX 2-slot backplane with a VPX power and ground slot as well as a VITA 62 power supply slot that facilitates the development and deployment of systems requiring a VITA 62 power supply.
The rugged backplane features a VITA 46/65-compliant pass-through power and ground slot that can be SOSA aligned as well as suitable for custom designs, making it ideal for a range of harsh environments in embedded applications. The rear I/O of the VITA46/65 slot can be used for a rear transition module (RTM) or for cabling.
Designed with power studs used for both input and output power, the new backplane can serve as a power source to other connected backplanes within the same chassis. The board also comes with a header for various I/O signals, including voltage sense, current share and IPMB interface as well as inhibit, enable and fail.
Aside from the assigned pins for 3.3V, 5V and 12V power, all remaining pins are user-defined. The fully populated rear connectors are accessible via Elma’s slot-to-slot or slot-to-I/O bulkhead cable assemblies and the backplane comes with utility and ground planes defined.
The new board features selectable geographical addressing via a DIP switch as well as a 12-layer design to IPC Class 3, with 1 oz copper outer layers and 2 oz copper inner layers. The utility plane is implemented in the P0 pin, and the system management bus is routed two of the boards headers. With insulators or fins as a custom assembly, the backplane can be used for 270 VDC operation in high altitudes.
About Elma Electronic Inc.
Elma Electronic Inc. is a global manufacturer of commercial, industrial and rugged electronic products for embedded systems and application-ready platforms – from components, embedded boards, backplanes, chassis and enclosures, power supplies, to fully integrated subsystems.
With one of the widest product ranges available in the embedded industry, Elma also offers standard and custom cabinets and enclosures as well as precision components such as rotary switches/encoders, LEDs, front panels and small cases.
Elma leverages proven technology based on VITA, PICMG, and other standards-based architectures (i.e. OpenVPX, SOSA™, VME, CompactPCI Serial, COM Express and PCIe/104). Elma is also actively engaged in designing solutions for applications requiring smaller footprints.
Elma Electronic manages entire projects from initial system architecture to specification, design, manufacturing and test through its worldwide production facilities and sales offices. The company serves the mil/aero, industrial, research, telecom, medical and commercial markets and is certified to ISO 9001 and AS 9100.
With U.S. headquarters in Fremont, Calif., the company maintains multiple sales, engineering and manufacturing operations in Atlanta, Ga., and Philadelphia, Pa.
25 Mar 24. Chinese Scientists Create Swarming Drones that Rapidly Multiply Mid-Air to Create a Tactical Shock.
Chinese scientists say they have developed a new type of war drone unlike any ever seen on the battlefield. At first glance, it resembles a consumer-grade Chinese DJI multirotor. However, once it reaches the target airspace it can split in the blink of an eye into two, three or even six smaller drones, depending on what is needed in battle.
Each of these drones has only one blade but can hover and move freely like a regular drone. They can communicate with each other and each could play a specific role – such as command, reconnaissance, tracking and even launching an attack – while collaborating to complete a mission.
The research, led by Professor Shi Zhiwei from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is a breakthrough in air separation technology.
For years, teams around the world have attempted to devise a practical and efficient method for the controlled separation of drones mid-air.
The technology could change the battlefield. When a drone swarm appears on enemy radar screens, air-defence systems allocate anti-drone weapon resources and means based on the number of drones.
However, if the drone swarm suddenly increases in size, not only will the defence system be overwhelmed, but it poses a psychological shock that could hamper effective resistance from enemy commanders and soldiers.
Progress in this technology has been slow because flight efficiency is significantly decreased when traditional drones are combined.
In a peer-reviewed paper published in Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica journal last month, Shi’s team said it had overcome this challenge. The drone combination, it said, boasted a flight efficiency nearly twice that of a similar sized multirotor drone.
When these small drones were united, they could fly faster and further than they could alone. Even after separation, their flight efficiency remained more than 40 per cent higher than that of traditional small drones – the first demonstration that combined drones could outperform single drones in any flight state.
China is the world’s leading designer and producer of drones, showing excellent price and energy efficiency. However, “combined design and air-separation technology provide the possibility to further enhance the effectiveness of drone use”, Shi and his colleagues wrote in the paper.
The inspiration for Shi’s team came from an unlikely source: the maple seed. Long admired by botanists for its ability to be carried vast distances by the wind, the maple seed’s unique structure – a wing-like cotyledon that rotates around the seed – provides lift and allows it to hover or even ascend in windy conditions.
In 2011, researchers at Lockheed Martin drew inspiration from the maple seed to develop a drone with a constantly rotating lens capable of stable target tracking and high-definition imaging.
However, limited by its energy and payload capacity, it could not fly for extended periods or tackle complex tasks alone.
Shi’s team says maple seed-inspired drones could be taken from the laboratory to production lines in China to revolutionise future warfare. However, the key is to assemble them to achieve efficient long-distance flight.
To this end and after numerous failures, they conducted extensive and detailed wind tunnel tests and finally found a blade shape that supported both combined flight and single flight efficiency.
The amalgamation of several single-blade drones introduces a distinct set of physical characteristics and flight control logic, departing radically from the familiar multi-rotor designs. Therefore, the team needed to build a physical model almost from scratch and design unique flight control software.
High-speed communication between the small drones is also a challenge, according to Shi.
In flight tests, both the combined body and individual drones were stable. Although the maximum flight speed of the combined body could not match that of some high-performance military drones, it could launch small drones so rapidly once it reached the target airspace the opponent might not even have time to determine what was happening.
The scientists said a soldier could carry several such modules and assemble different functions and quantities of drones on-site to complete missions as needed, affording China’s People’s Liberation Army a greater tactical advantage over its opponents. (Source: UAS VISION/South China Morning Post)
22 Mar 24. US to provide “advanced technologies” for UK-Australian AUKUS-SSN. US technologies that could be incorporated into the planned AUKUS-SSN include VLS, command and control, and weapons systems.
The US will provide “advanced technologies” for the in-development AUKUS-SSN submarine being developed for use by the UK Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, as part of a newly termed “optical pathway” to provide Canberra with a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) capability.
The disclosure was revealed in a 21 March joint statement issued by the US, UK, and Australia, which is the triumvirate of nations that make up the AUKUS defence and security organisation. The statement added additional details to the AUKUS-SSN programme, including significant investments by Australia into its own and the UK’s submarine enterprise.
However, a key line in the statement revealed that the AUKUS-SSN was being “trilaterally” developed, based on the UK SSNR Astute-replacement design, but will incorporate “technology from all three nations”, including “cutting edge United States submarine technologies”.
It is not clear what “cutting edge US technologies” are referred to, although it could include strike elements such as the vertical launch system (VLS) based on the Virginia Payload Module developed for the US Navy’s Virginia-class SSNs to provide the type with additional firepower.
In addition, it is possible that a common torpedo could be utilised by the US, UK, and Australia, with US and UK submarine currently operating the Mk48 and Spearfish heavyweight torpedo respectively.
Other areas of commonality that could be derived from US technology include common and control systems, sonar, and other intelligence gathering sensors.
However, the UK’s in-service Astute-class SSNs are considered to be on at least par to the capabilities of the US Navy’s newest Block V Virginia class, featuring an array of UK- and European-origin systems.
The transition from the SSNR to the AUKUS-SSN
With the basis for the AUKUS-SSN taken from the UK’s SSNR (Submersible Ship Nuclear Replacement) programme, it is likely that system envisaged on this design would be placed as a starting point for its evolution into the joint UK-Australian design.
Announced in 2021 with the beginning of work to replace the Royal Navy’s Astute class even before all seven planned boats were delivered into service, the UK committed £85m each to BAE Systems and Rolls Royce to “start thinking” about the kinds of capabilities that the new SSNR class could wield.
BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness site in Cumbria, England, is the home of UK submarine manufacturing, and currently responsible for the build and delivery of the remaining Astute-class SSNs and the new Dreadnought nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), with the latter type fielding the country’s nuclear deterrent.
Rolls-Royce meanwhile builds the pressurised water reactors (PWR) used by UK submarines, meaning that the boats once under way never need to resurface during operations, their only limiting factor being the stores required to sustain the crew. The Astute class uses the PWR2, while the Dreadnought class will feature the under-development PWR3 power source.
With announcements that the AUKUS-SSN will become the largest attack submarines ever fielded by the UK Royal Navy, it is possible that the PW3 or a derivative could be used for the new joint UK-Australia SSN. Currently, a submerged Astute class displaces around 7,600t, compared to the approximate 10,000t of the latest Block V Virginia class.
Additionally, the SSNR was thought to be being designed with the consideration to contain an internal VLS from which to fire cruise missiles and other munitions. Given that UK SSNs do not use a VLS, instead firing all munitions (including cruise missiles) via forward-facing launch tubes, it is almost certain that the US would assist in the integration of such systems into the AUKUS-SSN. (Source: naval-technology.com)
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Oxley Group Ltd
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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.
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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.
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