Sponsored By Oxley Developments
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12 Mar 21. GKN Aerospace and partners launch ASCEND to accelerate high volume composite technologies.
- £39.6m ASCEND consortium to develop and accelerate high volume composite technologies
- Public-private investment and cross-sector collaboration across UK industry aims to create more than 700 UK roles by 2035
- Consortium strengthens UK industry’s position at forefront of next generation of sustainable aircraft and future mobility technology
GKN Aerospace is leading a new UK industry consortium called ASCEND (Aerospace and Automotive Supply Chain Enabled Development) to develop and accelerate composite material and process technologies for the next generation of energy efficient aircraft and future mobility.
The £40m consortium, funded by a £20.0m commitment from industry and a £19.6M commitment from the UK Government via ATI, will focus on greater adoption of composite technologies today, the industrialization of new technologies, as well as accelerating aerospace production rates to meet future high-volume requirements. The collaboration will help develop technologies from across the UK supply-chain to develop the advanced materials and automation equipment required to manufacture lightweight structures for the sustainable air mobility, aerospace and automotive industry.
Assyst Bullmer, Airborne, Cobham Mission Systems Wimborne, Cygnet Texkimp, Des Composites, FAR-UK Ltd, Hexcel Composites, Hive Composites, LMAT, Loop Technology, McLaren Automotive, the National Composites Centre, Rafinex, Sigmatex (UK) and Solvay Composite Materials will join GKN Aerospace in the consortium with collaboration and investment support from Axillium Research. Through a 3-year commitment, the partnership, backed by the UK government, will bring together expertise, capabilities and resources from across the wider UK aerospace and automotive supply chain. In doing so, ASCEND will strengthen the UK’s position as a technology leader in future lightweight structures and help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in the aerospace and automotive industry.
The consortium will be led from GKN Aerospace’s £32m Global Technology Centre in Bristol and will support up to 130 jobs through 2023/24. GKN Aerospace will use its long-term experience and in-depth knowledge of composite engineering for integrated airframe structures throughout the project.
John Pritchard, President Civil Airframe GKN Aerospace said: “GKN Aerospace has deep knowledge and expertise in composite technology and we are proud to lead this consortium. Accelerating the next-generation of lightweight, cost effective advanced composite technologies is critical for the aerospace and automotive industry and its move to more energy-efficient aircraft and vehicles. Ensuring we can not only develop these technologies, but also manufacture them at high-rate across the UK supply chain, will maintain our position as an industry leader and underpin our commitment to sustainability. Combined with the Aerospace Technology Institute, which is providing vital support for the UK’s position on the next generation of aircraft, we will be able to deliver breakthroughs in technology as well as benchmark levels of price, quality and repeatability. GKN Aerospace and partners launch ASCEND to accelerate high volume composite technologies
- £39.6m ASCEND consortium to develop and accelerate high volume composite technologies
- Public-private investment and cross-sector collaboration across UK industry aims to create more than 700 UK roles by 2035
- Consortium strengthens UK industry’s position at forefront of next generation of sustainable aircraft and future mobility technology
GKN Aerospace is leading a new UK industry consortium called ASCEND (Aerospace and Automotive Supply Chain Enabled Development) to develop and accelerate composite material and process technologies for the next generation of energy efficient aircraft and future mobility.
The £40m consortium, funded by a £20.0M commitment from industry and a £19.6M commitment from the UK Government via ATI, will focus on greater adoption of composite technologies today, the industrialization of new technologies, as well as accelerating aerospace production rates to meet future high-volume requirements. The collaboration will help develop technologies from across the UK supply-chain to develop the advanced materials and automation equipment required to manufacture lightweight structures for the sustainable air mobility, aerospace and automotive industry.
Assyst Bullmer, Airborne, Cobham Mission Systems Wimborne, Cygnet Texkimp, Des Composites, FAR-UK Ltd, Hexcel Composites, Hive Composites, LMAT, Loop Technology, McLaren Automotive, the National Composites Centre, Rafinex, Sigmatex (UK) and Solvay Composite Materials will join GKN Aerospace in the consortium with collaboration and investment support from Axillium Research. Through a 3-year commitment, the partnership, backed by the UK government, will bring together expertise, capabilities and resources from across the wider UK aerospace and automotive supply chain. In doing so, ASCEND will strengthen the UK’s position as a technology leader in future lightweight structures and help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in the aerospace and automotive industry.
The consortium will be led from GKN Aerospace’s £32M Global Technology Centre in Bristol and will support up to 130 jobs through 2023/24. GKN Aerospace will use its long-term experience and in-depth knowledge of composite engineering for integrated airframe structures throughout the project.
John Pritchard, President Civil Airframe GKN Aerospace said: “GKN Aerospace has deep knowledge and expertise in composite technology and we are proud to lead this consortium. Accelerating the next-generation of lightweight, cost effective advanced composite technologies is critical for the aerospace and automotive industry and its move to more energy-efficient aircraft and vehicles. Ensuring we can not only develop these technologies, but also manufacture them at high-rate across the UK supply chain, will maintain our position as an industry leader and underpin our commitment to sustainability. Combined with the Aerospace Technology Institute, which is providing vital support for the UK’s position on the next generation of aircraft, we will be able to deliver breakthroughs in technology as well as benchmark levels of price, quality and repeatability.“
11 Mar 21. AST & Science Announces 1,000th Patent Claim. AST & Science, LLC, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, today announced that its total number of patent and patent pending claims has reached 1,000. The key patent technologies are protected in critical jurisdictions around the world and cover all aspects of AST’s operations, including satellite architecture, satellite energy efficiencies, deployment, and communication protocols providing high throughput, ground coverage, reliability and compensation using space to enable connectivity to regular cellular handsets.
“Our extensive and growing patent portfolio is a testament to the high level of innovation at AST,” said Abel Avellan, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of AST & Science. “We are inventing ground-breaking technologies that will transform how and where people use their mobile devices, and bring hundreds of millions of people in the developing world online for the first time. By protecting our proprietary systems, we are ensuring that AST will be the company that leads this revolution.”
AST’s goal is to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s 5 billion mobile subscribers and bring broadband to approximately half of the world’s population, who remain unconnected in collaboration with world-class mobile network operators, including Vodafone Group, Rakuten and American Tower.
AST & Science plans to become a public company named AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) following AST’s expected business combination with New Providence Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: NPA, NPAUU and NPAWW), a special purpose acquisition company this year.
About AST SpaceMobile
AST SpaceMobile is building the first, and only, global broadband cellular network in space to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio. Our team of engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected. Follow AST SpaceMobile on Twitter (@AST_SpaceMobile) and LinkedIn.
About New Providence Acquisition Corp.
New Providence Acquisition Corp. is a special-purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. In September 2019, New Providence Acquisition Corp. consummated a $230 million initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 23 million units (reflecting the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in full), each unit consisting of one of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares and one-half warrant, each whole warrant enabling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. New Providence’s securities are quoted on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbols NPA, NPAUU and NPAWW. (Source: PR Newswire)
11 Mar 21. Sabrewing Aircraft nears first flight of Rhaegal UAV half-scale prototype. Sabrewing Aircraft plans to perform the first flight of its Rhaegal unmanned heavy-lift, long-range half-scale prototype aircraft by the end of March, Ed De Reyes, Sabrewing chairman and CEO, told Janes on 9 March. This half-scale prototype has an 8.5 m wingspan, and will be roughly half the weight of the full-size production aircraft. The full-scale Rhaegal that will go into production will have a wingspan of 17 m, said De Reyes, adding that the company started with the half-scale prototype to make it easier to operate, and for it to perform avionics and autopilot development. The full-scale Rhaegal will feature a turbo-electric powertrain that will be fuel-efficient and not require a charging station. Sabrewing is installing a Safran Arriel 2D turboshaft engine that it received for free from Safran into the half-scale prototype for use in its upcoming flight test. The Arriel 2D, which powers the Airbus H125 and H130 single engine commercial helicopters, features a take-off power of 952 shaft horsepower (shp), and a cruise power of 856 shp. De Reyes said Sabrewing just finished redesigning the half-scale prototype’s gearbox for use with the Arriel 2D as it would provide about 3x the shaft horsepower that would have been provided by another engine the company considered using. De Reyes told Janes on 16 February that the company was planning to use a Boeing 502 gas turbine engine in the half-scale prototype’s first flight, but decided against it when it discovered that the Boeing engine, which provides 300 hp, would max out at just over 300 kW for a few seconds. (Source: Jane’s)
10 Mar 21. India’s DRDO achieves new milestone in AIP system development. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has achieved an important milestone in the development of an air independent propulsion (AIP) system. Fuel cell-based AIP system crosses important milestone of user specific tests. Credit: Ministry of Defence/Press Information Bureau/Government of India.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has achieved an important milestone in the development of an air independent propulsion (AIP) system.
DRDO achieved the milestone after proving the land-based prototype on 8 March.
An AIP module has been equipped to execute a ‘force multiplier effect’ that improves the lethality of a diesel-electric submarine by further enhancing the endurance of the boat.
Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement: “Fuel cell-based AIP has merits in performance compared to other technologies.
“While there are different types of AIP systems being pursued internationally, fuel cell-based AIP of NMRL is unique as the hydrogen is generated onboard.”
The Defence Ministry noted that the technology has now reached the stage of maturity to be fitted onto the target submarines.
The AIP system is being developed by DRDO’s Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL), with support from industry partners L&T and Thermax.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Indian Navy has signed a contract with Suryadipta Projects for construction and delivery of eleven ammunition-cum-torpedo-cum-missile (ACTCM) barges.
The ACTCM barges delivery is scheduled to start from 22 May. They will be inducted in Indian Navy to undertake the mission needs for ‘embarking or disembarking’ ammunition, torpedo and missile. (Source: naval-technology.com)
10 Mar 21. Sagetech Avionics and American Aerospace Sign MOU to Integrate Detect and Avoid System. The resulting certifiable prototype will fly on the American Aerospace ISR AiRanger in Q1 2022. Sagetech Avionics, an aerospace technology company providing industry-leading situational awareness solutions for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and American Aerospace ISR (AA ISR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to integrate Sagetech’s Detect and Avoid (DAA) system into the AA ISR AiRanger unmanned aircraft.
The companies expect to have a certifiable prototype of the system ready for flight testing by the end of the year.
Sagetech Avionics and American Aerospace have signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate a detect and avoid system on the AiRanger unmanned aircraft.
“Detect and Avoid systems are critical for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight and critical to the mission of the long endurance AiRanger aircraft,” said Tom Furey, CEO of Sagetech Avionics. “We are pleased to partner with the innovative AA ISR group to bring the world’s first certifiable low-SWaP DAA solution to test flights.”
“American Aerospace ISR is pleased to partner with Sagetech for the integration of a certifiable DAA solution on our aircraft,” said Ali Etebari, General Manager of AA ISR. “We anticipate that this Detect and Avoid system will help facilitate Type Certification of our aircraft and enable our customers to fly commercial BVLOS missions safely in the National Airspace.”
Sagetech’s DAA system packages multiple core technologies into a single, low size, weight, and power (SWaP) DAA solution suitable for use on commercial unmanned aircraft as well as urban air mobility (UAM) platforms. Sagetech’s DAA system is ACAS-based, featuring technologies including a transponder, an interrogator, an ACAS-based DAA computer, software package, and other essential components. It is compatible with many off-the-shelf low SWaP radar and other traffic sensors.
The AiRanger™ is an industry-leading fixed-wing unmanned aircraft with an endurance of over 17 hours (with payload). Powered by a fuel-injected gasoline engine, the AiRanger is designed for commercialized airborne applications in austere environments at large scale. Designed to be payload-capable, the fuselage can be configured to carry multiple airborne payloads including remote sensing, communication network, and emergency response systems. AA ISR will integrate Sagetech’s DAA solution as part of the AiRanger Type Certification with the FAA.
About Sagetech Avionics
Sagetech Avionics is an aerospace technology company empowering safe flight in unmanned aircraft with situational awareness solutions built from mission-critical transponders, software, and related technologies. Currently serving military and civil duty on most small to medium UAVs, Sagetech solutions are mission-proven and offer decades of program experience, certifications, and millions of flight hours to deliver maximum value over the life of an unmanned platform. Today, Sagetech is expanding its technology platform to create comprehensive, certifiable systems such as detect and avoid solutions. Every day, Sagetech works in concert with its extensive ecosystem of OEM customers, technology partners, and resellers to ensure UAVs fly safer with Sagetech on board. Learn more at www.sagetech.com.
About American Aerospace ISR
AA ISR, a division of American Aerospace Technologies, Inc. (AATI) is an industry leading provider of unmanned airborne intelligence and communications systems and solutions for the energy sector and other critical infrastructure operators. AA ISR manufactures the AiRanger Group 3 UAS and performs system integration on a variety of payloads and radio configurations. AAISR is committed to the design, development, and certification of BVLOS UAS. AA ISR recently completed successful execution of the NASA SIO demonstration, showcasing DAA and C2 technologies on the AiRanger while performing a pipeline inspection mission. AA ISR is committed to type certification of the DAA-equipped AiRanger UAS to enable commercial operation in the NAS. Learn more at www.americanaerospace.com. (Source: PR Newswire)
11 Mar 21. US Army Uses GA-ASI’S SC2 To Control Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS. Laptop-Based Controller Dramatically Reduces Fight Logistics. On Jan. 28, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) and the U.S. Army conducted the first production Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) flights of a Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System using Scalable Command & Control (SC2) software developed by GA-ASI and installed on an Army-owned laptop computer. SC2 controlled an Army GE-ER aircraft for 3.8 hours and the system successfully completed all test points.
“SC2 represents a massive reduction in emplacement, mission launch time and overall footprint size,” said GA-ASI Vice President of Strategic Development J.R. Reid. “The SC2 software could be part of the Army’s Ground Modernization plan replacing the Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) with rugged laptops and tactical servers enabling more mobile operations in a defined Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) framework.” SC2 is a collection of standalone software applications that reduce operator workload through automated checklists and optimize steps for pre-flight, taxi, launch and recovery, health and status monitoring, sensor and payload control and maintenance of the GE-ER. SC2 reduces the logistics burden of set-up, transportation and operation of a GE-ER, and enables control of the UAS and its payloads, while allowing aircraft, payloads and sensors to be controlled by disparate users replicating a ground maneuver force or other disadvantaged user. The system gives the Army everything it needs in a quicker and simpler way
The Army believes SC2’s automation will allow enlisted operators to focus on the more difficult and operationally relevant mission tasks, leaving the more mundane tasks to the SC2 software with minimal man-in-the-loop tasks to meet the Army concept of “supervised autonomy,” while meeting MOSA requirements.
10 Mar 21. Advantech’s COMe Mini Type 10, SOM-7583 11th Gen. Intel® Core™ Processors in the Size of a Business Card. Advantech, a global embedded IoT market leader, launches SOM-7583, an innovative COMe mini Type 10 module with the latest 11th Gen. Intel® Core™ processors with up to 4-cores Core i7 for a myriad of high performance applications. This tiny, but mighty module features on-board LPDDR4 memory and NVMe SSD. It supports multiple I/O and displays, including 2.5 GbE LAN supporting TSN, 1x PCIe Gen 3 x4, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), 2x SATA Gen3, and 2x independent 4K displays. Meanwhile, this platform is known for its AI Acceleration with Intel® Deep Learning Boost engine, VNNI, which can improve the efficiency and increase the inferencing performance dramatically. To help partners to accelerate the AI revolution, Advantech will offer Edge AI Suite software, Intel OpenVINO toolkit based on the demand. The SOM-7583 is an excellent solution for applications that are requiring powerful computing in a compact design, such as aerospace, defense, industrial control, and transportation.
Ultimate Computing Performance Coming with Fan-less Thermal Solution
Despite being smaller than a business card, the SOM-7583 yields 40% higher CPU performance, 60% better graphics and 5X AI performance than its previous generation. It integrates with LPDDR4X 4266Mt/s IBECC RAM, up to 16GB and on-board NVMe SSD which achieves a 10 times increase in the sequential reading and writing speed compared with eMMC 5.1. With the above enhanced performance, Advantech is also excited to introduce the leading fan-less thermal solution, designed to dissipate heat and keep the system running under TDP 15W at 60°C ambient temperature. With total height at only 27mm, the thermal module comes with a copper block to directly contact CPU, then transfers the heat to the ambient via heat pipes soldered with stacked fins.
High Speed I/O for Efficient Data Transmission
The SOM-7583 features USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10GT/s) and PCIe Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), which are considerably faster than the previous COMe mini solutions. It is designed to enable low-latency networking performance in factory automation applications via 2.5 GbE LAN with TSN. This solution improves the precision of data synchronization over the network, and minimizes jitter to reduce latency during real time device communication. Similarly, the SOM-7583 enables USB4 compliance via its carrier board design. Advantech offers a reference design to help partners integrate USB-C to the carrier board yielding a solution uniquely applicable to portable devices, test equipment, and defense applications.
Intelligent Software Enhances Security and Enables Remote Management
The SOM-7583 provides multi-layer security via BIOS secure boot and Intel’s FW TPM to protect user’s data. Advantech also offers a free trial of WISE-DeviceOn to facilitate SSD health, memory loading, CPU temperature, and measurement monitoring via an optimized UI. The combination of WISE-DeviceOn OTA (over-the-air) and WOL (wake-on-LAN) enables customers to remotely schedule BIOS and software updates for factory capacity optimization. Moreover, customized software bundling with on board NVMe SSD enables fast data formatting — removing confidential information from internal storage to meet military and aerospace requirements.
Robust Reliability for Harsh Environments
Besides its high performance and speedy I/O, the SOM-7583 is a rugged product designed to enhance the product reliability. With all key components on board, it is an ideal anti-vibration solution for transportation applications. Additionally, it supports a wide range power input (8.5 ~ 20V) and extended temperature SKU (-40 ~ 85 °C /-40 ~ 185 °F) capable of enduring applications in harsh environments such as aerospace and other outdoor applications.
Key Features
- COMe Mini Type-10 with Intel® 11th Gen. Core™ processors
- 16GB LPDDR4X 4266MT/s and IBECC support
- Fanless thermal module to withstand TDP 15W under 60C ambient temperature
- USB4 Compliance supported by carrier board design
- NVMe SSD on board
- Operating temp.: Standard 0 ~ 60 °C (32 ~140 °F) or Extended -40 ~ 85 °C (-40 ~ 185 °F)
Advantech’s SOM-7583 is available now. For more information regarding SOM-7583 or other Advantech products and services, please contact your local sales support team or visit our website at www.advantech.eu.
09 Mar 21. US Air Force Awards Black Swift Technologies Contract to Develop Software to Predict UAS Failures. According to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the U.S. Air Force “Remotely Piloted Aircraft” (RPA) or “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” (UAS), represent a low cost, high mission capable asset when compared to manned airplanes. The UAS reduced operation and maintenance costs remain a key catalyst for their expanded deployments. Yet UAS suffer some of the same vulnerabilities and limitation as manned aircraft, including reliability issues.[1]
According to the USAF, dozens of RPA/UAS have crashed due to pilot error, mechanical failure, and/or electrical failure.[2] To improve on identifying potential failures of critical systems on small UAS, the USAF has recently awarded Black Swift Technologies an SBIR Grant to develop a machine learning software solution for predicting and improving UAS maintenance schedules.
“System failures can be costly—in time, money and equipment,” says Jack Elston, Ph.D., CEO of Black Swift Technologies. “Our solution uses unsupervised learning for anomaly detection, which leverages algorithms that can build a model of how an aircraft should behave across a wide range of missions and flight conditions, then watch for instances that violate these models.”
Developing an improved awareness of the physical condition of UAS and all its critical subsystems is imperative to the reliability and mission-readiness of the aircraft. UAS systems typically lack onboard monitoring or systematic maintenance. Many UAS users rely on guides printed in owner’s manuals (when available) to determine maintenance schedules, which may be extremely limited in scope. While detailed maintenance logs and schedules are standard for manned aircraft, small UAS suffer from a lack of subsystem state information. Critical components such as servos are often open-loop and unmonitored.
Certified mechanics run maintenance schedules for manned aircraft, minimizing the chances of equipment failure. Manned aircraft also benefit from having many redundant systems, as well as skilled pilots with thousands of hours of experience onboard to check for potential dangers such as ice buildup on the wings.
UAS failures caused by the absence of these factors become expensive after considering the value in the lost vehicle, avionics, and payload. Worse, they can result in injury or loss of life if the failure happens above a populated area or beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
“Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning will allow us to build a smarter predictive maintenance schedule for UAS vehicles,” Elston states. “In doing so we can ensure these UAS are operational in the sky, safe for people on the ground, and remain mission ready at all times.”
How it Works
BSTs solution relies on the use of unsupervised machine learning algorithms to provide early warning and diagnostics of potential critical system failures on small UAS. Critical data is gathered from avionics data that the USAF already collects, and if this data proves insufficient, BST has developed a set of monitoring nodes (Figure 1) which they employ in their proprietary avionics that can be used to install aboard candidate platforms to supplement the data sets and implement ML algorithms for real-time analysis and feedback.
“We use a web-based delivery platform consisting of a high level and simplified, red/yellow/green diagnostic rating for each subsystem,” clarifies Elston. “Each subsystem can be further explored, allowing the user to drill down into and retrieve more detailed information.”
BSTs dashboard is easy to read and does not require a highly skilled UAS technician to understand (Figure 2). With their experience building custom and modularized solutions, BST believes it is best to provide decision-quality information that is accessible to everyday end-users.
Overall, a robust anomaly and maintenance tracking system will involve three main aspects:
- Direct Tracking for Failures: most UAS have systems to track things like failed sensors, low battery, lost comms, etc. This will always form the backbone of maintenance and emergency response of UAS to subsystem failures.
- Supervised Learning: BST has been building and enhancing these tools to track a growing number of known failures with labelled telemetry data. This powerful statistical method can directly tie onboard telemetry to a specific subsystem failure or anomaly that requires maintenance. Examples include compromised or failed servo motors, damaged propellers, severe weather conditions such as icing, etc. The advantage here is that outputs can be used directly to ground an aircraft and inform maintenance personnel of what needs fixing or replacing.
- Unsupervised Learning for Anomaly Detection: This is a new and growing area of UAS research for maintenance and anomaly tracking. BST has begun applying some of these techniques to specific subsystems such as tracking communication performance. However, this methodology has larger and more exciting possibilities. When applied to the aircraft as a whole, unsupervised learning provides the ability to flag an aircraft for maintenance due to the performance being “out of family.”
[1] STRATEGIC VISION, supra note 3, at I1-12.
[2] Drone Crash Database, DRONE WARS UK, http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/drone-crash-database/(compilationofreportsonRPAcrashessince2007). (Source: UAS VISION)
09 Mar 21. Citadel Defense Releases TAK-based Drone Security Platform for Military, Government, and Emergency Response Teams. Thousands of government, military, and law enforcement personnel can now coordinate responses to drone threats from their mobile device.
Citadel Defense’s Titan system can be a tele-operated teammate for troops, law enforcement, and security agents that detects, engages, and neutralizes drone threats in order to blind a bad actor and deny them any advantage or safe haven. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Citadel Defense teamed with Syzygy Integration to develop a custom counter drone application for the Department of Defense and federal government agencies. The application accelerates situational awareness and coordinated responses to uncooperative drone activity around critical infrastructure, National Special Security Events (NSSE), military bases, and the border.
Working alongside government stakeholders, Citadel and Syzygy developed a Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) based counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) platform that informs security teams of unwanted drone activity and empowers authorized operators to protect their airspace.
Christopher Williams, CEO of Citadel Defense, explains, “Combining Titan’s artificial intelligence foundation with the new TAK-based application delivers a force multiplying capability needed by resource-constrained security teams.”
Citadel is addressing a critical operational need for cost-effective, rapidly deployable, and operator-portable C-UAS solutions that work across the entire defense chain, which includes detecting the drone, classifying it, locating it, and safely neutralizing it with a low-collateral effector. The solution is rolling out to military and federal customers throughout 2021.
Titan’s mission planning application provides warfighters, federal agents, and law enforcement the ability to locate the drone, locate the pilot or safely neutralize an immediate threat when kinetic effectors are not allowed.
The solution uses secure messaging, cross-agency collaboration tools, and a cloud-based infrastructure for anytime, anywhere access.
“We are excited to have SNAP fully integrated with the Titan platform. This capability will enable real-time C-UAS intelligence and immediate mitigation of those threats from anywhere in the world. This will help first responders and government agents respond quickly and more safely,” said Wesley Mitchell, President of Syzygy. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
09 Mar 21. DOD Officials Discuss Quantum Science, 5G and Directed Energy.
Three of the Defense Department’s 11 principal directors of modernization within the Office of Defense Research and Engineering, discussed quantum science, 5G and directed energy.
The three are responsible for informing senior DOD leaders about science and technology investments that will provide warfighters the greatest return on investment.
They spoke yesterday at the National Defense Industrial Association’s virtual Pacific Operational Science and Technology Conference.
Quantum Science
Paul Lopata, principal director for quantum science, said the DOD has been doing quantum science research for the last 20 or 30 years.
Although quantum science is often thought of as a distant future capability, it is actually having an impact on DOD operations today in four areas, he said.
The first and probably most important, he said, are atomic clocks. The department has historically used high-performance timekeeping for such things as position, navigation and timing, and GPS.
The enemy is aware of the advantage GPS gives to the department so they have developed techniques like spoofing and jamming to disrupt the DOD’s time synchronization and the ability to incorporate signals from sensors. Spoofing and jamming also disrupts the department’s ability to encrypt communications, Lopata said.
To respond to that threat, the department is developing higher performance atomic clocks, he said.
The second category, he said, is made up of quantum sensors of different types, used for gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers and gravitational sensors, all of which are used for position, navigation and timing. Research is being done to improve quantum sensors as well.
Quantum computing is the third category, Lopata said. That’s a future development that will enable computers to attain extraordinarily high performance.
The fourth category uses quantum science for communications networks, he said. That capability will also mature further down the road.
Although quantum science for computing and networks is not yet fully developed, a lot of good basic research is being done in those categories to ensure that those capabilities will eventually yield results.
5G
Joe Evans, principal director for 5G, said that the goal is to get to the point where 5G invigorates the U.S. telecommunications network, the same network that the DOD relies on.
The development of 5G is transformational, Evans said. It’s not just transformational for cell phones, it’s also so for unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, remote sensors and the Internet of Things.
“This is the same technology that’s going to connect our warfighters and our weapons systems,” he said. “Our specific objectives are first to win at the 5G technology race by accelerating our 5G capabilities and innovating.”
He added that securely developing 5G is also critical.
The department is using prototyping and experimentation to develop 5G, he said, noting that there are a lot of opportunities for commercial vendors to help push this along and work with the DOD. International partners bring valuable ideas to the table as well.
“DOD 5G projects are starting to become a reality,” he said, mentioning work being done with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and SpaceX’s Starlink.
Directed Energy
James Trebes, principal director for directed energy, said there’s been a lot of good development in directed energy after a number of years when there were some false starts.
“The technology provided by solid-state electric lasers, in particular, is really opening up a lot of opportunities. The industry is developing nicely. They’re expanding their capability and investing their own money. We’re funding a major effort in industry to build high-power lasers, Trebes said.
There’s a multiphase approach now underway with four companies under contract to make 300-kilowatt lasers, he said. The first will start arriving in 18 months and the last in about 24 months from now.
Those laser systems will be transitioned to the services for test and evaluation demonstrations, Trebes said. “These are not laboratory lasers. These are transportable lasers intended to demonstrate real military capability.”
He added: “These are not systems operated by PhD scientists in the lab. They’re out there being run by enlisted personnel in the real world across different combatant commands. We’re finding out what does work. How do you integrate these things? How do you maintain them? What doesn’t work? This is where we learn what we really have to do. That’s a critical part of what we do.”
As soon as those lasers are produced, the department will begin developing 500-kilowatt lasers, [which] will take 24 to 36 months. Then the department will immediately start developing megawatt lasers, he said.
“There’s a clear, well-defined path to get to a very substantial laser capability,” he said. “There’s a smaller effort in microwave [technology] area going on.”
Some other focus areas include missile defense, he said. “We are closely tracking our adversaries’ missile capabilities: cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles, and we’re looking at near-term counter missile capability. We’re also looking at offensive strikes again.” (Source: US DoD)
09 Mar 21. PESA Releases Secura VDS-IP for Highly Secure Command and Control (C2), Eliminating Internal and External Threats.
Announcing Secura Multiclass, Source-to-Glass Video Distribution System Over IP (VDS-IP) Platform for Sensitive, Classified, or High-Value Video and Audio.
PESA today announced the official release of its Secura™ VDS-IP platform for highly secure 4K video, audio, control, and KVM distribution. Secura protects multiple classifications of content from both internal and external threats, whether in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), command and control (C2) for government agencies, operations briefing centers, broadcast control rooms, airports, or sporting venues. For defense applications, the intelligence community, other government agencies, and major corporations, Secura supports a highly secure C2 center providing continuity of operations (COOP).
Secura is the only live enterprise-architected video distribution platform with embedded encryption in all flows from source to glass. The platform facilitates better situational awareness by providing extremely low-latency, perfect-to-the-pixel, 4Kp60 4:4:4 images. Secura also declutters the workspace by enabling all encrypted signals to traverse one IP cable, reducing cable management by at least 50%. Plus, Secura’s small endpoints can be mounted behind monitors or racked beneath desks, further clearing the workspace.
“Because Secura is not constrained to stovepipe, legacy, purpose-built hardware, it is extremely flexible and enables new workflows that were not possible before,” said Howard Sutton, PESA chairman and CEO. “Secura is equally at home in a SCIF C2 environment, as well as in a board room, in a briefing room, or on board a cruise ship.”
To ensure protection from inside threats, Secura uses JITC-certified IP switches and secure encrypted IP video, audio, KVM, and USB endpoints. Secura encrypts the video and audio essences, in addition to the control and USB signals, so that the data is protected from information leaks, either intentional or accidental.
“Secura secures not only the control signals, but also the actual video and audio essence, preventing both accidental and intentional viewing of content,” said PESA chief technology officer Scott Barella. “For a VDS-IP solution to be good enough for government and military systems, all IP components must be encrypted, including endpoints and control interfaces such as touch panels. Secura meets that goal.”
PESA’s long-standing history of providing mission-critical solutions to many military and civilian government facilities demonstrates the quality and reliability of PESA systems. With the release of Secura, the ultra-secure workflows at the heart of all mission-critical applications can be trusted to provide accurate, high-quality situational awareness for the best decisions every time.
08 Mar 21. New Search-And-Rescue Drone is ‘Find My iPhone’ with Wings.
To support search-and-rescue efforts, one group of innovators in Europe has succeeded in harnessing the power of drones, AI, and smartphones, all in one novel combination. Their idea is to use a single drone as a moving cellular base station, which can do large sweeps over disaster areas and locate survivors using signals from their phones.
AI helps the drone methodically survey the area and even estimate the trajectory of survivors who are moving.
The team built its platform, called Search-And-Rescue DrOne based solution (SARDO), using off-the-shelf hardware and tested it in field experiments and simulations. They describe the results in a study published 13 January in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing.
“We built SARDO to provide first responders with an all-in-one victims localization system capable of working in the aftermath of a disaster without existing network infrastructure support,”
explains Antonio Albanese, a Research Associate at NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH, which is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany.
“The intuition behind it is to adapt the classical cellular multilateration technique, which is based on simultaneous target distance estimates from several anchors, for example, base stations, to the case when only a single, moving anchor is available.”
The point is that a natural disaster may knock out cell towers along with other infrastructure. SARDO, which is equipped with a light-weight cellular base station, is a mobile solution that could be implemented regardless of what infrastructure remains after a natural disaster.
To detect and map out the locations of victims, SARDO performs time-of-flight measurements (using the timing of signals emitted by the users’ phones to estimate distance).
A machine learning algorithm is then applied to the time-of-flight measurements to calculate the positions of victims. The algorithm compensates for when signals are blocked by rubble. If a victim is on the move in the wake of a disaster, a second machine learning algorithm, tasked with estimating the person’s trajectory based on their current movement, kicks in—potentially helping first responders locate the person sooner.
After sweeping an area, the drone is programmed to automatically maneuver closer to the position of a suspected victim to retrieve more accurate distance measurements. If too many errors are interfering with the drone’s ability to locate victims, it’s programmed to enlarge the scanning area.
In their study, Albanese and his colleagues tested SARDO in several field experiments without rubble, and used simulations to test the approach in a scenario where rubble interfered with some signals. In the field experiments, the drone was able to pinpoint the location of missing people to within a few tens of meters, requiring approximately three minutes to locate each victim (within a field roughly 200 meters squared. As would be expected, SARDO was less accurate when rubble was present or when the drone was flying at higher speeds or altitudes.
Albanese notes that a limitation of SARDO–as is the case with all drone-based approaches–is the battery life of the drone. But, he says, the energy consumption of the NEC team’s design remains relatively low.
The group is consulting the laboratory’s business experts on the possibility of commercializing this tech. Says Albanese:
“There is interest, especially from the public safety divisions, but still no final decision has been taken.”
In the meantime, SARDO may undergo further advances. “We plan to extend SARDO to emergency indoor localization so [it is] capable of working in any emergency scenario where buildings might not be accessible [to human rescuers],” says Albanese. (Source: UAS VISION/: IEEE Spectrum)
08 Mar 21. China outlines technology priorities for ‘new era.’ The Communist Party of China (CPC) has released more details about its plans to accelerate military modernisation during the country’s 14th Five Year Plan (FYP).
A new draft of the 2021/25 plan issued on 6 March at the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing said priorities during the “new era” featured new military technologies, skills and training, and a shift towards “intelligentisation”.
The draft – published by the People’s Daily, the CPC’s official mouthpiece – also highlights the significance that China will place on military-civil fusion (MCF) over the coming five years in supporting capability developments and China’s efforts towards self-reliance.
In terms of top-level priorities, the draft 14th FYP said that China would “accelerate the modernisation of weapons and equipment, [and] focus on independent innovation and original innovation in defence science and technology”.
It added, “[China will] accelerate the development of strategic frontier and disruptive technologies and accelerate the upgrading of weapons and equipment and the development of intelligent weapons and equipment”.
The draft then went on to outline some of the methods that China will employ to achieve its military-technology and innovation priorities. Many of these methods are closely linked to China’s continuing policy to fuse military-civilian sectors and technologies, with the aim to secure benefits for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“[China will deepen military-civilian science and technology collaboration and innovation and strengthen the co-ordinated military-civilian development in maritime, space, cyberspace, biology, new energy, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technology etc to promote … the transformation and development of key industries.” (Source: Jane’s)
05 Mar 21. The Royal Navy’s survey vessel HMS Magpie has tested an advanced software designed to map the seabed close to shore in hours. The ship used a regular radar and specialist computer programme that measures wave height to chart around Plymouth waters. The radar bathymetry method was developed by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre scientists and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) experts from Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). National Oceanography Centre lead project scientist Paul Bell said: “By analysing the sea clutter images of waves visible on standard marine radars, a bathymetric profile (that’s the depth) and surface current assessment is created. The software uses data and information about currents to create a detailed seabed profile in hours instead of days or weeks. The software is currently still undergoing development with plans to integrate it with the Royal Navy’s existing navigational radar and systems. The effort requires upgraded software and would not need new equipment. (Source: naval-technology.com)
08 Mar 21. SCD to Lead Israeli National Consortium on the development of novel VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) devices. The innovative technology will enable significant advances in performance and manufacturability, for various defense and commercial applications.
SCD ‒ a global leader in the development and manufacture of a wide range of cooled and uncooled infrared detectors and high-power laser diodes ‒ will lead an Israeli National Consortium for the development of next generation Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL). The consortium is supported by the Israeli Innovation Authority through its MAGNET Consortium program.
The VCSEL consortium has been formed by leading high-tech companies and academic institutions, including Nvidia, Civan Advanced Technologies, Galil Microwaves, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The focus will be to develop technologies for three main applications: high power lasers, high speed telecommunication, and atomic clocks.
Since being industrialized in the 1990s, VCSELs have become important building blocks in various applications, such as fiber-optic data transmission and, recently, facial recognition for smartphones. When it comes to manufacturability, VCSELs offer significant advantages over traditional edge-emitting laser technologies, including the ability to process large quantities of diodes on a single wafer, enabling testing at the wafer level, and more.
With the establishment of this consortium, SCD, together with leading academic scientists in the field, intends to develop an innovative, high-power VCSEL that will enable a new paradigm in optical laser pumping for many commercial and defense applications. SCD will leverage its semiconductor expertise and long-standing history of developing and manufacturing of high-power laser diodes to develop this next generation VCSEL solution.
“We have identified VCSELs as a potential game changer in the ever-growing world of high-power lasers, for many different applications,” says Dan Slasky, CEO of SCD. “SCD, with its strong tradition of technological innovation in the IR and laser domain, is once again pioneering an innovative technology which, if successful, will result in a significant impact on the laser industry.”
08 Mar 21. LiquidPiston Gets US Air Force Contract to Develop X-Engine.
LiquidPiston, Inc., a developer of advanced rotary internal combustion engines, has announced the adaptation of its X-Engine technology for the United States Air Force to use in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as well as “orbs” – urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles designed to carry people and cargo around.
The X-Engine, a next-generation rotary diesel engine, is being evaluated as an enabling technology to power the UAS or orb through a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Because current battery technology limits the range of an orb’s flight, the X-Engine converting the energy contained in jet fuels can enable the Air Force’s UAS/Orb to become a reality.
The Air Force has awarded LiquidPiston a Phase I ($150,000) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract through its AFWERX operation to enable this development of the X-Engine. The contract is in support of AFWERX’s Agility Prime, a non-traditional program seeking to leverage commercial electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and other transformative vertical flight vehicles for government missions in a way that accelerates the emerging commercial market. Orbs fall into this category and are classified by their eVTOL capabilities but are not to be confused with flying cars or drones.
“Our work with the Air Force demonstrates the versatility and utility of our X-Engine across the Department of Defense including our ongoing work with the US Army,” said Alec Shkolnik, CEO and co-founder of LiquidPiston. “Today’s solutions for power and energy are held back by a lack of technological innovation; gasoline engines are inefficient, diesel engines are big and heavy, and while the world wants to go electric, batteries lack significantly compared to the energy density of fuel. The X-Engine solves these challenges, and with this contract, we look forward to showcasing the value a hybrid-electric configuration can bring to unmanned flight.”
A major issue facing all-electric vehicles – both aerial and ground vehicles – is that modern battery technology simply does not offer sufficient energy density, meaning the range of electric-only vehicles will be limited. For military orb vehicles and commercial urban air mobility to be operationally viable in a range of use cases, a stronger, lightweight power and energy source is needed to significantly extend flight times.
The X-Engine from LiquidPiston takes a hybrid approach to this problem. Because fuel is up to 50 times more energy-dense than today’s batteries, the X-Engine, coupled with a generator, can be configured to charge the battery and keep it charged during flight, significantly extending the range of an electric propulsion system. Alternatively, the X-Engine can be configured in parallel with an electric drive, using the engine directly to produce thrust or lift. With the X-Engine’s hybrid approach, the Air Force can leverage the energy density of fuel, while still getting the benefits of an electric drive propulsion system to power an orb or UAS. LiquidPiston’s X-Engine is a lightweight rotary engine capable of running on JP-8, jet fuel, diesel and other heavy fuels. The modular design of the engine coupled with the lightweight high-speed alternators enables technology to easily scale in size and increase the range of eVTOL UAS and UAM vehicles. The X-Engine is 30% more fuel-efficient than a diesel engine and up to 5-10x smaller and lighter. Compared to a small turbine, the X-engine is up to 2-4x more fuel-efficient while fitting a comparable envelope and weight. (Source: UAS VISION)
04 Mar 21. US may field new fighter by FY 2029. The United States may field a new fighter aircraft type by fiscal year (FY) 2029, according to a related contract notification posted on 4 March.
The contract awarded to Raytheon for AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) aircraft integration support lists several aircraft types that carry the system, before expanding its remit to potentially include those existing types that do not, as well as a type or types that have yet to enter into service.
“This contract will provide the necessary aircraft lab, flight test, flight clearance, and simulation support during all integration requirements in AMRAAM for F-15, F-16, F/A-18, F-22, F-35, and other current inventory or next-generation platforms that may join the air force or navy inventory before the end of fiscal year 2029,” the Department of Defense (DoD) said in its contract notification.
With the notification listing all US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN) aircraft types (or their derivatives, such as the EA-18G Growler) cleared to carry the AMRAAM, it is not immediately apparent to which platform or platforms the DoD might be referring in its notification.
The only other tactical air (TacAir) platform in the US inventory that does not already carry the missile and which is not a derivative of the types listed is the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. However, while the A-10 does carry the short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder, this is purely for self-defence, and as such it would be highly unlikely that it would ever be equipped with the longer ranged AMRAAM for offensive aerial combat. (Source: Jane’s)
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Oxley Group Ltd
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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