NEW TECHNOLOGIES,3-D PRINTING, NAVIGATION SYSTEMS, AVIONICS AND SOFTWARE

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30 Aug 23. CPI TMD Technologies Awarded contract. A team of industry and research partners led by the TMD Technologies Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has been awarded more than £4m by Innovate UK’s SBRI Quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems competition, which issues contracts for pre-commercial procurement of innovative solutions, enabled by quantum technologies, to public sector challenges. Under this contract, CPI TMD Technologies and its partners will develop exceptionally high-precision quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems that can be used to identify an object’s exact position in time and space without the use of satellite signals.

CPI TMD Technologies Division’s compact grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) provides a precision sensing capability in applications ranging from academic research to civilian and defence applications

This “quantum inertial sensor” will be based on CPI TMD Technologies’ existing quantum technology, including the compact grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) subsystems and Calcium Ion Frequency Source (CIFS) clock, which provides unprecedented precision and accuracy in timekeeping. Unlike the global positioning system (GPS), which relies on the transmission and receipt of external signals, these quantum systems provide timing and positioning data through internal synchronization. This allows the systems to calculate accurate time and positioning data through dead reckoning, rather than by depending on satellite signals. As a result, the inertial guidance system is useful in locations and situations where satellite signals are impractical, such as underground transit systems, and for defence and military end uses.

“As a manufacturer of microwave technologies, CPI TMD Technologies has long focused on finding innovative solutions to challenging requirements in the defence, communications and industrial markets and putting them into production. For the past several years, we have turned that focus on helping move the promise of quantum technology from theoretical lab work to practical technology and products that can address real-world challenges. We are excited by the progress being made on cutting-edge quantum technology in conjunction with our business and university partners. The work that this team is poised to do on compact, high-precision inertial guidance systems will help revolutionize the use and accuracy of positioning systems in situations where the use of satellite signals is not ideal,” said Dave Brown, president of CPI TMD Technologies Division.

CPI TMD Technologies’ partners on this project include Alter Technology UK Ltd., Chronos Technology Ltd., Covesion Ltd., Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd., Imperial College London, NLA International Ltd., RedWave Labs Ltd. and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. CPI TMD Technologies’ work on this multi-year contract will be carried out at its facilities in Hayes, Middlesex, England. (Source: PR Newswire)

31 Aug 23. Get hands on with Getac’s next generation rugged solutions for the Army, Navy and Air Force at DSEI 2023. Getac has announced it will be showcasing its versatile range of next generation rugged solutions for the Army, Navy and Air Force at DSEI 2023, taking place from 12-15th September at ExCel London. Visitors to stand H7-H230 in Hall 2 will be able to get hands on with powerful fully rugged devices including the Getac B360 laptop, V110 laptop, F110 tablet, UX10 tablet and X600/X600 Pro mobile workstation, and many more.

An immersive on-stand experience for land, sea, and air defence

All these Getac devices will feature as part of an immersive on-stand experience highlighting key rugged use cases for land, sea, and air defence professionals, both when on foot and when travelling in vehicles.

The centre piece of the stand will be a full-size military buggy, complete with secure docking stations and Getac rugged devices, helping visitors see the operational advantages that such technology brings to defence activities first-hand.

Demonstrating embedded LiFi

Also included on the stand will be Getac’s LiFi embedded technology showcase.

LiFi technology harnesses the light spectrum to securely transmit data without utilising radio frequencies (RF). This capability enables new possibilities for rapid communication deployment and secure data transfer. Furthermore, LiFi has virtually no electromagnetic signature, meaning networks are hard to detect or penetrate.

Popcorn, patches and more

In addition to all the above, visitors will be able to claim a complementary patch and pick up a box of free popcorn, courtesy of Getac.

Phil Campion will also be signing copies of his latest book, Who Dares Wins, on the stand throughout the show.

A full list of Getac devices available to get hands on with at DSEI 2023 is as follows:

Getac immersive experience

X600 Pro fully rugged workstation (featuring Eclypt* technology)
X600 fully rugged workstation
V110 fully rugged laptop
S410 semi rugged laptop (featuring Eclypt* technology)
UX10 fully rugged tablet
K120 fully rugged tablet
ZX70 fully rugged tablet
ZX10 fully rugged tablet

LiFi technology demonstration

B360 fully rugged laptop
F110 fully rugged tablet

* Viasat’s Eclypt technology integrates sophisticated authentication, entire-disk encryption, and data storage into tamper-resistant internal or portable hardware that safeguards sensitive data. This provides instant data protection without any noticeable adverse effects on computer performance.

30 Aug 23. New DASA Market Exploration seeks facial recognition technologies. DASA seeks solutions that can help increase the use and effectiveness of facial recognition technologies within UK policing and security.

DASA has launched a new Market Exploration: Facial Recognition (FR) technologies for policing and security applications
This Market Exploration is being run on behalf of the Home Office and seeks technologies for the use of facial recognition
Submissions must be submitted by midday on 12 October 2023

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to launch a new Market Exploration which seeks technological solutions for the use of Facial Recognition (FR) technologies within policing and other security stakeholders. Run on behalf of the Home Office, this Market Exploration is seeking to identify higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) capabilities that could be deployed to benefit the Home Office and Policing and within the next 18 months.

FR technology is an increasingly important capability for law enforcement and is already being used in a number of ways within UK policing and security settings to prevent and detect crime, enhance security, find wanted criminals, safeguard the vulnerable and protect people from harm. The use of FR technologies is at varying stages across UK policing and the use of this technology in an ethical and effective way is a priority for the Home Office.

The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire and Professor Paul Taylor, National Policing Chief Scientific Adviser have jointly supported progressing the use of this technology:

“The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire and I strongly support the development and implementation of facial recognition (FR) technology within the law enforcement sector and are encouraged by it’s potential. We firmly believe that embracing this advanced technology can significantly enhance public safety while respecting individual rights and privacy. Industry is pivotal to realisation of that mission.

“It is essential to acknowledge the concerns surrounding FR technology, particularly those relating to privacy and potential biases. However, responsible development and implementation of FR systems can address these concerns effectively. By establishing robust governance frameworks, implementing strict data protection protocols, and ensuring transparency and accountability, we can strike the right balance between public safety and individual privacy rights.

“To maximise the technological benefits and minimise the risks associated with FR, it is crucial that we support and encourage industry to continue developing capabilities which can be deployed effectively and ethically.”

Professor Paul Taylor, National Policing Chief Scientific Adviser

Do you have an innovation? Read the full Market Exploration document and submit a proposal.

What technologies is this Market Exploration seeking?

The Home Office is primarily interested in higher TRL innovative capabilities that can resolve identity using facial features and landmarks as well as technologies that support algorithm development, integration, and analytics. It is vital that proposed solutions are secure, accurate, explainable and free from bias.

The Home Office is seeking capability to support the following FR applications or use cases (although other use cases would be considered):

Retrospective FR (RFR), a system to be used after an event to help establish who a person is or whether their image matches against other media held on image databases.
Operator-initiated FR (OIFR), a system where an operator can decide that they need to take an image of a person and then use FR software to help them establish who that person is.
Live FR (LFR), a system where cameras are focused on a specific area; when people pass through that area their images are streamed directly to the Live FR system.

This Market Exploration is not seeking technologies beyond the resolution of identity through facial recognition camera systems, such as iris detection, gait analysis and object detection.

Submit a proposal

Do you have a higher TRL innovation that could increase the ethical and effective use of facial recognition technologies within policing and other security stakeholders?

Read the full Market Exploration document to learn more and submit a proposal: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/facial-recognition

(Source: https://www.gov.uk/)

29 Aug 23. Curtiss-Wright Announces New Dual AMD® Versal™ Premium Adaptive SoC-based 100 Gbit Ethernet SOSA Aligned FPGA Plug-In Card. The CHAMP-FX7 FPGA engine and the recently announced CHAMP™-XD4 6U VPX Intel® Xeon® D-2700 HPEC and Cognitive DSP Processor are among the first members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100™ class of SOSA aligned system elements

Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division today today introduced the CHAMP-FX7 (VPX6-476), its highest performance user programmable real-time processing module. Ideal for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system architectures, the CHAMP-FX7 is designed to ingest extremely large quantities of digital sensor data over optical fibers for wide bandwidth, latency-sensitive parallel signal processing applications. With unprecedented amounts of on-board fast fiber optic and backplane connectivity, the module takes user programmability and functionality to the next level.

The rugged 6U OpenVPX™ board features dual AMD Versal Premium ASoC (Adaptive System on Chip) FPGA devices that add many advanced on-chip features not found on traditional FPGAs. Supporting a range of Versal Premium devices, each device features advanced high-speed I/O and digital signal processing (DSP). The devices speed internal data traffic with a unique low-latency deterministic Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture that far exceeds the performance of the previous generation of AMD UltraScale+™ FPGA boards.

The CHAMP-FX7 Adaptive SoC devices, which support up to 64 lanes of VITA 66.5 fiber optic connectivity directly to the backplane and are rated at up to 28 Gbps/lane, support the most demanding deployable EW, Radar and SIGINT applications. Designed to deliver ultra high-speed processing of digitized sensor data, the CHAMP-FX7 features quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports on the VPX Data Plane, dual 10 GbE TSN-capable Control Plane interfaces, and 32 flexible lanes of PCIe Gen 4 connectivity on the Expansion Plane. The CHAMP-FX7 module joins the recently announced CHAMP-XD4 Xeon D-2700 Processing module as the first 6U members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100 family of SOSA aligned processing engines. This extremely high-performance board-set delivers a powerful, closely coupled solution specifically designed for the most compute demanding DSP applications, such as EW, Multi-mode Radar, SAR, SIGINT and EO/IR.

Aligned with the SOSA Technical Standard, the rugged CHAMP-FX7™ module is available in a conduction-cooled 6U VPX form factor with two-level maintenance covers. The module also supports alternate cooling mechanisms such as air flow-through (AFT) and liquid flow-through (LFT).

About Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 Suite of 3U and 6U OpenVPX Modules and Systems

Fabric100 brings 100Gbit Ethernet and high-performance PCIe Gen4 interconnect speeds to tomorrow’s new generation of rugged deployable computing architectures. Today, system integrators struggle to satisfy their C5ISR applications’ insatiable appetite for sharing ever-increasing volumes of information. The higher-speed interconnects required to support these performance demands introduce significant integration challenges for systems integrators. What’s more, the ability to meet the industry’s goal of simplified interoperability, in other words, to quickly and effectively build systems using open standards-based building blocks and make them work well together, becomes increasingly risky as system designers migrate to faster 16Gbaud and 25Gbaud signaling technology and faster data throughput architectures. To address this daunting problem and reduce the system design risks associated with higher-speed interconnects, Curtiss-Wright has developed Fabric100, a complete end-to-end ecosystem of high-speed rugged OpenVPX modules and system components. It is not enough to simply provide 100Gbps connections between a system’s modules yet fail to support the ability to process all this data within the modules themselves. Recognizing that Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 board architectures are designed to deliver full 100Gbps performance through the entire processing chain, eliminating data bottlenecks that might otherwise compromise system performance.

For information about availability of development boards and Quick Start Kits (QSKs) to support your program needs, please contact us at , visit our website at www.curtisswrightds.com, or contact your local Curtiss-Wright sales representative.

For additional information about Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions products, please visit www.curtisswrightds.com, LinkedIn, and X @CurtissWrightDS.

29 Aug 23. Curtiss-Wright Announces First SOSA Aligned 6U VPX Dual Intel Xeon D-2700 HPEC and Cognitive DSP Processor to Support Quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity. The new CHAMP™-XD4 module and CHAMP-FX7 AMD® Versal™ Premium Adaptive SoC (FPGA) board are among the first members of Curtiss-Wright’s recently announced Fabric100™ class of SOSA aligned system elements

Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Division today introduced the CHAMP-XD4 (VPX6-485), the industry’s highest performance, security-enhanced, 6U OpenVPX™ module for compute-intensive Industrial, Aerospace and Defense applications. Ideal for the most demanding intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system architectures, the CHAMP-XD4 features dual Intel Xeon D-2700 processors. The module is highly scalable and can be configured with 12,16 or 20 cores per device. The CHAMP-XD4 complements the AMD Versal based CHAMP-FX7 user-programmable Adaptive SoC (FPGA) module. The two modules are the first 6U form factor members of Curtiss-Wright’s new Fabric100™ family of SOSA aligned processing engines, offering customers a powerful board-set specifically designed for the most compute-intensive digital signal processing (DSP) applications, such as Multi-mode Radar, SAR, SIGINT, EO/IR and EW.

The CHAMP-XD4 is the first Xeon D-2700 module to support four 100GbE fabric connections and 32 lanes of Gen4 PCIe, as well as four banks of memory per processor. This enables customers to take full advantage of the extended core capability of the Xeon D-2700 processors without being restricted by memory or I/O bottlenecks. To address the increasingly important issue of data security, the CHAMP-XD4 also features an AMD MPSoC FPGA device that provides enhanced TrustedCOTS™ security functionality. An MPSoC FPGA toolkit is available for applications that require greater design versatility for adding security IP. The toolkit enables integration of advanced security IP, such as Raytheon’s Night Cover™ product suite and Idaho Scientific’s Immunity™ cryptography cores. The MPSoC FPGA can also support co-processing and general-purpose I/O requirements via its embedded quad-core Arm® A53 processor and dual-core R5 real-time processor.

Aligned with the SOSA Technical Standard, the CHAMP-XD4 supports quad 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Data Plane interfaces, dual 10 GbE Control Plane interfaces, and 32 lanes of Gen4 PCI Express® (PCIe) on the Expansion Plane. The rugged module is available in a conduction-cooled 6U VPX form factor with two-level maintenance covers. The module also supports alternate cooling mechanisms, such as air flow-through (AFT) and liquid flow-through (LFT).

About Curtiss-Wright’s Fabric100 Suite of 3U and 6U OpenVPX™ Modules and Systems

To download the CHAMP-XD4 product sheet, please click here.

For additional information about Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions products, please visit www.curtisswrightds.com, LinkedIn, and X @CurtissWrightDS.

24 Aug 23. AERALIS launch naming competition for their first test aircraft with Air Cadets. AERALIS, the innovative Bristol-based light jet manufacturer, yesterday launched a competition for Air Cadets to name their first flight test vehicle. The competition will give Air Cadets from across the UK the chance to get involved in the design and development of the jet and the winning name will be used throughout the engineering process as well as for the groundbreaking first flight. The winner will be announced later this year and the competition will involve a range of exciting prizes for both them and their unit.

The competition was launched at the Air Cadet National Air and Space Camp (NASC), hosted at RAF Syerston, the home of Air Cadet gliding. The NASC is an annual event that gives Air Cadets the opportunity to undertake a variety of specialist training activities as well as the opportunity to engage with military and industry partners to highlight future careers in aviation, aerospace and defence. Air Cadets also enjoyed an exciting flying display, including the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Red Arrows.

AERALIS is committed to inspiring young people into careers in aerospace and this competition will help engage future aircrew, designers, engineers and software specialists with the development of the next generation of military aircraft.

AERALIS’s founder & CEO Tristan Crawford commented: “We are very excited to be working with the Air Cadets to name the first AERALIS jet. AERALIS is the future of light jet military aviation, and we want to bring the future generation of aerospace professionals on this journey with us. We wish all those that take part the best of luck and we look forward to welcoming the winner and their family to our facility in Bristol.”

Commandant of the Air Cadets, Air Commodore Tony Keeling, said: “The Air Cadets is an Air, Space and Cyber focussed youth organisation that exists to unlock potential in young people. The opportunity to have our cadets engage so closely with a light jet aircraft concept that is being developed in the UK is just too good to miss. They will gain unique insights about digital design, modular manufacture, and the use of novel materials, and to see an aircraft go from drawing board to first flight – wearing a name chosen by an Air Cadet – will prove to be hugely inspiration to the next generation.”

23 Aug 23. Maritime start-up CUBEDIN and Thales, the world-class global leader in advanced naval technologies, have announced a ground-breaking collaboration that marks a new era in naval innovation.

Having formalised a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October last year, the two companies are now embarking on an exciting journey to create a modular flexible platform integrating Thales’ sensors and systems into the CUBEDIN concept.

This innovative solution will seamlessly integrate Thales’s state-of-the-art sonar sensors into a warship through CUBEDIN’s software platform. This ensures that modular vessels are equipped with unparalleled versatility, enabling rapid deployment and customisation of sonar sensors to address a wide array of maritime challenges.

The partnership between CUBEDIN and Thales brings together the best of both worlds – CUBEDIN’s expertise in maritime software solutions and Thales’s proficiency in naval anti-submarine sonar systems.

“At CUBEDIN, we’re driven by a passion for pushing the boundaries of maritime technology with our software. This partnership with Thales is a testament to our commitment to innovation,” said Danny Ingemann, CUBEDIN CEO. “By seamlessly integrating Thales’s cutting-edge sonar sensors through our software solutions, we’re creating a game-changing platform that will empower naval forces with unmatched flexibility and capability.”

Through this collaboration, modular ships will receive a unified, software-driven ecosystem that seamlessly connects Thales’s sophisticated sonar sensors, enhancing surveillance, detection, and response capabilities.

Renewed anti-submarine warfare capabilities are necessary to address increasing threat of submarines.

New threats and the need to conduct operations in both deep and shallow waters have led to a significant shift in operational requirements. Drawing on strong references and unparalleled skills in the undersea battlespace, Thales collaborates with each customer to adapt its proven, interoperable solution to the specific needs of any type of surface vessel.

The cooperation between Thales and CUBEDIN A/S demonstrates Thales’s ambition and commitment to partnering with local companies for the benefit of both the local and international defence industry and customers.

Thales and CUBEDIN’s new approach to designing modular combat platforms aims to provide Thales’s cutting-edge Anti-Submarine Warfare and Mine Warfare sonar technologies to these new modular vessels.

This collaboration will allow both partners to define the best trade-off in terms of modularity and performance at sea.

Manager Charles Forrester at or call 01276 675 533.

CUBEDIN is the newest arrival within modular shipbuilding. The solution enables the building of smarter, flexible warships through the integration of modules, enabling it to carry out any type of mission across the world.

Visit the CUBEDIN website for more details: https://cubedin.com/

21 Aug 23. Epsilor Announces its Agreement for Li-Ion Army Vehicle Batteries with Hanwha Defense Australia (HDA). Epsilor’s COMBATT NATO 6T type Li-Ion vehicle battery to be integrated in HDA’s $1bn contract with the Australian Government acquiring self-propelled artillery systems for the Land 8116 Phase 1 program.

Epsilor, a world-recognized developer and manufacturer of smart batteries, charging systems, wearable power and communication systems for high-reliability applications, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Hanwha Defense Australia (HDA) for the supply of NATO 6T type Li-Ion vehicle batteries for LAND 8116 Phase 1 Protected Mobile Fires program, Huntsman vehicles over the next several years.

Epsilor’s COMBATT line of vehicle batteries provides the highest energy density in the market. Epsilor offers 2 types of 6T batteries: Li-Ion and LiFePO4.

Epsilor provides modern combat vehicle batteries with sufficient energy and high-power rates while operating numerous onboard electronic systems that require extensive and continuous electric power, including manned and unmanned turrets, missile launchers, radars and active protection systems, jammers, situational awareness and C3 systems, air conditioning and other power consumers.

“Epsilor is pleased to mark another strategic milestone in this cooperation with Hanwha Defense Australia, which not only equips modern combat vehicles with sufficient energy and high-power rates but also showcases Epsilor’s cutting-edge developments, extending its already well-known capabilities,” said Epsilor’s President Ronen Badichi. “Epsilor’s 6T batteries were chosen to be integrated into this momentous project based on our proven technological and engineering capabilities as well as our industry leading battery capacity.”

“The Australian Market has become more and more significant to Epsilor’s global marketing activities” said Hagai Shmuel, Epsilor VP of Marketing.

About Epsilor

Epsilor is a globally recognized developer and manufacturer of custom and standard batteries, chargers and mobile power systems for the defense, medical, aerospace, industrial and marine markets. The company offers a wide variety of electro-chemistries, smart electronics and sophisticated battery management systems (BMS). The company’s products have won several awards for their innovation and smart operational approach.

About Hanwha Defense Australia

Hanwha Defense Australia is a subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace, a division of the vast Republic of Korea Fortune 500 conglomerate Hanwha Corporation. Hanwha Corporation has been operating in Australia since 2005 in areas including mining equipment, logistics and sustainable energy.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Hanwha Defense Australia was established in 2019 with an initial focus on Land Systems. The company signed a contract with the Commonwealth of Australia to supply self-propelled artillery systems under LAND 8116, a $0.9bn to $1.3bn project.

The company was also recently announced as the preferred tenderer for LAND 400 Phase 3 to supply the Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) to the Australian Army.

These vehicles will be manufactured in the Greater Geelong area of Victoria at the HDA Armoured vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE), Avalon, now under construction.

Epsilor will showcase it’s COMBATT 6T product line at DSEI during September 12-14 – come meet us at booth H4-701 and book a meeting with us there. m(Source: PR Newswire)

21 Aug 23. Flare Bright is Exhibiting at DSEI 2023. Flare Bright recently carried out a Wind Measurement trial, which took place at Welsh Government’s St Athan airfield and site, in collaboration with Zenotech for the UK Research and Innovation Future Flight Phase 3: SafeZone project. Flare Bright’s in-house Wind Measurement Capability underwent rigorous real-world test and evaluation, with the aim of setting new industry standards.

Teaming up with Zenotech, specialists in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, Flare Bright’s data sets will be compared against a high-fidelity CFD model (produced by Zenotech) and on-site anemometers, to validate the data sets that were captured by our system during flight. This collaboration promises to reshape the landscape of wind measurement technology.

This Wind Measurement system that has been developed is quickly becoming invaluable when it comes to activities such as: Air Drops, In-flight safety, Site Planning and much more. We will also be launching a new product at DSEI, and can’t wait to share our latest innovation with you all. Hall 2, Stand: H2-585.

21 Aug 23. Airmanship data capture technology flies high with a Defence Innovation Loan. VRAI secured a DASA Defence Innovation Loan to help commercialise their data capture and analysis technology to help the RAF rapidly assess airmanship in future aviators.

VRAI’s data capture technology, funded through the DASA Open Call, has the ability to codify and predict airmanship performance. This technology can be used to accelerate training time for RAF recruits.
Additional funding secured through DASA’s Defence Innovation Loan programme will help VRAI further develop the technology and prepare for commercialisation
Run in partnership with Innovate UK, Defence Innovation Loans are designed to help SMEs develop and commercialise their mature defence solutions
As part of the project, DASA provided guidance and helped VRAI test the system with the RAF and obtain vital military end user feedback

Virtual training has become an essential component of modern defence, ensuring armed forces personnel can train proficiencies at scale while reducing costs. However, capturing and analysing training data has been a persistent challenge in defence, particularly in areas such as airmanship data from trainee pilots.

Airmanship refers to the non-technical skills, and judgement required for aerial navigation. To operate an aircraft safely, it is vital that trainees are trained to a high standard to have good situational awareness, decision-making ability and aircraft knowledge.

However, there are numerous obstacles to assessing pilot airmanship. It is constrained by the availability of in-person instructors that can observe students, as each instructor can only manage two or three students at a time. It is also heavily reliant on subjective observation.

Introducing VRAI: Combining virtual reality technology with data capture

Newcastle-based SME, VRAI, which specialises in virtual reality (VR) simulation training and data capture, recognised the need to provide trainee pilots with personalised training plans and data-driven feedback, to help them achieve their maximum potential in a shorter amount of time.

With the help of DASA funding, VRAI developed a solution to enable the Royal Air Force (RAF) to better measure and predict trainee pilot performance, using a combination of VR and data capture technology, called HEAT.

HEAT, which has been used to train staff in an array of vertical industries, can capture and generate rich data sets from commercial off-the-shelf VR solutions, which enables the capability to capture and store pilot data from simulated flying tasks.

VRAI’s data capture and analysis technology enables the RAF to train airmanship in future military pilots to a higher standard, faster, and in a more cost effective way.

It helps defence and security by:

enabling instructors to train more students at the same time
ensuring training performance is measure accurately
ensuring good airmanship qualities can be codified, resulting is less subjective monitoring of student performance
ensuring that students can readily self-assess their strengths and weaknesses against data
enabling projections of trainee performance can be used to develop individualised training programmes
enabling instructors to focus on more value added tasks when training students

Testing helps VRAI collect 1 billion airmanship data points with the RAF

VRAI submitted their innovative data capture solution to the DASA Open Call in 2020 and were awarded £348,000 in funding. DASA played a significant role in the project by offering VRAI guidance and helping them to test the system with the RAF, receiving valuable feedback from military end-users. The innovation was implemented at three RAF stations within a three-month timeframe, gathering nearly one billion data points from 40 RAF pilots, across the RAF 22 Group, and positive feedback from users.

During the testing, VRAI was able to collect valuable trainee data which can be used to standardise airmanship training and assessment, helping to significantly reduce the amount of time needed to train quality pilots.

Flying towards commercialisation: Defence Innovation Loans

With an eye towards the future, VRAI secured a Defence Innovation Loan to the value of £544,742, to further develop their innovation and market readiness.

They will use these funds, to apply machine learning (ML) to the innovation in order to generate more robust actionable insights to further develop trainees, while also ensuring the RAF can utilise the system for self-training. To help with this, VRAI will also use the funding to develop customised dashboard metrics relating to airmanship.

Niall Campion, Founder of VRAI said:

We believe the technology we’re developing with this funding will allow us to bring genuinely game changing advancements in how training is delivered and its success is measured.

Without DASA funding it would have been impossible for us to bring this product into the UK defence supply chain. By providing vital working capital while we demonstrate the value of the product in the defence industry, the Defence Innovation Loan will help us grow our business and deliver measurable improvements to training across both defence and other simulation markets.

Meet VRAI at DSEI 2023

If you are interested in learning more about VRAI and their innovative solutions, be sure to visit them at DSEI 2023. You can find them at the UK MOD Science & Innovation Stand: H1-810, alongside DASA.

Need help bringing your defence innovation to market?

One of DASA’s main financial mechanisms to support with business readiness and the commercialisation of innovations is through the Defence Innovation Loans programme. Run in partnership with Innovate UK, these are designed to help growth-minded SMEs develop and commercialise their mature defence solutions and in doing so, tackle some of the challenges businesses face in moving from technology development to product and company scale up.

Defence Innovation Loans Key points:

Exclusively for SMEs
Innovations must be at Technology Readiness Level 6 or above
Loans from £100,000 – £2 m
Loans can cover up to 100% of project costs to aid commercialisation of the solution
Below market interest rate
In partnership with Innovate UK

Learn more about Defence Innovation Loans here and submit an application: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/competition-defence-innovation-loans/competition-document-defence-innovation-loan

(Source: https://www.gov.uk/)

16 Aug 23. Demonstrating the power of additive manufacturing in defence. To raise awareness of the benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) in the defence sector, UK provider of Stratasys, One-Click Metal and XJet 3D printing solutions, Tri-Tech 3D, will attend Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2023. At the event, that will take place at ExCeL London between September 12 and 15, visitors can meet the Tri-Tech 3D team and explore the benefits of AM technology in MH Pod 20.

The defence industry is rapidly evolving, and AM can support with all aspects of high-end manufacturing, from tooling, jigs and fixtures to aerospace and defence applications that require industrial grade parts and tight tolerances.

At the show, Tri-Tech 3D will exhibit an array of industry-specific AM parts, including those commonly found internally on aircraft, all of which are created using aerospace-approved materials. The stand will also feature videos showcasing the application of 3D printing in the defence and aerospace industry, including how customer East/West Industries uses Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) to produce soft jaw tooling.

“Many people know about using 3D printers to produce end products but may not be aware of the breadth of applications that are achievable in the defence market,” explained Joe Godfrey, 3D print specialist at Tri-Tech 3D. “By additively manufacturing certain parts, those in the defence market can reduce costs, shorten lead times and lower energy consumption — all of which are critical factors.

“Over 2,800 defence and security suppliers, including major prime manufacturers, will be attending this year and our aim is to raise awareness of how additive manufacturing can transform this ever-changing market,” continued Godfrey.

Market-leading Stratasys solutions include FDM, PolyJet, Stereolithography (SL), Selective Absorption Fusion (SAF) and Programmable PhotoPolymerization P3. Stratasys has partnered with industry leaders to develop materials and processes that are making 3D printed parts commonplace in aircraft and spacecraft production. Visitors to MH Pod 20 can discover more about these and how AM suppliers like Tri-Tech 3D are cementing additive technology as an engineering mainstay.

To find out more about the range of applications 3D printing has in the defence sector, and how this technology can be implemented, please visit: https://www.tritech3d.co.uk/industries/defence/.

14 Aug 23. Epsilor to Reveal its Li-Ion 6T MIL-PRF-32565C Compliant Battery for Armoured Vehicles at DSEI 2023.

Epsilor will present its COMBATT lithium-ion 6T NATO standard batteries at the upcoming DSEI exhibition which will take place in London, United Kingdom, on 12-15 September 2023.

The ELI-52526-DM and ELP-02426-M, both 6T NATO-standard batteries provide ideal solutions for armoured military vehicles as well as heavy-duty applications as they offer up to four times more energy than a standard AGM 6T Lead Acid battery.

Epsilor’s 6T batteries offer the following advantages:

Compliant with MIL-PRF-32565C safety, BMS and communication requirements
1,200 to 3500 charging cycles and five-year operational life
Drop-in replacement of Lead-Acid batteries
Smart batteries with self-balancing and self-charging capability
Serial and parallel interconnectivity with additional batteries supporting group operation.

The 6T battery, alongside Epsilor’s other smart military and professional batteries and chargers, will be presented at stand number 701, in Hall 4, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

“DSEI 2023 is an excellent forum for Epsilor to showcase its 6T batteries,” said Epsilor’s President, Mr. Ronen Badichi. “This year Epsilor will present for the first time its Li-Ion 6T battery, ELI-52526-DM, which fully complies with the MIL-PRF-32565C standard. This battery has excellent energy density and meets all of the strict safety requirements of the standard. We are proud to offer such a solution for various defence applications, particularly armoured vehicles.”

“Epsilor has been awarded contracts to supply its 6T NATO rechargeable batteries for several armoured vehicle programs” said Merav Kolody Shubeli, Epsilor’s Director for International Marketing and Sales. “The ELI-52526-DM battery opens more opportunities for Epsilor where excellent performance and safety is mandatory. I invite you to visit our booth at DSEI and learn more about Epsilor’s 6T battery products”.

(Source: PR Newswire)

15 Aug 23. GKN Aerospace, Marshall and Parker Aerospace join forces to explore liquid hydrogen fuel systems for zero emission aircraft.

GKN Aerospace, Marshall, and Parker Aerospace are leveraging their world-leading capabilities to collaborate under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at exploring liquid hydrogen fuel system solutions for the next generation of zero emission aircraft.

Hydrogen propulsion, whether through fuel cells or combustion, is considered a critical pathway for the aviation industry to achieve its ambitious goal of net zero emissions by 2050. This partnership marks

a significant milestone in the pursuit of sustainable aviation.

The liquid hydrogen fuel system to be developed jointly byGKN Aerospace, Marshall and Parker under this MoU will be capable of supporting both hydrogen electric and combustion applications. In

developing the system, Marshall, GKN Aerospace and Parker will combine their extensive experience in the design, testing, certification and manufacture of novel fuel systems for aerospace applications.

Russ Dunn, CTO of GKN Aerospace, said: “With this agreement, we have now set out a complete path to achieving zero-emissions flight at a game-changing scale. By working alongside Marshall and

Parker, who have deep expertise in fuel systems, we can accelerate the development of the technology building blocks required for a complete hydrogen propulsion system for mid-range aircraft. This partnership, combined with our other industry-leading collaborations, is a significant step towards a sustainable future for aviation.”

Kieren Paterson, Managing Director of Marshall Futureworx, said: “Futureworx’s mission is to identify

and develop a new generation of innovative products and services that address problems of practical significance. Given our highly creative engineering talent and decades of experience and expertise in developing and certifying novel fuel systems within Marshall Aerospace, we are uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of hydrogen fuel systems for aircraft. We are

excited to collaborate with esteemed industry leaders GKN Aerospace and Parker in advancing the

development of hydrogen propulsion systems and contributing to a more sustainable aviation

industry.”

Tracy Rice, VP Technology and Innovation for Parker Aerospace, said: “Parker is fully committed to

sustainability which is why we are making focused investments in innovative, next-generation

technologies. Hydrogen fuel systems play a critical role in achieving zero emissions in aviationand we are confident that this partnership will enable us to further advance our expertise in this area and drive the development of innovative solutions that support a more sustainable future.” The proposed liquid hydrogen fuel system collaboration will benefit significantly from the ongoing UK Aerospace Technology Institute funded, GKN Aerospace led, H2GEAR programme, which will ground test a scalable hydrogen electric fuel cell propulsion system in 2025. The intent is to bring the complete scalable fuel system and propulsion system together in a single flight test bed environment before the end of the decade. At the Paris Air Show last month, GKN Aerospace signed a collaboration MoU to explore an integrated flight demonstration of the end-to-end system. Initial studies suggest that such a system could support a wide range of aircraft, including commuter planes (under 19 passengers), business jets and regional aircraft (up t100 passengers). Scalability of the system for larger narrow-body aircraft is currently being studied.

03 Aug 23. Mercury Introduces the Industry’s First Open Blade Server Architecture for Defense Systems. Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY, www.mrcy.com), a technology company that delivers processing power for the most demanding aerospace and defense missions, today introduced the Common Module System (CMS) X08, the industry’s first rugged, open standards-based blade server architecture to deliver a plug-n-play infrastructure model for tactical platforms operating at sea, on land, or in the air. Mercury’s solution is built around the Open Compute Project (OCP®) openEDGE standard and allows customers to eliminate vendor lock-in, simplify technology upgrades, reduce costs, and accelerate workloads.

Why It Matters

Organizations that manage tactical data centers, signal processing systems, and remotely located console controllers have historically been locked into a single hardware provider for their blade ecosystems. With this new architecture, users can mix and match modules from various vendors into a Mercury chassis, creating a system tailored to their needs.

By leveraging the openEDGE standard as a catalyst for innovation, CMS X08 accelerates the deployment and refresh of advanced server technologies. With advanced thermal and mechanical design features that deliver superior resilience to shock, vibration, and temperature extremes, CMS X08 is the only OCP-based server capable of surviving edge deployments for aerospace and defense customers.

“The ability to integrate multiple vendor modules into a single system creates a mission advantage for customers that rely on the latest compute, storage, and networking technologies to operate in harsh environments,” said Brian Perry, Mercury’s Senior Vice President for Mission Systems. “By leveraging the principles of Modular Open Systems Approach and maintaining compatibility with the standards set forth by the Open Compute Project, CMS X08 delivers new capability, establishes a foundation for rapid technical updates, and optimizes configurability for our customers. Embodying efficiency, scalability, and openness, CMS X08 sets new standards for integrated systems, transforming the way we empower and support our customers on their missions.”

Optimized Performance and Reliability in the most Demanding Environments.

Disaggregated compute modules that can be clustered into footprints of 1U, 2U, and 3U for optimal space utilization
Each compute module is equipped with a 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor (formerly Sapphire Rapids), capacity of up to 4 TB of DDR5-4800 ECC memory, and up to 246 TB of NVMe storage
Compact and powerful computing platform with 18-inch depth
Constructed with cutting-edge commercial off-the-shelf components such as NVIDIA H100 and A100 Tensor Core GPUs
Only OCP-based platform engineered to comply with MIL-STD-810H and MIL-STD-167-1A standards

The CMS X08 extends Mercury’s leadership in the rugged blade server market with thousands of nodes currently deployed onboard U.S. Navy and U.S. Army platforms.

Mercury is now taking orders for the CMS X08. For more information, visit mrcy.com/cmsx08.

14 Aug 23. Solve military power and communication challenges at DSEI. Military battery and communications systems manufacturer, Ultralife, has announced its participation in the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, scheduled to take place from 12 to 15 September, 2023 at the ExCeL centre in London, UK. The global company will be showcasing a range of cutting-edge products designed specifically to address power and communication challenges on the battlefield.

Over the past 20 years, Ultralife has been continuously developing innovative portable power solutions for the military (often in conjunction with the government) to reduce weight on the soldier without compromising on performance. One such scheme was the Land Warrior program, which addressed the problem of soldiers having to pack and carry separate batteries for each electronic device. For any one mission, soldiers would typically carry around 15 to 20lbs (6.80kg to 9.07kg) of batteries. Therefore, Ultralife designed the conformal, wearable battery (UBBL35) that can power multiple devices simultaneously and weighs just 2.1lbs (0.96kg).

The 108Wh conformal battery will be on display at Ultralife’s stand H8-100 in the USA Zone, alongside the URB0023 battery that was designed for soldiers who need over 90x greater energy than can be provided by a packable battery. The URB0023 can be stacked up to ten units high to produce 10kwhr of energy but is still one-man moveable at 35lb. Not only is the battery ruggedised for field use, it also has rubber edges for ease of transport in a military vehicle.

When it comes to communication challenges, over the last century, loss of radio signal has been a major threat to the success of military operations across the globe and occurs when a soldier enters an area with no coverage (known as dead spots). When this happens, soldiers often try to increase the coverage range of the radio, so that it can communicate with devices outside of the dead spot.

The problem is that standard 5-watt handheld military radios have a limited operating range of around eight to ten kilometres, depending on the ground and frequency they are operating on. Therefore, amplifiers (such as Ultralife’s A-320V3A, which can be seen at DSEI) can be attached to the radio to boost this distance by up to three times by increasing the wattage to 20.

If this still fails to get the radio out of the dead spot, an alternative option is to change the antenna that is being used. This can be done by connecting an LNA adapter (such as Ultralife’s A-320DPA, which will also be on display at DSEI) to the amplifier. These adapters allow soldiers to switch between a 30-108Mhz antenna and a 90-512Mhz antenna without having to remove one of them, as this is time consuming and risks losing one.

“These are only a few examples of power and communication challenges that Ultralife is helping the military to solve,” said Robert Brown, Marketing Executive at Ultralife. “In addition to these pre-engineered products, we also manufacture custom solutions because the next-generation of military devices may have unique requirements that are not met by products currently on the market. Therefore, we invite anyone who is experiencing a problem to come and speak with us at the show in London. Even if you are not having any issues, you can still take the opportunity to see our plethora of products in person, including non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries, power supplies, chargers, amplifiers, radio mounts and more.”

To find out more, visit stand Booth H8-100 (USA Zone) or pre-book a 1:1 appointment.

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Oxley Group Ltd

Oxley offer a range of Military Marine NVG friendly LED lighting that includes navigation lights and controls, flight deck landing lights and interior compartment lighting. Our lighting products are used by Navies around the world including our own Royal Navy on UK Aircraft Carriers, Canadian Frigates, Swedish Submarines, Australian Surface vessels and Submarines, on board French Naval Carriers and in Naval Gun Turrets.

https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-r/

The technology is extremely energy efficient and built robustly, with proven long life. The lighting is NVG friendly, dimmable and programmable to allow for operations with aircraft pilots using military night vision goggles. They offer superior design giving high reliability for the most demanding environments with high sealing and the ability to meet the most stringent EMC standards.

https://oxleydevelopments.cmail20.com/t/t-l-cdhkulk-yujhutkljd-y/

Oxley are proud to say that we are working in partnership with SeaKing to enable a control panel to be offered with our LED Navigation Lighting. All of Oxley navigation lights have been specifically developed for vessels over 50 metres.

Contact Marcus Goad here or 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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