Sponsored by Blighter Surveillance Systems
www.blighter.com
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02 Sep 21. Coyote Block 3NK demonstrates swarming drone defeat. Raytheon Missiles & Defense has demonstrated a swarming drone defeat capability using a ‘non-kinetic’ Coyote Block 3 variant reusable air vehicle. In a demonstration conducted in association with the US Army’s Integrated Fires/Rapid Capabilities Office (IF/RCO) at the Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, the Coyote Block 3 non-kinetic (Block 3NK) air vehicle capability engaged and defeated a swarm of 10 drones that differed in size, complexity, and manoeuvrability at various ranges. During the tests, the Block 3NK was launched from an army Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS) using a Coyote Block 2 launch system supported by the Raytheon Ku-band Radio Frequency System (KuRFS) 360° detect and intercept radar.
Approved by the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office (JCO) in December 2020 as an interim counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) solution for the US Army, the FS-LIDS core architecture includes the SRC Technologies-supplied AN/TPQ-50 Counterfire radar, C-sUAS electronic warfare (EW) system, and electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) camera, using the army’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) network, along with the KuRFS radar and Coyote Block 2 for kinetic defeat.
Raytheon declined to detail the specific technologies associated with the Block 3’s non-kinetic effects capability, but noted that the air vehicle “utilises a non-kinetic warhead to neutralise enemy drones, reducing potential collateral damage. Unlike its expendable counterpart, the non-kinetic variant can be recovered, refurbished, and reused without leaving the battlefield”.
According to Raytheon, the Yuma tests, which were conducted in December 2020 but disclosed in late July this year, “achieved several significant firsts, including air-to-air non-kinetic defeat; survivability, recovery, refurbishment, and reuse during the same test event; a successful launch of the Block 3 from the Coyote Block 2 system [which is already fielded by the army]; and extended-range engagements, communication and KuRFS radar track”. (Source: Jane’s)
02 Sep 21. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has delivered its 15th AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) multi-mission radar system to the U.S. Marine Corps, completing the low-rate initial production phase of the program. The team recently fielded the first full-rate production system to the Marine Corps and will continue deliveries through 2024. Providing enhanced mission capabilities, software upgrades and logistics support are expected to continue through G/ATOR’s 30-year lifetime.
01 Sep 21. Leonardo’s New Threat Warning System for Aircraft Goes Into Series Production.
- The MAIR (Multi Aperture InfraRed) system will be baseline on the AW169M multirole helicopter, starting with the Italian Army’s LUH (Light Utility Helicopter) programme
- The system draws on Leonardo’s combat InfraRed Search and Track (IRST) heritage and on proprietary algorithms to deliver early detection of threats while ignoring clutter such as sun glints
- MAIR is suitable for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, manned and unmanned. It is a form-fit replacement for many of the legacy systems currently in operation
Leonardo’s new MAIR (Multi Aperture InfraRed) threat warning system has gone into series production, with manufacturing underway on an initial batch of dozens of units for installation on helicopters including the Italian Army’s LUH (Light Utility Helicopter), based on the AW169M. The move follows a successful trials campaign, which proved the system’s ability to quickly and accurately detect threats at long range and to continue tracking incoming missiles in-flight. Deliveries of MAIR for the Italian Army LUH programme are due to start in 2022.
MAIR is a ‘distributed aperture’ threat warning system. This means that it fuses data from between four and six infrared cameras to simultaneously detect and track incoming missiles, as well as hostile gunfire threats, via their heat signatures. As an optional extra, customers can choose to include an image processor module that can deliver full day and night imaging, boosting situational awareness and supporting navigation and landing. This additional module also provides a full mission data recording capability.
As well as being integrated onto Leonardo’s new AW169M multirole helicopter, starting with Italy’s Light Utility Helicopter programme, MAIR will also equip a number of other platforms.
As an InfraRed-based system, MAIR offers significant advantages in terms of response time and tracking accuracy over the legacy UltraViolet (UV) systems currently installed on large numbers of platforms. While IR threat warners are relatively new to the market, MAIR starts with an advantage in that it draws on Leonardo’s years of experience in providing InfraRed Search and Track (IRST) sensors for combat aircraft. Having already refined the IRST sensors for the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen E over a number of years, Leonardo continues to invest in improvements to the technology and algorithms which underpin their capabilities. This means that these systems, and now MAIR, can filter out background clutter such as ‘sun glints’ and deliver accurate, reliable results with a negligible false alarm rate.
MAIR can be installed as a stand-alone threat warning system or can be simply and effectively integrated with countermeasures as part of a wider aircraft platform protection system on-board a helicopter, troop transport, VIP aircraft or unmanned air system. The rapid response time and accurate tracking offered by MAIR also makes it an ideal partner for a Directed InfraRed CounterMeasure (DIRCM). An example is Leonardo’s own high-performance Miysis DIRCM system, which has been ordered by five NATO customers including the UK and Canada.
MAIR’s low size, weight and power (SWAP) characteristics make it suitable for even very small aircraft. Its design has also taken into account the form and fit of existing in-service systems, meaning that Leonardo can offer a substantial upgrade with a minimal change to an aircraft’s overall system.
As well as equipping its own platforms, Leonardo is also marketing MAIR to other international aircraft manufacturers. Customers are showing a high level of interest in MAIR’s ability to recognise threats early, providing more time for countermeasures to respond, as well as its overall level of performance, which matches or exceeds more complex and costly systems on the market. (Source: ASD Network)
31 Aug 21. NOC Delivers Advanced Multifunction Sensor System to AFRL and DARPA. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) delivered the Arrays at Commercial Timescales Integration and Validation (ACT-IV) system to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The system is based on an advanced digital active electronically scanned array (AESA) that completed multiple successful demonstrations and acceptance testing at Northrop Grumman test facilities.
“The development of the ACT-IV system is a breakthrough in AESA performance and marks an important milestone in the nation’s transition to digitally reprogrammable multifunction radio frequency (RF) systems,” said William Phillips, director, multifunction systems, Northrop Grumman. “The new ACT-IV capabilities have the agility to defeat complex emerging threats and will be used to enhance the next generation of integrated circuits and AESAs that are currently in our digital AESA product pipeline.”
ACT-IV is one of the first multifunction systems based on a digital AESA using the semiconductor devices developed on the DARPA Arrays at Commercial Timescales (ACT) program. By applying the flexibility of the digital AESA, the ACT-IV system can perform radar, electronic warfare and communication functions simultaneously by controlling a large number of independent digital transmit/receive channels. The agility of the digital AESA was demonstrated during multiple demonstrations at the Northrop Grumman test range and will enable future warfighters to quickly adapt to new threats, control the electromagnetic spectrum, and connect to tactical networks in support of distributed operations.
The ACT-IV system will be a foundational research asset for the Department of Defense’s multi-service research initiative for digital radars and multifunction systems. This initiative will support a community of researchers that are developing new algorithms and software to explore the possibilities of next generation digital AESAs for national security missions.
The algorithms, software and capabilities developed on ACT-IV will transition into next generation multifunction RF systems to support advanced development programs throughout the Department of Defense.
“This delivery is the culmination of the close collaboration between the teams at AFRL, DARPA and Northrop Grumman,” said Dr. Bae-Ian Wu, ACT-IV project lead, Sensors Directorate, AFRL. “The ACT-IV system is being prepared for initial testing by the AFRL Sensors Directorate as part of a strategic investment to develop and test the technologies for multifunction digital phased array systems in an open-architecture environment for the larger DoD community.”
Northrop Grumman is the industry leader in developing mission-capable, cost-efficient, open-architecture and multi-function radar and sensor systems to observe, orient and act across all domains – land, sea, air and space. They provide the joint forces with the intelligence they need to operate safely in today’s multi-domain operational environment. (Source: ASD Network)
02 Sep 21. Sensor solutions specialist HENSOLDT will supply its new airborne multi-mission surveillance radar PrecISR to one of the biggest airborne surveillance providers, CAE-Aviation, Luxembourg. HENSOLDT was awarded a contract to deliver one PrecISR™1000 until year-end to CAE Aviation for installation underneath a King Air Beechcraft B350 aircraft for an undisclosed customer. The contract was signed after PrecISR had proven impressive SAR/MTI capabilities during successful flight demonstrations in real land and maritime scenarios. In this context, CAE-Aviation and HENSOLDT recently participated jointly in the OCEAN 2020 maritime surveillance exercise in Sweden with the PrecISR radar installed on CAE-Aviation´s aircraft. Ocean2020 (Open Cooperation for European mAritime awareNess), funded by the European Union’s Preparatory Action on Defence Research and implemented by the European Defence Agency, had the main objective to demonstrate enhanced situational awareness in a maritime environment through the integration of legacy and new technologies for unmanned systems, ISTAR payloads and effectors, by covering the “observing, orienting, deciding and acting” operational tasks. The team involving 43 entities was drawn from 15 countries across Europe. These activities culminated in demonstrations in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas contributing to the EU´s ability to lead innovation in support of Europe´s strategic autonomy in the maritime domain. At the same time, HENSOLDT and CAE Aviation agreed upon a strategic partnership. They signed an agreement aiming at joint development of customer specific capabilities, training and maintenance and marketing of the PrecISR product.
PrecISR translates latest achievements in active array and digital receiver technology into a scalable high-performance sensor which can be installed aboard helicopters, UAVs and fixed-wing mission aircraft. Due to its software-defined radar modes and electronic beam steering, PrecISR can fulfil different tasks virtually at the same time. It is able to detect, track and classify thousands of objects and thus literally find the ‘needle in a haystack’. Because of its compact design and the fact that all parts are located outside of the airframe, the airborne platform integration of PrecISR is simplified significantly compared to other radars. Its superior precision and target accuracy make it the sensor of choice for surveillance of large sea and coastal areas against piracy, trafficking or illicit intrusion.
01 Sep 21. BEL to provide Indian Navy with locally developed system to counter micro UAVs. The Indian Navy (IN) has awarded public-sector company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) a contract for the supply of a locally developed system designed to detect, track, and neutralise micro unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The contract, which was signed on 31 August, is for an undisclosed number of ‘Naval Anti Drone Systems (NADSs)’ featuring both soft- and hard-kill effector options. The former consists of a jammer used to suppress the control and navigation signals to the UAV, with an effective range of 3 km. The latter consists of a high-energy laser that works by directly damaging or destroying the UAV’s flight-critical systems, thereby downing it. Developed jointly by the IN, BEL, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the counter-UAV (C-UAV) system “will be an effective all-encompassing counter to the increased drone threat to strategic naval installations”, said the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) in a statement. The C-UAV system is offered in static and mobile variants, both of which will be supplied to the IN “within a short time”, stated the PIB, adding that BEL “is to sign similar contracts” with the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF). Neither the value of the IN contract nor the delivery timeline was disclosed. (Source: Jane’s)
31 Aug 21. Hanwha Systems to develop individual battlefield visualisation system for South Korean military. Hanwha Systems has secured a KRW14.5bn (USD12.5m) contract to develop a smartphone-based individual battlefield visualisation system by 2024 for use by the South Korean military, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in Seoul announced on 31 August. The individual battlefield visualisation system will link a soldier’s weapon sight with smartphone-based information processors, personal radios, and tactical multiband multirole radios (TMMRs) to provide better battlefield situation awareness and enable soldiers to acquire and share battlefield information in real time, not only among team members but also with command posts, DAPA noted in a statement. On 30 August Hanwha Systems secured a KRW14.5bn contract to develop a new individual battlefield visualisation system for use by the South Korean military that is expected to be completed by 2024. (DAPA)
“The individual battlefield visualisation system is the first weapon system that uses commercial smartphones in battlefields,” noted Choi Jong-yeop, head of DAPA’s science system project team. According to the agency, the use of a smartphone-based information processors improves team-level combat ability and increases soldier survivability. A soldier’s direct exposure to enemy fire is reduced as information on the combat situation is shared in real time and this can be used to quickly engage targets while under cover, DAPA added.
The new individual battlefield visualisation system will be particularly useful for frontline search general outpost (GOP) units and special forces conducting search and counter-terrorism operations near the Korean Demilitarised Zone, DAPA added. (Source: Jane’s)
30 Aug 21. Booz Allen Hamilton “objects to USAF USD82.7m C-UAS contract award to Leidos.” Washington Technology and UAS Vision report that Booz Allen Hamilton is objecting to an award that went to Leidos to support US Air Force efforts to counter unmanned aircraft.
According to Washington Technology: “Under the USD82.7m task order contract, the Air Force is looking for systems engineering and integration services. The contract was competed under pool 3 of the GSA OASIS vehicle. The order supports what the Air Force calls ‘counter-small unmanned aircraft systems engineering and integration” efforts. Booz Allen is arguing that if the evaluation had been done properly, it would have been picked over Leidos. The Government Accountability Office says it will have a decision by December 2.”
For more information
https://washingtontechnology.com/blogs/editors-notebook/2021/08/booz-drone-protest.aspx
https://www.uasvision.com/2021/08/30/booz-allen-challenges-usaf-c-uas-award-to-leidos/ (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
31 Aug 21. Northrop Grumman Delivers Advanced Multifunction Sensor System to AFRL and DARPA. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) delivered the Arrays at Commercial Timescales Integration and Validation (ACT-IV) system to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The system is based on an advanced digital active electronically scanned array (AESA) that completed multiple successful demonstrations and acceptance testing at Northrop Grumman test facilities.
Northrop Grumman tests its Arrays at Commercial Timescales Integration and Validation (ACT-IV) digital AESA system for the AFRL and DARPA at the company radar range in Linthicum, Maryland. (Source: Northrop Grumman).
“The development of the ACT-IV system is a breakthrough in AESA performance and marks an important milestone in the nation’s transition to digitally reprogrammable multifunction radio frequency (RF) systems,” said William Phillips, director, multifunction systems, Northrop Grumman. “The new ACT-IV capabilities have the agility to defeat complex emerging threats and will be used to enhance the next generation of integrated circuits and AESAs that are currently in our digital AESA product pipeline.”
ACT-IV is one of the first multifunction systems based on a digital AESA using the semiconductor devices developed on the DARPA Arrays at Commercial Timescales (ACT) program. By applying the flexibility of the digital AESA, the ACT-IV system can perform radar, electronic warfare and communication functions simultaneously by controlling a large number of independent digital transmit/receive channels. The agility of the digital AESA was demonstrated during multiple demonstrations at the Northrop Grumman test range and will enable future warfighters to quickly adapt to new threats, control the electromagnetic spectrum, and connect to tactical networks in support of distributed operations.
The ACT-IV system will be a foundational research asset for the Department of Defense’s multi-service research initiative for digital radars and multifunction systems. This initiative will support a community of researchers that are developing new algorithms and software to explore the possibilities of next generation digital AESAs for national security missions.
The algorithms, software and capabilities developed on ACT-IV will transition into next generation multifunction RF systems to support advanced development programs throughout the Department of Defense.
“This delivery is the culmination of the close collaboration between the teams at AFRL, DARPA and Northrop Grumman,” said Dr. Bae-Ian Wu, ACT-IV project lead, Sensors Directorate, AFRL. “The ACT-IV system is being prepared for initial testing by the AFRL Sensors Directorate as part of a strategic investment to develop and test the technologies for multifunction digital phased array systems in an open-architecture environment for the larger DoD community.”
Northrop Grumman is the industry leader in developing mission-capable, cost-efficient, open-architecture and multi-function radar and sensor systems to observe, orient and act across all domains – land, sea, air and space. They provide the joint forces with the intelligence they need to operate safely in today’s multi-domain operational environment.
Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.
31 Aug 21. Kongsberg Geospatial Releases TerraLens 9.3 Geospatial SDK. Kongsberg Geospatial has announced the general release of TerraLens 9.3, the latest version of their real-time, high performance, software development toolkit for geospatial visualization.
In this release of TerraLens, the product development team has focused on improving performance for 3D visualization for large viewports, and on multi-domain visualization features for Joint All-Domain command and control applications. Leveraging the power of modern GPUs and multi-core processors, the latest release of TerraLens is significantly faster, with new presentations focused on enhancing situational awareness.
With increased multithreading in its map handling, TerraLens can load and display vector, raster and elevation formats smoothly without pre-processing. This is ideal for applications that have disk size constraints or for customers that have a short turn-around time between receiving map data updates and needing to use them.
For applications with stringent start-up constraints or map formats that are not optimized for quick runtime access, the pre-processing option still exists, to help ensure minimal time for an initial map display.
The rendering of maps and dynamic presentations has also been optimized with increased threading in the graphics kernel, and the minimization of costly graphics state changes with batched rendering calls. Improved data culling ensures that only those items that are actually visible will be rendered. These improvements are especially noticeable when displaying large numbers of dynamic tracks and objects, and frequently projected information.
This release of TerraLens also includes a slate of new tools and features. “While improving performance is a passion for TerraLens developers, we’ve also listened to the requests of our customers for newer, high impact visual presentations”, explained TerraLens product manager Annette Gottstein.
New features include support for OGC 3D Tiles, which can be used to create a high-resolution 3D view that is especially suited to cityscapes, while a new API to control the resolution of the terrain mesh allows applications to balance runtime performance with higher resolution terrain over which to drape map imagery.
Elevation warnings can now be displayed using color ramps on both terrain and OGC 3D Tiles, as well as on primitive lines and area fills.
TerraLens 9.3 also includes new Geo/WorldHeatMap classes that provide a flexible and intuitive way to perceive density of points on a map, which will give developers new ways of visualizing important data in their applications.
TerraLens continues to evolve to meet the latest map and symbology standards. Support has been added for the latest military symbology, providing MIL-STD-2525D and App-6B symbol sets.
The SDK also features new mapping updates including enhanced support to discover WMS and WMTS map layers as well as monitoring the status of web requests. Support has been added for DAFIF 8.1 and S-57 Inland ENC levels. Developers will also have the ability to track when maps have completed loading in the TerraLens viewport.
TerraLens 9.3 also continues to support the latest development environment needs, including Visual Studio 2019, CLI .Net Core, and Linux RedHat8.
“Kongsberg Geospatial has long prided itself on the continual evolution of our TerraLens geospatial visualization SDK”, said Ranald McGillis, President, Kongsberg Geospatial. “We’ve made a significant investment in research and development over the past few years, and we’re happy to be able make the fruits of that effort available to engineers and developers in this version of TerraLens.”
TerraLens, Kongsberg Geospatial’s industry-leading geospatial visualization platform, has been fielded in some of the most demanding applications in the world including AEGIS, Global Hawk, THAAD, NATO AWACS, and the Joint Battle Command-Platform. (Source: UAS VISION)
01 Sep 21. Silent Sentinel expands thermal imaging range with new EVO2 technology. British threat detection specialist Silent Sentinel (www.silentsentinel.com) has announced the launch of a new range of thermal sensors to complement its existing platforms. The EVO2 range of uncooled Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) thermal sensors will utilize the very latest in both thermal core and lens technology, providing advanced detection capabilities in the most extreme conditions. The range will be available to view in-person at DSEI 2021, at Silent Sentinel’s Stand H1-438 in the Security Zone.
The EVO2 range will be available within the existing Oculus, Aeron, Osiris, and Jaegar camera platforms, all available within the hard anodised, rugged housing which is tested to an IP67 level of environmental protection. The EVO2 thermal cameras are also capable of operating within a temperature range from -30°C to 65°C.
One of the key features of the EVO2 range is the standardisation of features which are typically provided by competitors as optional extras. For example, the EVO2 range will feature push autofocus as standard on Silent Sentinel’s zoom lens cameras, along with a 12μm pixel pitch as standard, which improves the range performance of the camera. The EVO2 range will also capture thermal images in 640×512 resolution but will also be available in 1024×768 (XGA resolution). The standardisation of these features encapsulates Silent Sentinel’s status as an early adopter of new and innovative technologies which are typically unavailable in the wider market.
Silent Sentinel will be showcasing the EVO2 Oculus continuous rotation dual sensor PTZ camera on their stand in the Security Zone at DSEI 2021 from Tuesday 14th September to Friday 17th September. The EVO2 Oculus offers uncooled LWIR thermal fixed lens options up to 35mm, 360°continuous rotation with pan and tilt speeds up to 180°per second, a wiper on the HD visible sensor as standard, and inverted, upright or inclined mounting options.
James Longcroft, Sales Director at Silent Sentinel said, “The EVO2 range of thermal sensors exemplifies Silent Sentinel’s status as a supplier of platforms equipped with innovative technologies as standard, and our ambition to consistently provide best-in-class thermal imaging threat detection systems. We look forward to showcasing our cutting-edge thermal core and lens technology alongside our brand-new products on our stand at DSEI.”
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Blighter Surveillance Systems is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of best-in-class electronic-scanning ground-based radars, surveillance solutions and Counter-UAS systems. Blighter’s solid-state micro-Doppler products are deployed in more than 35 countries across the globe, delivering consistent all-weather security protection and wide area surveillance along borders, coastlines, at military bases and across critical infrastructure such as airports, oil and gas facilities and palaces. Blighter radars are also used to protect manoeuvre force missions when deployed on military land vehicles and trailers, and its world-beating multi-mode radar represents a great leap in threat detection technology and affordability for use in a variety of scenarios.
The Blighter range of radar products are used for detecting a variety of threats, from individuals on foot to land vehicles, boats, drones and low-flying aircraft at ranges of up to 32 km. Blighter Surveillance Systems employs 40 people and is located near Cambridge, UK, where it designs, produces and markets its range of unique patented solid-state radars. Blighter prides itself on being an engineer-led business committed to providing cost-effective and flexible solutions across the defence, critical infrastructure and national security markets.
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