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16 Sep. 22. HENSOLDT at DVD 2022. Sensor solutions specialist HENSOLDT will be showcasing its broad portfolio, which includes solutions for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, and sensors to improve safety and operational effectiveness. Visit HENSOLDT’s Stand No. SP-16 at DVD 21-22 September, for more information on its latest technology offerings in Radar, Optronics, self-protection and C2 solutions for defence and security applications.
HENSOLDT will present advanced solutions for the armoured vehicle sector, such as MUSS – Multi-functional Self-protection System and SETAS – See Through Armour System.
SETAS is a key element of HENSOLDT’s land portfolio and is a high performance Local Situational Awareness System (LSAS) for armoured vehicles, such as armoured personnel carriers, reconnaissance vehicles, engineering support vehicles and main battle tanks. The system is designed to provide all the crew with a real time panoramic view of what is outside the vehicle. In addition to the system’s 360° coverage in azimuth, a high vertical field of view provides awareness of potential threats from above, such as those encountered when operating in urban environments. The system supports detection and identification of threats such as snipers or RPGs, so that when soldiers have to disembark, they know exactly what awaits them outside, which is extremely advantageous when operating in a contested environment.
HENSOLDT will also present its TRML-4D air defence and weapon location radar and its Twinvis passive radar, as well as its portable battlefield solutions SPEXER 360 and 600 radars, all of which are designed to provide excellent performance in all weather conditions.
A selection of boresights, weapon sights and other high-performance optics will also be showcased.
HENSOLDT’s CxEye Command and Control (C2) Software will be featured as well. This modular system combines and integrates numerous sensors (radar, electro-optics, direction finders) and target neutralization effectors such as jammers and drone catchers.
Rohan Dearlove, Business Development Director, said: “HENSOLDT exhibited at DVD 2018 and now that COVID has subsided, we are delighted to be back once more to participate in this prestigious event. Our UK footprint has expanded through the intervening years through investment in our UK facilities and SQEP, and we relish the opportunity to showcase best-in-class technologies relevant to the British Army’s current requirements and future programmes.”
HENSOLDT will also show its CERETRON solution, a pre-integrated sensor suite for infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, recce (ISR) platforms and main battle tanks, supporting reconnaissance and surveillance activities in all spectral ranges. A key element of this solution, which can be supplied as a stand-alone system suitable for retrofit, is HENSOLDT’s high performance local situational awareness system SETAS (See Through Armour System).
The system is designed to provide all crew members with a real time panoramic view of what is outside the vehicle, so that they can remain inside and protected as long and as often as possible. In addition to the system’s 360° coverage in azimuth, a high vertical field of view provides awareness of potential threats from above, such as those encountered when operating in urban environments. The system supports detection and identification of threats such as snipers or RPGs, so that when soldiers have to disembark, they know exactly what awaits them outside, which is extremely advantageous when operating in a contested environment.
SETAS works by seamlessly stitching together the video streams (i.e. high resolution daylight colour and uncooled thermal) from multiple cameras installed around the outside surfaces of the vehicle. This delivers a high detection, recognition and identification (DRI) capability, with the consolidated external image being available to the operators on internal display screens. The system can be augmented with head mounted displays (VR goggles) that enable each soldier to look around and ‘see through’ the armour, as if the vehicle were transparent. The observation capabilities of SETAS can be further enhanced by integrated automatic image processing features such as Moving Target Indication (MTI) and AI designed to detect and classify objects, for examples mines. Such features help the crew to process the large volumes of tactically useful imaging data provided by SETAS. Furthermore SETAS can integrate and display video feeds from deployed UGV’s, UAS’s and other external sources, such as vehicle Active Protection Systems, platform mounted sensors or dismounted sensors. Simple to use with intuitive controls, SETAS does not increase the cognitive burden on the crew members. HENSOLDT’s UK contribution is significant. In addition to the provision of comprehensive through life support, HENSOLDT plans to transfer significant elements of SETAS’ design, manufacture and test to its facility in Enfield. HENSOLDT continues to work closely with UK stakeholders to position SETAS as a retrofit solution, with significant UK content, for existing vehicles of various types and also for integration into planned batches of new vehicles. The system’s inherent flexibility enables the integration of existing, in service GFX as well as UK sourced capabilities to further enhance situational awareness. These include the aforementioned UK designed AI to identify threat types, triggering audio-visual alerts. HENSOLDT will be showcasing a fully operational SETAS system at the DVD 2022 event in Millbrook (Stand No. SP-16).
About HENSOLDT
HENSOLDT is a leading European defence company with a global reach. Headquartered in Taufkirchen near Munich/Germany, the company develops sensor solutions for defence and security applications. As a technology leader, HENSOLDT also continuously expands its Cyber security portfolio and develops new products to combat a wide range of threats based on innovative approaches to data management, robotics and cyber. With more than 6,400 employees, HENSOLDT generated revenues of 1.5 bn euros in 2021. HENSOLDT is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
06 Sep 22. ScioTeq Stand No. C3-616, will have the following products on display:
TX-273 – An ultra wide and rugged video display. This has not been official released.
DPM-3 – A rugged computer used in tactical vehicles and helicopters.
SV-334 – A smart rugged touchscreen display for ground vehicle applications.
TL-832 – A 32” 4K display.
GVD-126 – 1 rugged 10” smart touchscreen display
Our visualization solutions are built for mission-critical applications in the most extreme environments. The ScioTeq products can be found on military land, air and sea platforms.
11 Aug 22. Babcock inks deals to pitch Israeli tech for British radar, air defense programs. Babcock International has signed it’s second deal in a fortnight aimed at offering Israeli technology for British defense programs. The British company’s latest agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiary Elta Systems is aimed at proposing a long-range radar for the Defence Ministry’s Serpens program.
The program, valued in excess of £400 m (U.S. $486 m) is for the British Army’s next-generation weapon-locating system that needs to be able to detect and find hostile mortars, artillery and rockets.
The agreement will see Elta’s battle-proven Compact Multi-Mission Radar offered by Babcock in the U.K. Babcock said in an Aug. 11 statement that the system will be partly produced and integrated in the U.K.
Britain wants to replace its current capability, the Saab-supplied Mamba, around 2026. The Swedish company was awarded a £46 m deal in 2020 to extend the life of the program until Serpens is ready for deployment.
The agreement with IAI comes about two weeks after Babcock inked a deal with another Israeli company to propose technology to the British Army — on this occasion to offer a battle management, command, control, communications, computers and intelligence capability for a new ground-based air defense capability.
Babcock signed the memorandum of understanding with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to offer the latter’s Micad platform for the Defence Ministry’s Sky Sabre GBAD program, which is based on the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile built by the European consortium MBDA.
Babcock and Rafael have worked together in the delivery and maintenance of the Sky Sabre system since 2017, with the first units introduced to British forces in the Falklands.
“It makes clear sense for both parties to further develop the collaboration so that Micad can be readily offered into the wider land GBAD program,” Simon Holford, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance director at Babcock, said during the Farnborough Airshow last month when the tie-up was announced. (Source: Defense News)
06 Sep 22. US, British crew get a taste of Australia’s E-7A command planes. U.S. and British personnel joined a Royal Australian Air Force crew to train on the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft as part of a multinational air combat exercise here in northern Australia.
Speaking to media during a visit to RAAF Base Tindal near Katherine, detachment commander Squadron Leader Adam Paull of 2 Squadron, which operates the Australian E-7As, said that the aircraft flew alternately in support of both blue and red air missions at the exercise, as well as performing overall airspace control and management at Exercise Pitch Black. The blue and red color designations are military jargon for simulated friendly and adversary factions, respectively.
Also attending the media session was Air Battle Manager Maj. Christopher Dunn of the United States Air Force and Flight Lieutenant Sophie Gale of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force.
Both the U.S. and British air forces have ongoing acquisition programs to buy the E-7A, which is based on a commercial Boeing 737 airliner and is fitted with a Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array radar on a fairing on top of its fuselage.
Dunn said his transition to the E-7A from the current Boeing E-3 Sentrys was relatively seamless due to the relatively similarity in user interfaces on both platforms, with the key difference being the smaller number of operator consoles on the E-7A.
The the main benefits of the new plane type were the modern, electronically scanned array radar and communications suite and the improved reliability of the newer airframe, he explained.
Dunn is on a three-year tour with the Australian air service, which is expected to end in 2024 or 2025, an experience he expects to apply to the envisioned U.S. Air Force E-7A fleet. He told Defense News that there are currently three U.S. personnel embedded with 2 Sqn, including a U.S. Navy operator trained on E-2D Hawkeye carrier-borne aircraft.
He also expects the embedding of U.S. military personnel to 2 Sqn to ramp up in the coming months, as the U.S. Air Force seeks to build up a cadre of operators in the lead up to the service receiving its first aircraft in 2027.
The Royal Air Force’s Gale, who is an asset manager for the mission computing system and an engineer officer trained on helicopters, said that her service’s embedding of personnel here was not just to train operationally but also to help the UK’s E-7A project office make informed decisions about acquisition and sustainment contracts.
The RAF has around 40 maintainers, technicians, and aircrew embedded with 2 Sqn, which is normally based at Williamtown, north of Australia’s largest city Sydney on the country’s southeast coast.
Paull said the advantage of bringing over personnel from different backgrounds and trained on vastly different platforms into their own program enabled the sharing of fresh perspectives and ideas into their own systems.
During the Pitch Black exercise, which runs from Aug. 19 to Sept. 8 and involves aircraft from 10 countries, the Australian E-7A took turns flying missions alongside a Gulfstream G550 aircraft of the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
Paull told reporters that the aircraft also flew missions in support of a separate training exercise in northern Australia involving U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor and Australian F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters.
The American Raptors, which are assigned to 15th Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Hawaii, are in Australia as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) program between Australia and the United States.
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
11 Aug 22. This infantry squad vehicle is getting a laser to destroy drones. The U.S. Army is trying to integrate a 20-kilowatt laser onto its GM Defense-made Infantry Squad Vehicle that could potentially destroy drone threats, according to both the service’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and the company performing the integration work.
The program, dubbed Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser, or AMP-HEL, would serve as a means to protect infantry brigade combat teams from small drones, L. Neil Thurgood, the tech office’s director, said Aug. 10 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.
SAIC is the lead integrator per an other transaction authority agreement that allows for rapid prototyping over a five-year period, according to Greg Fortier, the company’s vice president of fires, aviation and missile defense. The company is also involved in integrating a palletized high-energy laser capable of defeating small drones, he added.
That palletized laser system was developed in conjunction with the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, and it has already been demonstrated and deployed, Jeannie Sommer, deputy director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, said at the symposium.
That office is also preparing to field its first directed-energy short-range air defense systems — a 50-kilowatt laser mounted on a Stryker combat vehicle — by the end of the fiscal year, Sommer added.
The office is also preparing to deliver the first prototypes of the Army’s Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser system, which features a truck-mounted, 300-kilowatt laser, by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
Dynetics, a Leidos company, is the integrator for the IFPC-HEL effort. Major test events are expected for the system later this year.
The Army’s pursuit to counter small drones is heating up through directed-energy solutions, among other means, including a new development: The service’s Air and Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team has taken on an effort to develop a capability that can detect, track and defeat small drones, Col. Pat Costello, the team’s new director, said on a panel at the symposium. (Source: Defense News)
12 Sep 22. BlackKite-I Infrared, Wide-Area Sensor Flown for NATO, Other Officials at ArcticX22 Exercise.
- ArcticX22 aims at developing multi-layered regional surveillance for Arctic region
- Insitu offers Logos Technologies BlackKite-I as product to Integrator UAS clients
Logos Technologies, a leader in wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) systems, announced today that it successfully demonstrated its infrared BlackKite-I WAMI system for NATO and other officials attending the ArcticX 2022 exercise, held last week in Denmark.
Designed for the payload bay of the Integrator UAS, a tactical unmanned aircraft produced by Boeing Insitu, the lightweight BlackKite-I sensor was used to image a target area during ArcticX22.
An Insitu Integrator carrying the BlackKite-I WAMI system was flown over a local island,” said Alan Murdoch, VP of International Programs for Logos Technologies, “and the wide-area imagery we collected over that area was clear and stable for the entire time we were on station.
Typically operating at an altitude of 5,000-12,000 feet, BlackKite-I can image a city-sized area in real time, day and night. The system’s Multi-Modal Edge Processor then converts gigabytes of collected data into geo-tagged imagery that can be stored locally and/or immediately streamed to users on the ground.
In being so small, yet so powerful, BlackKite-I brings an organic, force-multiplying WAMI capability to the tactical commander,” said Murdoch, “which is why there has been such strong interest in it.
Kicked off last year, the ArcticX exercise is an initiative of the IRSA Development Group (IDG), a consortium of multinational companies, including Boeing, developing a subscription-based persistent monitoring system incorporating sensors, satellites, aircraft, ground stations and command-and-control networks.
It’s a mainly sea-focused architecture (for the Arctic, and ultimately elsewhere) and Dave “Funky” Funkhouser, Insitu’s Director of International Business Development, said,
We definitely see BlackKite-I playing supporting roles in the surveillance of littoral areas, islands, ports, fishing villages, oil rigs, and offshore wind farms.
Following the success of ArcticX 2022, Murdoch said that Logos Technologies has received a number of serious inquiries from NATO and other partner nation attendees. (Source: ASD Network)
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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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