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27 Dec 17. DroneShield is pleased to announce that its DroneGun MKII product has been certified as compliant for human exposure, in connection with requests by potential governmental end-users, in relation to their procurement processes. EMC Technologies, a specialist SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) measurement NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities) approved laboratory for global certifications, has certified DroneShield’s DroneGun MKII as compliant with the ARPANSA EN 62311 and EN 62209-1 (Australian and New Zealand Communications and Media Authority requirements for human exposure to radio frequencies) within the specific frequency bands of operation which cross references to the international ICNIRP standard. The certification was obtained in response to the DroneGun product advancing through procurement processes with a number of major defence and other government agencies internationally, for which this was a requirement requested by several agencies. This international certification further underscores the leadership position of the DroneGun product, and is expected to assist the purchasing processes by the relevant government end-users.
28 Dec 17. DAPA to restart development of radar and countermeasures systems. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has announced plans to restart indigenous programmes to develop a long-range radar and an aerial infrared countermeasures system.
In a statement on 26 December, DAPA also confirmed indigenous programmes to start mass producing a new automatic command-and-control system and an improved variant of the Cheongung Korean medium-range surface-to-air missile (KM-SAM). Furthermore, DAPA said it has finalised its latest five-year defence industrial development plan.
Following a meeting of its business promotion committee, DAPA said the programmes to restart development of the radar and countermeasures system for the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) is a result of flaws found in existing projects to develop the two respective technologies. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
27 Dec 17. US Deploys AI Algorithms on ScanEagle. Earlier this month at an undisclosed location in the Middle East, computers using special algorithms helped intelligence analysts identify objects in a video feed from a small ScanEagle drone over the battlefield. A few days into the trials, the computer identified objects — people, cars, types of building — correctly about 60 percent of the time. Just over a week on the job — and a handful of on-the-fly software updates later — the machine’s accuracy improved to around 80 percent. Next month, when its creators send the technology back to war with more software and hardware updates, they believe it will become even more accurate.
It’s an early win for a small team of just 12 people who started working on the project in April. Over the next year, they plan to expand the project to help automate the analysis of video feeds coming from large drones — and that’s just the beginning.
“What we’re setting the stage for is a future of human-machine teaming,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. John N.T.“Jack” Shanahan, director for defense intelligence for warfighter support, the Pentagon general who is overseeing the effort. Shanahan believes the concept will revolutionize the way the military fights.
“This is not machines taking over,” he said. “This is not a technological solution to a technological problem. It’s an operational solution to an operational problem.”
Called Project Maven, the effort right now is focusing on helping U.S. Special Operations Command intelligence analysts identify objects in video from small ScanEagle drones. In coming months, the team plans to put the algorithms in the hands of more units with smaller tactical drones, before expanding the project to larger, medium-altitude