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24 Feb 14. Air Force to Test Raytheon Team’s Hyperspectral UAV Sensor. The U.S. Air Force will test a hyperspectral imaging sensor developed by a Raytheon-lead contracting team for the service’s MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft, Military & Aerospace Electronics reported Sunday. John Keller writes the Air Force intends to negotiate a contract with Raytheon for the flight testing of a pod-based Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System-Hyperspectral system. Raytheon is also working with L3 Communications‘ integrated optical systems unit and Exelis‘ space computer subsidiary on the ACES-Hy program, according to the report. ACES-Hy is designed to help military surveillance personnel track concealed objects such as hidden improvised explosive devices, according to the article. Hyperspectral systems work to process spectral signatures and detect light waves across an electromagnetic spectrum, according to Keller. (Source: Open Source Information Report/ExecutiveBiz)
25 Feb 14. USS John Paul Jones validates AWS capability. The US Navy’s third Arleigh Burke-class guided missile ship, USS John Paul Jones
(DDG 53), has successfully conducted live-fire trials of the Aegis Weapons System (AWS). During the testing, the vessel used its onboard AN/SPY-1D (MOD) radar to engage the AQM-37C target, which was launched from Naval Air Station Point Mugu, and validated the US Navy’s AWS ability to detect, track and fire upon a target simulating a high-speed cruise missile. The latest-generation Aegis Baseline 9C weapon system on-board USS John Paul Jones developed a fire control solution and launched the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2), which successfully destroyed the target. In addition to defending itself against the same type of target, the ship simultaneously engaged a simulated ballistic missile threat as part of a second test. Based on data collected from the trials, programme officials will carry out extensive assessment and evaluation, while USS John Paul Jones will further undergo operations and training within 3rd Fleet’s area of responsibility. USS John Paul Jones’s baseline nine upgrades include an overall AWS upgrade, with an enhanced SPY-1D radar for anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defence in support of integrated air and missile defense (IAMD). John Paul Jones can operate independently and perform missions in support of a carrier strike group, expeditionary strike group or surface action group. Capable of conducting sustained combat operations supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence, the vessels of the class can operate in a network-centric warfare environment, as well as perform multi-mission tasking to include air, surface, undersea, space and cyber warfare. (Source: naval-technology.com)
25 Feb 14. Northrop deploys common imagery processor to support USAF’s Block 40 Global Hawk. Northrop Grumman has deployed a virtual common imagery processor (CIP) at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, US, to support the US Air Force’s (USAF) RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The CIP installation was primarily intended to address an urgent outstanding USAF requirement for Global Hawk sensor operators to be able to view and respond to real-time processed imagery. Northrop’s CIP programme personnel installed an image quality checker (IQC), comprising a single server using just 3.5in of rack space, and then connected it to the Grand Forks networks to receive inputs from both of the Block 40 mission control elements (MCEs) on the airbase. Deployed following approval from the Global Hawk Program Office, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the virtual CIP is designed to handle dual simultaneous data streams and output imagery in up to ten different locations. The USAF conducted a Block 40 test flight in late May 2013, during