UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE
27 Feb 08. The Lockheed Martin Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) vehicle program successfully completed its System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), signaling a new phase in the program’s development as part of the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization initiative. As a result of this recent review, Lockheed Martin will now begin to transition from the concept maturation phase into detailed design work. “The completion of the MULE PDR moves us one step closer to putting this incredible vehicle in the hands of the Soldiers,” said Rick Edwards, vice president of Tactical Missiles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The entire team demonstrated great tenacity and an incredible systems integration mindset in reaching this key milestone.” The review was conducted by a team from the FCS program office, the Army Training and Doctrine Command and the lead systems integrator partners Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation. The briefing was jointly presented by Lockheed Martin and a number of partner companies that are contributing equipment, such as radios and sensors, to the MULE.
28 Feb 08. General Atomics of San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a contract for $17,202,335. This action is for non-recurring engineering development for eh Advanced Cockpit Increment Two for Predator/Reaper Ground Control Station. At this time $7,804,672 has been obligated. 658 AESS/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-05-G-3028 0030).
25 Feb 08. The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics Robotic Systems an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a total potential value of $40m for production of the robotic Mobile Detection and Assessment and Response System (MDARS). General Dynamics Robotic Systems will manufacture the semi-autonomous security vehicles and provide spare parts, training and technical services for a five-year period. The work will be done at its Westminster, Md., production facility. Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada will receive the first four robotic security vehicles produced under this program. Since 2005, the MDARS demonstration vehicles have been evaluated at the depot logging more than 8,000 hours and 28,000 miles of service.
26 Feb 08. Aonix, a provider of complete solutions for safety- and mission-critical applications, announced the selection of the PERC Ultra virtual machine for Taranis, the UK technology demonstrator program for the next-generation of UAV for the UK MoD. With hundreds of thousands of deployments, PERC is the most widely used virtual machine technology for mission-critical applications. The PERC Ultra virtual machine offers rich JSE™-based capabilities, and predictable garbage collection, while PERC Pico provides the low-level access and small latencies that are often required for close-to-the-silicon applications. PERC technologies are more predictable and reliable than other Java solutions, while offering much higher productivity and lower lifetime costs than C/C++ applications development.