Defense Systems
Army, Marines to test 'throwable' robots in Afghanistan
The Defense Department is in the process of responding to a joint urgent operational needs statement for an ultra-llght recon robot capable of supporting dismounted operations in Afghanistan.
Defense Systems
JTRS radios and waveforms stretch the battlefield network
Brig. Gen. Michael Williamson, joint program executive officer for the Joint Tactical Radio System, discusses the latest developments for the JTRS radios and waveforms.
Defense Systems
DOD wants bug-like eyes for micro air vehicles
The Defense Department has distributed research awards to a number of contractors to make bug-eye structures and micro-feather/hair-covered membrane wings for micro air vehicles that will enable such vehicles to interact with the environment on their own using capabilities similar to those of insects and birds.
Defense Systems
WIN-T increments stretch the comms range
Col. Edward Swanson, project manager for the Army PEO C3T's WIN-T program, and his deputies discuss the next phases of the program.
Defense Systems
Drone strike on Awlaki reflects ongoing counter-terrorism shift
The killing of U.S.-born, al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen Sept. 30 by armed drones is yet another example in recent months of how the United States is placing increased reliance on precision airstrikes over conventional warfare to counter radical Islam.
Defense Systems
Air Force wants industry to streamline space programs
The Air Force's acquisition chief has called on the space industry to reduce the complexity of space programs, cut launch costs, and shorten development times, as the military service struggles to deal with a flattening budget from 2012 to 2016.
Defense Systems
Air Force mulls scale back of ISR programs
The Air Force has some tough decisions to make concerning which intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs to cut as it scales down to a smaller intelligence force structure capable of meeting various types of threats in future decades.
Defense Systems
Navy orders improved JTRS tactical data links
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has awarded engineering development orders totaling more than $15 million to ViaSat to furnish MIDS JTRS terminals that will facilitate the transmission of voice and data and increase warfighter situational awareness.
Defense Systems
Navy looks to ultra-endurance UAV for critical comms link
The Navy has expressed an interest in the a solar-powered, ultra-endurance unmanned aircraft under development by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as a way to furnish communications to carrier strike groups if satellites are knocked out of service.
Defense Systems
Phantom Eye UAV slated for fuel and flight tests
Boeing plans to fly its Phantom Eye long-endurance unmanned aircraft, a project which the company is funding from its own pocket in hopes of attracting defense customers, in late October or early November at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Defense Systems
Iran putting up a fight in drone wars
Despite the existence of international sanctions, Iran is holding a domestic contest in an effort to create its own arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Defense Systems
Marine UAV operator pledges to mentor others
Sgt. Chad John, an unmanned aerial vehicle operator with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 at Camp Leatherneck in southwestern Afghanistan, spends 12 hours a day viewing the stark landscape of Afghanistan through a camera attached to a small, lightweight RQ-7B Shadow in an effort to get sharp, crisp views of areas into which fellow Marines will be patrolling.
Defense Systems
First ORS satellite in orbit passes systems check
The Air Force Space Command says the Operationally Responsive Space-1 satellite is now fully operational in the wake of successful on-orbit deployment and subsequent checkout of all systems.
Defense Systems
Air Force tackles ISR portfolio review
An effort to rebalance the Air Force's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance spending plans might be similar in its execution of the effort the military service used previously to construct a cohesive family of systems for long-range strike aircraft.
Defense Systems
Israel readies UAV 'that can reach Iran' for operations
Before year's end, the Israeli Air Force is expected to begin operating a large unmanned aerial vehicle capable of furnishing a high-altitude beyond its immediate borders.
Defense Systems
US military receives new satcom terminals for tactical units
Raytheon will deploy advanced tactical terminals for satellite communications for the U.S. military with increased capacity to transmit voice, data and video and help warfighters achieve greater situational awareness.
Defense Systems
Global Hawk ground station to cover international variants
A common ground station under development for Air Force and Navy versions of Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk also will be able to control NATO and other international variants of the high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle.
Defense Systems
Predator UAV crashes in northwestern Pakistan
An armed Predator unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the United States crashed in Pakistan's rugged northwestern tribal district of Waziristan Sept. 18 as a result of a technical malfunction.
Defense Systems
Pentagon orders more high-capacity satellites
Boeing announced Sept. 13 that it has won a $1.1 billion Air Force satellite contract, which makes the win the fourth major satellite contract the defense contractor has landed in the past two years.
Defense Systems