Defense Systems

JNN systems get Wideband Global Satcom network upgrade

At least 800 of the trailer-based field Satellite Transportable Terminals used by the Army will get internal circuitry changes that enable them to connect to the WGS constellation of satellites.

Defense Systems

Launch delayed for Air Force communications satellite

Construction glitches uncovered during testing will delay launch of the first advanced extremely high-frequency communications satellite from 2009 to 2010.

Defense Systems

Profile: JITC puts the "joint" in JTRS and other DOD systems

Only one organization can put a Defense Department-approved seal of interoperability on an information technology or communications system: the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Joint Interoperability Test Command.

Defense Systems

DISA reforges app development for a net-centric world

DISA's Federated Development and Certification Environment program would usher in a major change in applications development in the continuing quest for net-centricity.

Defense Systems

Advanced sensors give soldiers best battlefield picture

High-tech sensors on the battlefield are cutting through the situational awareness limitations that confront vehicle-mounted soldiers. In a time when much of the military operates in chaotic urban settings – with their potential for roadside bombs, blocked fields of view and snipers – gaining an electronic edge in situational awareness has become more important than ever before.

Defense Systems

DISA's NCES aims for enterprise transparency

Search, messaging and SOA reach to connect across service
boundaries.

Defense Systems

Joint training for joint ISR

After the Army criticized the Air Force for not being responsive enough to its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needs, the Army established in 2007 its own aviation unit in Iraq.

Defense Systems

The DMAIC methodology

When Six Sigma and Lean practices are combined, the result is a means to quantify and eliminate the cost of complexity.

Defense Systems

AMC blazes trail for Lean Six Sigma in DOD

The Army Materiel Command is breaking trail for the mandated process improvement system, which advocates say has universal applicability. However, critics warn it can inadvertently limit an organization’s ability to respond to changing circumstances.

Defense Systems

SOA puts intelligence on the map

New systems integration technologies put power behind geospatial intelligence.

Defense Systems

MIDS-JTRS enters aircraft testing and integration phase

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has placed a $9.8 million order for pre-production sets of the next generation of aircraft radio terminals, based on the Joint Tactical Radio System software-defined radio and its waveforms.

Defense Systems

JTRS-approved radios coming to Marines

Harris is delivering 9,300 handheld and 6,100 vehicle-mounted radios to the Marine Corps through the Consolidated Interim Single Channel Handheld Radio Program.

Defense Systems

Battlespace awareness helps commanders hit targets

When Taliban insurgents nearly overran a U.S.-run outpost, air support was urgent and necessary. Military commanders in Afghanistan responded with 2,000-pound bombs, a Hellfire missile from an unmanned air system and other munitions. They monitored the battle on live video feeds by using the Persistent Surveillance and Dissemination System of Systems.

Defense Systems

Blue Force Tracking system’s next gen comes closer to real time

The Blue Force Tracking (BFT) system — only a few years ago a wonder of battlespace technology — is in the midst of an upgrade. BFT is a building block of operational awareness. It transmits the location of friendly forces via a satellite connection. Unlike the Enhanced Position Location Reporting System, another location-tracking system, BFT doesn’t rely on terrestrial line-of-sight transmissions for connectivity.

Defense Systems

Revolution is televised

The One System Remote Video Terminal is a small, portable system that has a big effect on battlespace awareness. It’s a key functionality of Task Force ODIN, which is an Army unit dedicated to spotting and killing insurgents who plant improvised explosive devices. ODIN stands for stands for observe, detect, identify and neutralize.

Defense Systems

Battlefield satcom

When the 3rd Infantry Division outran its ability to erect line-of-sight communication antennas during the charge to Baghdad, losing its terrestrial radio capacity, the planners knew something needed to change.

Defense Systems

Coast Guard stretches with Deepwater

After decades of using aging communications equipment and ships, the Coast Guard is attempting to create a comprehensive command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) system.

Defense Systems

COTS creates challenge

Almost every version of Microsoft’s operating systems can be found in the military, and the Army only recently upgraded its Standard Army Maintenance System from MS-DOS to Windows XP.