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
AF deploys infrared staring sensor via commercial launch
SES Government Solutions, Orbital Sciences and Science Applications International have teamed with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to launch a new infrared surveillance sensor into orbit via an SES-2 commercial satellite.
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
iPhone app to fly drones in the works
A new iPhone app prototype may one day enable warfighters to control drones from the battlefield.
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
Army to test robotic squad support system in Afghanistan
The Army's Rapid Equipping Force will send four Squad Mission Support Systems to the 10th Mountain Division in southern Afghanistan in November.
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
DOD program secures defense contractor networks – for now
Since its launch in May a Defense Department trial program has been successfully defending some 20 defense contractors' networks and, thus, some of the nation's critical data. However, it is unclear what will happen to the program after mid-November.
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
Senate confirms Carter to serve in DOD's No. 2 post
The Senate Sept. 23 confirmed the nomination of Ashton Carter to take over as the Defense Department's next deputy defense secretary.
Defense Systems
US, South Korean exercise finds glitch in intell software
U.S. and South Korean military intelligence analysts experienced repeated problems when the Distributed Common Ground System-Army went offline recently during a training exercise.
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
Yemen, Somalian drone wars drive US to open African bases
The United States' presence in Africa is vital to fighting militants in Yemen and Somalia. So does that mean more bases could be on their way?
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
LightSquared's proposals not viable, general says
LightSquared's proposed network cannot exist with the U.S. military's Global Positioning System technology, said Gen. William Shelton.
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