Payloads
Rafael has adopted a new strategy to increase its activities in the unmanned aircraft systems sector, and is offering operators platform upgrades using its payloads and other systems. The Israel-based defence development firm abandoned efforts to get into the UAS business as a platform developer, and has previously signed a
Data Links & Communications
Military communications systems designers at Rockwell Collins will complete enhancements to the U.S. Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) over the next four years to include Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) capability -- a next-generation digital communications system that provides an aerial network layer for manned and unmanned aircraft operating
Data Links & Communications
With the number of private military contractors exceeding the number of troops on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a growing concern for keeping contractors safe is more pressing than ever. On June 28, a private contractor located near Kabul came under insurgent fire while located in an area
Data Links & Communications
A small, lightweight, embeddable radio developed by Harris Corporation has received Type 1 certification from the National Security Agency, paving the way for its use in high-security, space-constrained communications applications such as unmanned aircraft systems, vehicles and shelters. The Harris Small Secure Data Link (SSDL) provides embedded encryption capabilities in
Data Links & Communications
The US Air Force has awarded L-3 Communications Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah, a $27,936,509 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract in direct support of data link communications activities including the Automated Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance (ARGUS)-Imaging System. The contract is to provide the research, development, build, delivery, installation, integration and
Data Links & Communications
Harris Corporation and Cubic Corporation have conducted technology demonstrations that significantly enhance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) situational awareness by distributing UAS video and targeting data across wideband ground tactical communication networks. The Harris/Cubic solution integrates Cubic's Common Data Link transceiver technology for receiving video from UAS
Data Links & Communications
The Manned/Unmanned Systems Integration Capability (MUSIC) is an initiative designed to bring together both types of systems to interoperate and share a common operating picture among pilots, UAS operators and troops on the ground. MUSIC will include a demonstration at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, in
Data Links & Communications
As unmanned aircraft play an increasingly important role in defence strategies and tactics, the demands on the electronic control systems in these vehicles include extreme portability, ruggedness and safety. Every component in these systems carries with it the weight of mission success or failure - all the way down to
Data Links & Communications
A small Phoenix-based company is using federal grants to develop technology that will allow U.S. Army soldiers to control UAS for resupply missions, surveillance and zeroing in on targets. Handheld controllers will use Kutta Technologies Inc.’s software so frontline troops can control UAS in a way similar to
Data Links & Communications
When Kyle Stanbro retired from the military in 2004, he put his energies into making a lighter and more physically intuitive video receiver for ground forces to receive UAS feeds to replace the ToughBook currently in use. Called the Mover-IV, the foot-long black push-button device looks like a standard radio.
Electronic Sub-Systems
Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully demonstrated that its Heterogeneous Airborne Reconnaissance Team (HART) system increases warfighter situational awareness during a recent Spiral 7 DARPA field exercise conducted March 7-18, 2011, at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah. The HART system autonomously manages a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft and sensors and
Data Links & Communications
Northrop Grumman has contracted Thinklogical for key infrastructure systems for the U.S. Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System. Under the award, the Connecticut-based company will supply its VelocityKVM and VX Router System, the highest bandwidth system in deployment, to provide seamless interaction between flight control