U.S. Air Force and MDA To Net Sensors

November 2, 2009 by Matthew Potter · 1 Comment
Filed under: Editorial 

raytheon sensor integration mda air forceRaytheon was awarded a contract last week to begin prototype development of an architecture to integrate U.S. Air Force and Missile Defense Agency (MDA) sensors. The contract is only worth $3 million so this idea is only at the very beginning of development. The Air Force operates the strategic space sensors for the United States. MDA has invested in a series of radars and other systems based on sea and land to support their mission. From the sound of it this contract is to see if a system may be built that integrates data from both sets of sensors and displays them together.

This capability exists already but it may not be in one system and may require some interface between humans. This will aid in sorting out targets and perhaps even if it works out get good enough data to support fire control solutions. Of course like with many of these kind of development programs it may prove hard to do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kecko/ / CC BY 2.0

CACI International To Support Army Night Vision Development Efforts

CACI International was awarded a contract by the U.S. Army to support is Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM). If all options are awarded for this three year contract it will be worth up to fifty million dollars. CACI International will be providing direct support to the Infrared Focal Plane Array (FPA) Technology (IFT) branch of RDECOM.

This organization conducts research and development of advanced night vision and sensors. This is a continuation contract for the company. They will help with the development and testing of systems to improve target detection and acquisition. The U.S. military’s investment in advanced night vision systems provides a major advantage to it in its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

British contract for Roke manpack systems

September 8, 2009 by admin · Comment
Filed under: Syndicated Industry News 

LONDON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The British Defense Ministry has contracted Roke Manor Research to deliver manpacks with sensors, antennas and software to support ongoing operations.

MDA Awards Boeing Contract for Missile Defense

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded Boeing the FY09 option to continue work on the Ground Based Mid-Course Defense program. Business Week reports that the contract is worth about $250 million. This is the system that used to be called National Missile Defense (NMD) with sensors and missiles based in Alaska. There are also other radars and sensor scattered across the globe. The contract has an FY10 option included in it as well. There have been some rumblings from the Democrats that this is a program they are looking at to significantly cut in the future. SmartBrief reports that Senator Levin has discussed this as an option for the next budget.

US Army continues CROWS production

Kongsberg received further work under the general CROWS contract. The Crew Remotely Operated Weapon System provides a way for soldiers to work sensors and weapons while staying under armor. Kongsberg makes parts of the overall system and this is a continuation of earlier contracts. The overall CROWS contract is worth over $1 B, and this contract has a value of over $200 M.

See The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com for more.

Congress protests DDG-100 cancellation

Recently the US Navy announced that it was not going to continue the DDG-100 program. Two ships are under construction by Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. Not unexpectedly the Senators from the affected states, mainly Massachusetts and Maine, have protested. See an article here. The major recent the Navy cites is the continued cost growth of the program. The first two were projected at under $4 B each, but now the estimates are over $5.5 B. Other than the shipbuilders, Raytheon is the most affected company as it was building the combat system of sensors for the ship. The Navy intends to continue production of the DDG-51 class instead. Read more

Looking to buy DRS

This article discusses the idea that Finmeccanica, the Italian defense conglomerate, is looking at DRS Technology for an American acquisition. Like EADS and BAE the Italian company has been expanding its presence in the US. Its helicopter arm, Augusta Westland, won the VH-71 Presidential helicopter teamed with Lockheed Martin and is also trying to win the CSAR-X recompete post-protest. DRS which makes advanced sensors and electronics while providing SETA services has long been an attractive take over target. It’s stock though has done very well recently and for Finmeccanica to buy it would require a substantial investment. Read more

BAE buys batteries for Future Combat Systems (FCS)

BAE placed an order with Saft to provide lithium-ion batteries. See the press release here. These batteries will be used by BAE in the FCS Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV). FCS is a system of systems that includes various vehicles and sensors. Saft has already provided batteries for the Non-Line of Site Cannon, the first FCS system that will be deployed. The batteries will be used in a hybrid battery power system for the vehicles. It will be interesting to see how this application of technology will work in the future.

UMass Lowell Nanomanufacturing R&D Gains $4 Million in Defense Bill

LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UMass Lowell will receive $4 million for nanomanufacturing research and development under a defense appropriations bill passed by Congress Saturday and signed by President Obama Monday. “UMass Lowell is the place to go for nanotech-based products that will work in battlefield conditions,” said Chancellor Marty Meehan. “The sensors developed will be the proverbial canary in a coalmine for soldiers – determining whether an area is free of bio

Add to digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Add to Reddit Add to Google Add to Yahoo My Web Email this Article

>