BBN chooses Objectivity database tools for military mission planner
Officials of BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Mass., needed database management software to help them build their World Wide Web-based military planning system called Web Planner. The Objectivity/DB object-oriented database management system software from Objectivity Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., met their needs. The BBN Web Planner helps military leaders coordinate work among different staff members of separate commands as they carry out complex maneuvers of joint military operations. The Web Planner offers analysis tools on Web pages to help staff members work together smoothly and quickly. For more information contact Objectivity by phone at 650-254-7100, by fax at 650-254-7171, by post at 301B East Evelyn Ave., Mountain View, Calif. 94041, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.objectivity.com/. — J.K.
Thomson-CSF to provide simulators to Tiger helicopter crews
Officials of OCCAR, the European agency that manages the Franco-German Tiger helicopter program, chose Thomson Training & Simulation to supply simulators for Tiger crew members. The simulation program is worth as much as $277 million and includes the entire range of crew training devices and systems for all Tiger variants, from the computer-aided training system and cockpit procedures training, to full mission simulators, Thomson officials say. OCCAR, short for Organization for Joint Armaments Cooperation, manages the Tiger program for the French and German governments. — J.K.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems wins SEI level-4 software certification
Software engineers at the Lockheed Martin Information Systems division in Orlando, Fla., are steadily improving their abilities in software engineering. The division has been certified to Level-4 of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model, which measures how efficiently a company can write reliable and maintainable software. The model ranks companies from one, the lowest, to five, the highest. The SEI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and operated by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. For more information contact the SEI by phone at 412-268-5800, by post at Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213-3890, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/. — J.K.
Sarnoff to develop imaging technology for Next-Generation Internet
U.S. Department of Defense researchers are choosing experts at Sarnoff Corp. in Princeton, N.J., to develop imaging and information-capabilities for the federal Next-Generation Internet program. They are to help them develop the necessary technology. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., awarded Sarnoff a $5.3 million contract to develop core camera, communication, and processing subsystems for real-time telepresence in support of the Next Generation Internet program. Overseeing government efforts to develop the Next-Generation Internet are the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy, NASA, and the National Institutes of Health. — J.K.
Latest F-16 fighter features advanced computing, displays, and sensors
Leaders of the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, are delivering F-16 jet fighters to the U.S. Air Force that have new computers, displays, and sensors. Lockheed Martin officials have delivered the first of six F-16Cs in the 1997 contract to the Air Force. The new jets represent substantial technological improvements over the previous-version Block 50 F-16s, Lockheed Martin officials say. The new F-16Cs feature new Raytheon modular mission computers; Honeywell commercial off-the-shelf multifunction displays and color programmable display generators; Teac color airborne video tape recorders; Lockheed Martin Fairchild color cockpit TV sensors; and Litton on-board oxygen-generation systems. The MMC and color cockpit, which are new to the Air Force, were previously introduced on international F-16s. For information contact Lockheed Martin on the World Wide Web at http://www.lmaeronautics.com/. — J.K.
DRS to provide flight-control computers for Canadian helicopters
Avionics designers at the Smiths Industries Aerospace Display and Control Systems unit in Cheltenham, England, needed flight-control computers for their work on Canadian Cormorant, Merlin, and other helicopter variants from E.H. Industries Ltd. in London. They found the computers they needed from the DRS Technologies Flight Safety and Communications unit in Carleton Place, Ontario. DRS officials announced the $3.6 million contract July 5. The contract value could exceed $14 million if Smiths Industries exercises all options, DRS officials say. Two DRS Flight Control Computers will go aboard each helicopter. Under the agreement, DRS also provides Emergency Avionics Systems (EAS) 3000 for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy Merlin and Royal Air Force support helicopters, Canada's Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters, Italy's MMI helicopters, and Japan's Tokyo metropolitan police helicopters. — J.K.
Lockheed Martin Team to modernize NORAD systems under $1.5 billion contract
U.S. Air Force leaders chose Lockheed Martin Corp. to integrate about 40 command-and-control systems of the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD), and U.S. Space Command under terms of a $1.5 billion contract. Engineers from Lockheed Martin and its industry team are to modernize air, missile, and space command-and-control (C2) systems into a common, interoperable C2 information technology infrastructure, Lockheed Martin officials say. The project is to give NORAD and Space Command leaders the flexibility to handle future threats. For more information use the World Wide Web to contact Lockheed Martin at http://www.lmco.com/missionsystems/. — J.K.
TRW nears production start of indium phosphide IC production
TRW officials are installing manufacturing equipment in a newly constructed facility for a high-volume production line for indium phosphide (InP) semiconductors. The facility will produce TRW's InP devices for communications applications such as fiber optic transmission, mobile wireless communications, and broadband wireless services. TRW operates an indium phosphide production line that produces InP chips on 3-inch wafers. The new production line will produce 4-inch wafers in volume quantities beginning in the second half of 2001. Key applications for InP include high-power, extremely efficient microwave circuits for broadband wireless communications and advanced capabilities for satellite applications, TRW officials say. — J.K.
MagneTek offers high-efficiency DC-DC power converters
MagneTek Inc. in Nashville, Tenn., unveiled a line of power converters that switch high-voltage direct current (DC) into the low-voltage DC necessary for delicate electronic distributed circuitry. The DC-DC converters provide 50 to 150 watts of power, and operate at efficiency levels of 88 to 90 percent. The devices are half-brick size for backward compatibility, yet cut system power consumption, operating temperature, and design cost, company officials say. The new converters' nominal input voltage is 48 volts, ranging from 36 to 72 volts DC. Initially available in output voltages of 5.0, 3.3, and 2.0 volts DC, their maximum output current is 30 amperes. For more information contact MagneTek by phone at 615-316-5100, by fax at 615-316-5192, by post at 26 Century Blvd., Suite 600, Nashville, Tenn. 37214, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.magnetek.com/. — J.K.
DRS to help Marine Corps boost firepower of M1A1 main battle tank
DRS Technologies Inc. in Parsippany, N.J., won a U.S. Marine Corps contract to build prototypes of a forward looking infrared thermal imaging system for the gunner's sighting system on the Marine Corps M1A1 Abrams main battle tank. The new imaging system will increase the M1A1's imaging resolution, targeting range, detection capability, and reliability, DRS officials say. DRS is doing the work under terms of a $2.2 million contract to start the first phase of the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank Firepower Enhancement Program (FEP). The DRS thermal imaging system consists of a thermal receiver unit and a binocular image control unit, which replace four units that comprise the M1A1 platform's existing thermal sight. The new system uses a 480-by-4-pixel infrared focal plane array from the DRS Infrared Technologies unit in Dallas. For more information contact DRS on the World Wide Web at http://www.drs.com. — J.K.
ComTeq to provide storage area network for U.S. Air Force headquarters
Leaders of the U.S. Air Force are choosing ComTeq Federal Inc. of Rockville, Md., to provide a storage area network for the U.S. Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon, ComTeq officials say. Air Force officials awarded ComTeq a $2 million contract to provide a high-bandwidth, automated data protection and recovery system to support more than 200 Windows NT servers located in the Pentagon and four other Air Force Headquarter sites in and around Washington. — J.K.
Motorola unveils GPS on a chip for embedded applications
Officials of the Motorola Integrated Electronic Systems Sector (IESS) in Elk Grove Village, Ill., are introducing their single-chip Global Positioning System (GPS) called Oncore. This chip will enable embedded systems integrators to add GPS capability to a broad range of military and commercial products such as cell phones, handheld computers, and even children's toys, company officials say. Oncore, which measures 8 by 8 millimeters, is the smallest GPS ever from Motorola — smaller than a dime, according to a Motorola statement. Oncore integrates the 1.5 GHz RF front end and the digital baseband processing into one die. For more information contact Motorola by phone at 847-576-5000, by fax at 847-576-5372, by post at 1303 East Algonquin Road, Schaumburg, Ill 60196, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.motorola.com/. — J.K.
National Semiconductor rolls out tiny 8-bit A-D converters
National Semiconductor Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif., introduced two new 8-bit A-D converters that require 2.5 times less board area than the alternative 24-pin thin shrink small outline package (TSSOP) for the same chip design, company officials say. National's new A-D converters, the ADC08351 and ADC1175-50, come in proprietary chip-scale 24-pin leadless packages that measure 4 by 5 by 0.8 millimeters. The ADC08351 operates at 42 megasamples per second, typically consuming 40 milliwatts from a 3-volt power supply. The ADC1175-50 operates to 50 megasamples per second with input frequencies to one-half the clock frequency. For more information contact National Semiconductor by phone at 408-721-5000, by fax at 408-739-9803, by post at 2900 Semiconductor Drive, P.O. Box 58090, Santa Clara, Calif. 95052, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.national.com/. — J.K.
Harris offers new software for microwave radio path planning
The Harris Corp. Microwave Communications Division in Redwood Shores, Calif., released a microwave radio path planning software package that enables technicians to plan digital microwave paths. The package, called StarLink 2.1, helps microwave path designers quickly determine the best radio, frequency band, capacity, protection, and diversity options for the given path, as well as the appropriate antenna sizes and feeder type to meet performance and availability criteria. StarLink 2.1 computes the received signal level, multipath availability and reliability, and rain outage for Harris microwave digital radio links. For more information contact Harris by phone at 650-594-3000, by fax at 650-594-3284, by post at 350 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood Shores, Calif. 94065, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.harris.com/communications/. — J.K.
Lockheed Martin contacts suppliers with streamlined data exchange standard
Leaders of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas, are using a new standard for technical data exchange with their suppliers to improve accuracy, lower costs, and speed delivery of aircraft parts. The standard is STEP, short for Standard for the Exchange of Product model data, developed by a government/industry consortium called PDES Inc. Lockheed Martin is a founding member of the consortium, which has 20 members. Traditionally, large volumes of engineering data were transmitted manually in hard copies to potential suppliers in bid packages. Data often had to be interpreted and reentered into different data systems, resulting in time delays and errors. Using STEP, data can be quickly and accurately transmitted electronically to first-tier suppliers, and if needed, retransmitted to lower- tier suppliers. Lockheed Martin leaders implemented STEP in a pilot program in 1996 on the F-16 jet fighter program. For more information contact Lockheed Martin on the World Wide Web at http://www.lockheedmartin.com. — J.K.
Lockheed Martin set to upgrade Air Force GPS IIR satellites
U.S. Air Force officials are asking engineers at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif., to modernize as many as 12 Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIR satellites under terms of a $53 million contract. Lockheed Martin will modify the GPS IIR to include a second civil signal and two new military signals. In addition, the GPS IIR modifications will include increased signal power and the ability to reprogram signals and power on orbit to improve accuracy and resistance to jamming. Work on this development contract will be in Lockheed Martin's facility in Valley Forge, Pa. GPS IIR program officials say a waveform generator from ITT Industries is a key element of the GPS IIR modernization. The generator adds a new military and civilian channel to the satellite using a single broadcast carrier wave. For more information contact Lockheed Martin on the World Wide Web at http://lmms.external.lmco.com/. — J.K
Symantec expands security offerings with acquisition of Axent
Symantec Corp. leaders recently expanded their Internet security offerings by acquiring Axent Technologies Inc. in Rockville, Md. The merger, a stock-for-stock transaction of approximately $975 million, will combine the virus-protection technology of Symantec with Axent's intrusion-detection systems and security-management tools.
The combined company will provide enterprise customers with security solutions that include virus protection, content filtering, host — and network-based intrusion detection, vulnerability assessment, and firewall capabilities. The new company will also combine service offerings to provide a broad range of security services and consulting.
For more information contact Symantec on the World Wide Web at http://www.symantec.com.
