Lockheed Martin to provide Marine Corps missile-defense radar upgrades
Officials at the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command chose Lockheed Martin in Syracuse, N.Y., to upgrade and provide field support for tactical missile-defense radar systems that protect allied soldiers. Lockheed Martin received a $13.8 million contract to provide new electronics-including transmitters, receivers, and power supplies-for three AN/TPS-59(V)3 radar systems and spares. The Marine Corps also awarded the company a $9 million contract to provide five years of post-production support and Contracted Engineering Technical Services (CETS) for 11 AN/TPS-59(V)3 radars. The original equipment manufacturer of the AN/TPS-59, Lockheed Martin has provided periodic updates to the system’s electronics and software, allowing the Marines Corps to cost-effectively deploy state-of-the-art protection for its troops since the mid-1980s. The mobile radar can predict missile launch and impact points, and cue defensive weapons against incoming threats. The radar can detect several targets, and detect and track small air-breathing targets like aircraft and cruise missiles. It is designed to operate with missile-defense systems like HAWK and Patriot.
Radstone to open new North American headquarters
Officials at Radstone Embedded Computing in Towcester, England, are expanding their Billerica, Mass., office. The company’s U.S. headquarters, and the majority of its functions, will transfer from Woodcliff Lake, N.J., to Billerica. The Woodcliff Lake office will remain as Radstone’s Northeastern sales and customer support office. The Radstone Billerica office opened in November 2004 and is home to Radstone’s Advanced Engineering Design Center. The first product Radstone will develop in North America is the AXIS Advanced Multi-Processing Integrated Software solution. Transfer of the headquarters functions from Woodcliff Lake will be complete by September. For more information visit www.radstone.com.
Northrop Grumman to develop network-management system
Leaders at the U.S. Air Force Electronic Systems Center at Hansom Air Force Base, Mass., selected Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in San Diego to develop the U.S. military’s next generation of joint and coalition network-management systems. The Joint Interface Control Officer (JICO) Support System will manage complex tactical networks through an automated toolset and information repository that enables planning, management, and analysis of communications before, during, and after operations. The contract, including production options, could be worth as much as $124 million through July 2008. Joint interface control officers use the JICO Support System to plan, establish, and operate tactical communications in local or wide-area theaters of operations. The ruggedized, transportable system has all the digitized data and voice communications capabilities necessary to support JICO functions and can deploy rapidly in severe environments. The Air Force is the lead acquisition service for this multiservice investment program.
AD Aerospace FlightVu CabinVu certified for Airbus A330
The FlightVu Cockpit Door Monitoring Systems (CDMS) from AD Aerospace in Manchester, England, earned a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for retrofit installation on Airbus A330 jetliner aircraft. The STC covers the line replaceable units from AD Aerospace and the installation kit designed by Aircraft Engineering and Installation Services Inc. (AEI), of Orlando, Fla. The FlightVu CDMS is certified for the B737-200/300/400/500/700/800/900, B757-200/300, B767-200/300/400, MD-80, DC-10, Fokker 70/100, and A330. The DO-160D and DO-178B certified FlightVu system provides cockpit door video security that enables pilots to directly observe in real time the area outside the flight deck door without leaving their seats. The FlightVu cockpit door monitoring system has two or three closed-circuit television (CCTVs) cameras linked to one or two LCD monitors mounted in the cockpit pedestal. The monitors provide the flight-deck crew with clear, forward viewing, real-time video of the area outside the cockpit door and in surrounding galley areas. The CCTV cameras are flush mounted to the aircraft in low profile, unobtrusive, housings. The system also includes Infra Red Illuminators that allow the area to be viewed even with cabin lights extinguished. For more visit www.ad-aero.com.
KVH fiber-optic gyros to be used on remote gun turrets
Recon/Optical in Barrington, Ill., has chosen DSP-3000 fiber-optic gyro (FOG) systems from KVH Industries in Middletown, R.I., for use in the U.S. Army’s new Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations (CROWS). The CROWS system, already in use in Iraq, enables turret gunners to operate, aim, and fire the turret weapon from inside the safety of their humvees or other vehicles. Two KVH DSP-3000 FOGs are installed in each CROWS system, providing precise stabilization and weapon recoil control, and ensuring that the weapon maintains its aim on the target. This order represents year one of a five-year contract. “The KVH DSP-3000 FOGs are at the heart of our stabilization system design,” says Steve Sarles, Recon/Optical’s engineering director for CROWS. “The accuracy of the CROWS stabilization system enables the gunner to place ‘can’t miss’ rounds on target, greatly multiplying force effectiveness while minimizing collateral damage in urban warfare environments.” Recon/Optical teams on the CROWS system with Electro Optic Systems Pty Ltd. CROWS units are fielded on several vehicle types, including the M1114 up-armored humvee for the military police, the M1116 up-armored humvee for the Air Force, and the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle for the military police. For more information visit www.fiberopticgyro.com.
LynuxWorks’ LynxOS selected by Thales for airborne communications controllers
Officials at Thales Computers in Raleigh, N.C., selected the LynxOS real-time operating system (RTOS) from LynuxWorks in San Jose, Calif., for the PowerEngine7 single-board computer (SBC) based on the IBM PowerPC 750X processor running at 733 MHz. The integrated subsystem will serve as the basis for airborne communications controllers for defense applications. Thales has incorporated LynxOS into a new subsystem, which features the PowerEngine7 and predefined third-party I/O cards inside a 2U rugged rack. The integrated subsystem provides a turnkey system qualified under RTCA/DO-160 for use in demanding airborne environments. For more on Thales Computers visit www.thalescomputers.com. For more on LynuxWorks go online at www.lynuxworks.com.
Mercury teams with Parker Hannifin for computer cooling systems
Officials at Parker Hannifin signed a co-marketing agreement with Mercury Computer Systems of Chelmsford, Mass., for an ongoing relationship between Mercury and Parker’s Advanced Cooling Systems (ACS) business unit, part of the Parker Aerospace Group. Parker ACS provides liquid cooling systems that offer customers choices in design, mechanical, and fluid-system packaging, and field-maintenance capabilities. According to Jeff O’Reilly, business development manager for Parker ACS, the agreement benefits both companies. “A relationship with Mercury gives Parker high visibility in the military COTS embedded computing market,” he said. “Mercury will benefit through access to our advanced liquid and spray cooling solutions as they apply to the higher power levels and increased heat dissipation demands of COTS-based embedded defense electronics.”
Army fuel-cell truck completes cross-country test
The U.S. Army’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Mich., said a fuel-cell-powered semi-tractor completed a cross-country trip from California to Washington, D.C. TARDEC’s National Automotive Center collaborated with SunLine Transit Agency and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to modify a standard Class 8 commercial truck by using engine electrification and a fuel-cell auxiliary power unit (APU) to complete the 2,650-mile journey. “Driving a vehicle of this size cross-country with electric power is truly a remarkable accomplishment,” says Dr. Richard McClelland, director of TARDEC. “Fuel efficiency is vital for the military. This milestone proves the viability of fue-cell technology for heavy-duty applications, and underscores TARDEC’s commitment to work with commercial industry to establish military requirements for alternative-energy-powered vehicles.” SwRI engineers converted the truck’s water pump, radiator cooling fan, air compressor, air-conditioning compressor, and air-conditioner condenser fan from engine-powered belts and pulleys to electric power. Removing these “parasitic” loads from the engine and powering them electrically enables the engine’s full motive power to propel the truck and increases the overall efficiency of the truck.
DRS to help upgrade radar systems on Navy surface ships
Engineers at DRS Technologies Inc. in Parsippany, N.J., are providing the U.S. Navy AN/SPS-67(V)5 Surface Search Radar System modernization kits for installation in the AN/SPS-67(V)3 radar systems on the Navy’s DDG-51 Aegis class combatants. The contract was issued the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington. DRS will develop and produce back-fit kits supporting the AN/SPS-67(V)5 radar-systems program. The kits will provide performance and reliability improvements to existing AN/SPS-67(V)3 radar systems. The company’s DRS Surveillance Support Systems unit in Largo, Fla., will produce the workload. Deliveries are expected to begin in June 2006 and continue through February 2008. The AN/SPS-67 radar system is a surface surveillance radar that provides highly accurate detection and tracking of surface targets and low flying aircraft, in addition to supporting ships’ navigation requirements.
Lockheed Martin finishes JTRS software radio-design review
RF experts at the Lockheed Martin Embedded Processing Laboratory in Cherry Hill, N.J., say they completed a major system design review on the Airborne, Maritime, and Fixed Station (AMF) component of the military’s Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) program. Company officials say they demonstrated key technologies that comprise the core of their proposed AMF JTRS solution, and laid out their planned architecture and design approach for the system. AMF JTRS is a transformational communications program to modernize the communications systems on fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, ground installations, and a wide range of warships and submarines. Lockheed Martin leads a team of communications, systems, and platform integrators that is competing for the AMF JTRS program. The team, which includes BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and other subcontractors, won a $51 million presystem design and development contract last September.
BAE Systems test-flies Chinook helicopter digital flight-control system
BAE Systems in Johnson City, N.Y., completed the first flight test of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS), which replaces a relatively old flight-control system on CH-47D helicopters. Boeing is upgrading 300 of those aircraft to the F-model for the U.S. Army. Its digital design is to improve reliability, maintainability, and flexibility, and include a built-in diagnostic system for detecting and analyzing system failures and faults. Following flight tests, BAE Systems is set to start building the DAFCS for first deliveries early next year. In addition to about 450 U.S. Army Chinooks, military units worldwide operate about 350 CH-47s that are potential candidates for the flight control upgrade, company officials say.
Aerospace dominates Russian trade in 2004
Russia maintained its position as one of the world’s main exporters of military aviation technology, the press service of FGUP [federal state unitary enterprise] Rosoboroneksport [state-owned arms trader] reported. “The share of aerospace products and services was around 60 percent of the total value of Rosoboroneksport’s deliveries, which in 2004 reached a record 5.12 billion dollars,” the announcement states. Russian aircraft manufacturers have taken part in nearly all of the largest regional tenders for the procurement of multirole fighter aircraft, as well as of combat, military transport, and multirole helicopters. “The Russian bids in them have been among the favorites not just in terms of value for money, traditionally Russia’s strong point. Our offset proposals, programs for the transfer of technologies and licenses, and the establishment of aircraft maintenance centers have also begun to gain in competitiveness,” the announcement reads.
