WASHINGTON, 21 Feb. 2012. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) would continue its decline next year if Congress approves the DOD's fiscal 2013 request for $69.65 billion for military-related research. Next year's Pentagon RDT&E request is down nearly 14 percent from recent-year peak spending of $80.92 billion in 2010, according to DOD budget documents.

PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE, 21 Feb. 2012.There’s one thing all electronics need, and that’s power. Power supplies and converters are important parts of the system they inhabit, and as such need to meet rigorous standards lest the entire system shut down for want, or excess, of power. Systems integrators who are looking to purchase power supplies and converters need to weigh reliability, weight, power and cost carefully.

WASHINGTON, 20 Feb. 2012. Defense systems upgrades and technology-insertion programs, which are in place to keep today's military ships, ground, vehicles, aircraft, and other platforms in the field for as long as possible while improving system capability, represents a $14.44 billion market in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) 2013 budget request submitted to Congress last week.

Nashua, N.H., Feb. 20, 2012. Skyler Frink reports on software currently available to warfighters, and looks into what future applications may be developed.

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 19 Feb. 2012. U.S. Navy aircraft specialists needed several sizes of advanced multi-purpose displays for the avionics systems of the Navy Lot 35 F/A-18F jet fighter-bomber and EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft. They found their solution from the Honeywell Inc. Defense & Space Electronic Systems segment in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON, 19 Feb. 2012. U.S. Navy officials are looking to the Lockheed Martin Corp. Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2) segment in Syracuse, N.Y., and partner Atlas Elektronik GmbH in Bremen, Germany, to build the Shipboard Mine Neutralization System-Seafox (SMNS-SF), as well as for refurbishing and overhaul of the AN/SQQ-32 Airborne Mine Neutralization System-Seafox (AMNS-SF), under terms of a $45.6 million contract awarded Friday.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Electronic warfare and electro-optics-related countermeasures are shaping up to be among the few real growth areas of the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget, which the Obama Administration submitted to Congress this week. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend $4.95 billion next year for electro-optic and electronic warfare work, which represents growth of 7.6 percent over the $4.6 billion DOD has budgeted for electronic warfare and electro-optics countermeasures this year.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are planning serious cuts in military lasers and directed-energy weapons work next year, with the Pentagon's proposed spending for lasers and directed-energy weapons of $244.28 million. Although it might seem lime a substantial amount, proposed fiscal 2013 spending is down 33.23 percent from current-year levels of $365.88 million, and down 44.7 percent from 2011 levels of $441.48 million.

SPECIAL REPORT, 16 Feb. 2012. The U.S. Navy is pressing forward with key surface warfare modernization initiatives even as its leaders face severe funding constraints for shipbuilding and systems acquisition that are likely to continue for the long term. Given the downward pressure on the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) proposed budget for 2013, senior U.S. Navy and industry leaders are driving the need for decisive and game-changing ships, systems, and technologies for the fleet.

PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE, 16 Feb. 2012. Demands are high on rugged laptop computers for military applications. On the network-centric battlefields of today, users rely on rugged laptops to deliver and process mission-critical information quickly. New applications are being designed as soldiers, sailors, and airmen carry these rugged computers on the front lines to provide intelligence and ever-increasing functionality for warfighters.

WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 16 Feb. 2012. U.S. Air Force and Navy combat aircraft pilots needed helmet-mounted night vision cueing and display systems for fighter pilots operating high-performance aircraft at night. They found their solution from Vision Systems International LLC in San Jose, Calif. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center (ASC) activity at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded Vision Systems a $19.8 million contract Tuesday for night vision cueing and display standard field night vision devices for the Air Force and Navy.

WASHINGTON, 15 Feb. 2012. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend at least $31.6 billion next year for activities related to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR), according to Pentagon budget documents released this week. The $31.6 billion the military plans to spend on C4ISR in fiscal 2013 is down 10.92 percent from the $35.47 billion in the Pentagon's current-year budget, and is down 16.8 percent from 2011 C4ISR spending levels.

ARLINGTON, Va., 15 Feb. 2012. Electro-optics scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., released a formal solicitation Monday for the Military Imaging and Surveillance Technology - Long Range (MIST-LR) program (DARPA-BAA-12-22), which seeks to develop fundamentally new avionics and vetronics electro-optic sensors for target identification and tracking.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 15 Feb. 2012. U.S. Army officials needed micro unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to equip four-to-six-soldier fire teams with video reconnaissance and situational awareness during route- and compound-clearing operations. They found their solution from ReconRobotics Inc. in Edina, Minn. The Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., awarded ReconRobotics a $14 million contract Monday to supply micro robots for video reconnaissance missions.

WASHINGTON, 14 Feb. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend at least $5.78 billion to buy and develop unmanned vehicles and unmanned vehicle payloads next year, according to data in the Pentagon's budget documents released this week. This figure is down 13.14 percent from the same levels of spending this year, and is down 16.9 percent from unmanned vehicles procurement and research in 2011.

THE MIL & AERO VIDEO BLOG, 14 Feb. 2012. The Pentagon's proposed 2013 budget may not be the best news for military platforms like new plans, ships, and tanks, but among the brightest opportunities for aerospace and defense electronics suppliers involves military systems upgrades and technology insertion, with several new contracts and solicitations issued recently, reports John Keller this week in the Mil & Aero Video Blog.

WASHINGTON, 13 Feb. 2012. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) propose spending $13.59 billion in federal fiscal year 2013 for procurement and research in military communications, electronics, telecommunications, and intelligence (CET&I) technologies. This level would represent a cut of 10.26 percent from current-year enacted levels of $15.14 billion, and a cut of 23.43 percent from 2011 levels of $17.75 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents released today.

ARLINGTON, Va., 12 Feb. 2012. Military electro-optics scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will brief industry on a project to develop fundamentally new avionics and vetronics electro-optic sensors for target identification and tracking from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 23 Feb. 2012 at a corporate site in Arlington, Va. The DARPA industry-day briefings are for the Military Imaging and Surveillance Technology - Long Range (MIST-LR) program (DARPA-BAA-12-22).

ARLINGTON, Va., 10 Feb. 2012. Military communications experts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking for industry's help in providing pervasive, high-throughput military communications to deployed military units by using a mobile backbone that provides communications over long distances to military units on the move.