ROME, N.Y., 3 April 2011. Scientists at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., are awarding contracts to two companies to find ways for military communications systems to operate reliably in the presence of advanced electronic warfare, jamming, and interference as part of the Communications Under Extreme RF Spectrum Conditions (CommEX) program. The Air Force Research Lab, on behalf o the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office in Arlington, Va., awarded CommEX contracts last week to Shared Spectrum Co. in Vienna, Va., and to the BAE Systems Electronics Solutions segment in Merrimack, N.H.

LONDON, 28 March 2011. Northrop Grumman Corp. has launched its new Integrated Tactical Rapid Assessment of CBRN Environments (I-TRACE) man-portable system for monitoring chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, as well as collecting and handling related data. I-TRACE provides decision support, situational awareness, and information sharing among emergency response organizations.

LITLINGTON, England, 20 March 2011. Cambridge Pixel Ltd. in Litlington, England, is introducing the SPx Radar Image Server (SPx-RIS) for point to multipoint radar display applications. The system receives radar video in a computer server, and creates as many as four scan-converted images to provide one image for full coverage of the radar and as many as three other images for zoom views of selected areas.

FORT MYERS, Fla., 19 March 2011. A line of new radio frequency (RF) connectors was released by Crystek, which provides passivated stainless steel RF connectors such as SMA, TNC, N-Type, 2.4 millimeter, 2.9 millimeter -- in jack, plug or bulkhead styles.

TEWKSBURY, Mass., 18 March 2011. Raytheon Company has completed the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Thule Air Base, Greenland, meeting all system requirements and tests. With this upgrade, the UEWR at Thule is ready to conduct the missile defense mission as a critical component of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 15 March 2011. U.S. Army leaders are asking engineers at AAI Corp. in Hunt Valley, Md., to install the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL) on two RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enable these small UAVs to send radar, streaming video, imagery, and other data to ground stations in near real time. AAI won a $12.6 million contract, announced Monday, from the Army Contracting command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., in install Tactical Common Data Link equipment on two Shadow UAVs.

MELBOURNE, Fla., 15 March 2011. Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, won an $11 million order from the Australia Department of Defence (DoD) for Falcon III tactical radios as part of a networked battlefield communications system in Army vehicles.

ANAHEIM, Calif., 14 March 2011. Advanced Defense Technologies Inc., developer of breakthrough technologies for military defense, homeland security, and commercial communications systems, is designing RF circuits, subsystems, and systems for the defense and surveillance applications sector, valued at more than $1 billion annually. BCC Research forecasts the defense and surveillance applications sector to grow, marking a nearly 5 percent rise in market share. The sector, worth $1.2 billion in 2009, is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 percent, reaching $2.1 billion by 2014.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., 14 March 2011. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products won an $11.2 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy for the continued production of MK82 directors and MK200 director controllers for Aegis Combat System illuminators. The MK 82 and MK 200 are critical components of the Aegis missile fire-control system's illuminator, whereas the Aegis Combat System is an advanced tactical radar defense and fire-control system fielded by the Navy.

CHANDLER, Ariz., 12 March 2011. The RAMSES R570 coaxial relay series for test and measurement applications from Radiall has a 50 GHz Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch.

ARLINGTON, Va., 11 March 2011. Military radio communications experts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking industry for ideas on how to develop an RF transmitter integrated as a monolithic integrated circuit or system-in-package module that relies on a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier that is integrated with a dynamic-voltage power supply and control circuit.

MELBOURNE, Fla., 11 March 2011. Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, won $11 million in orders from the French Procurement Agency (Direction Generale de l'Armement – DGA) for its Falcon III multiband manpack and handheld tactical radios.

REDMOND, Wa., 8 March 2011. U.S. Navy officials required a simple wireless solution to launch and recover the Lockheed Martin Remote Multi Mission Vehicle (RMMV) from littoral combat ships (LCS). They found their solution at Remote Control Technology (RCT) in Redmond, Wa.

Video blog, 7 March 2011 -- The ray gun has become more than a boyhood fantasy. The Army is quietly working to develop technology with the potential to arm tomorrow's armored combat vehicles with the capability to destroy electronic systems with high-intensity bursts of RF energy. For army combat vehicles, perhaps the death ray is back in style. Military & Aerospace Electronics Chief Editor John Keller reports.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., 6 March 2011. Weapons weapons experts at the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is surveying industry for ideas on new electronic warfare capability to deny the enemy of the ability to communicate with enemy forces. Those interested have to move fast, because the deadline is next Monday, 14 March 2011. The Air Armament Center issued a request for information (AAC-XR-RFI-02242011) on a near term counter communications weapons system to identify mature, low- or medium-risk, off-the-shelf, non-kinetic communications-defeat technology that could fielded within 12 months.

ROBINS AFB, Ga., 27 Feb. 2011. Aircraft weapons experts at Sierra Nevada Corp. in Sparks, Nev., will upgrade 12 U.S. Air Force special operations MC-130W aircraft by installing precision-strike packages that contain electro-optical and infrared targeting systems, side-mounted 30-millimeter machine gun, and precision-guided munitions under terms of a $22.3 million contract announced Friday.

HAIFA, Israel, 24 Feb. 2011. Israeli electronic warfare specialist Elisra Electronic Systems Ltd. in Bene Beraq, Israel, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Israeli prime defense contractor Elbit Systems Ltd. in Haifa, Israel, under terms of a $67.5 million deal in which Elbit agreed to acquire 30 percent of Elisra shares from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) subsidiary Elta Systems Ltd. in Ashdod, Israel.

SOMERSET, U.K., 21 Feb. 2011. Sentient has enhanced its Kestrel Maritime automated target detection software to detect small, high-visibility objects, such as life jackets, supporting maritime search-and-rescue operations. Kestrel Maritime processes electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) full-motion video (FMV) from manned and unmanned vehicles (UAVs). The Life Jacket Detection enhances Kestrel Maritime’s EO capability to detect automatically small, high-visibility objects while searching wide maritime areas.

ALAMEDA, Calif., 20 Feb. 2011. Simulation and training experts at the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems segment in Redondo Beach, Calif., needed high-definition digital recording and streaming systems for the advanced ground control station (GCS) operator training system for the U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). They found their solution from RGB Spectrum in Alameda, Calif.