| Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine, October 2009 Articles |
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October 2009
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JTRS cuts may acknowledge private industry developments
By John Keller Editor in Chief
SDR: a spectrum of possibilities
Software-defined radio technology, which fuels the U.S. Joint Tactical Radio System program, has become a worldwide phenomenon moving well beyond U.S. military programs.
Electrifying advancements
Defense organizations and industry combine efforts and expertise to deliver safe, reliable, and readily available power when and where needed.
Distributed power and space applications are major trends in power integrated circuits
Designers of high-reliability power integrated circuits say they are concentrating primarily on space power applications, rather than on the military, because many of even the most demanding military power applications these days can meet their environmental requirements with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) power electronics.
The coming CMOS imaging revolution
Video cameras and digital cameras (including those in cell phones) virtually all use CMOS image sensors, which entered production about 20 years ago.
Industry embraces power electronics alternatives
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—Industry, academia, and government officials continue to invest heavily in alternative energy sources—ranging from solar and laser power to algae oil—for military and aerospace applications.
Military information security command opens for business at Lackland AFB
LACKLAND AFB, Texas—The U.S. Air Force ended two years of confusion and controversy Aug. 18 by designating the 24th Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as its official operational cyber security center, consolidating all U.S. military cyberspace operations and computer security.
DataPath acquisition gives Rockwell Collins SATCOM on the move expertise
LONDON—Winning future satellite communications (SATCOM) on the move programs from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) was the major goal behind the Rockwell Collins purchase of DataPath in Duluth, Ga., this summer.
JTRS cuts may acknowledge private industry developments
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) plan to upgrade military radio communications by injecting software- defined radio (SDR) technology into land, sea, and airborne RF transceivers is taking a hit with news that the U.S. Navy and Air Force are seeking to cancel JTRS programs in an effort to save at least $1.8 billion.
In Brief
Gallium nitride (GaN) chips from Raytheon in Tewksbury, Mass., achieved 1,000 hours of reliable operation, moving the technology closer as a standard for next-generation radar.
ABL high-power laser weapon moves toward missile shoot-down demonstration
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.—Missile defense experts fired the high-power laser aboard the Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft in flight for the first time in August, to move the airborne military laser closer to an actual missile shoot-down demonstration.
Infrared thermal camera for Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft to be supplied by FLIR Systems
WILSONVILLE, Ore.—FLIR Systems Inc. in Wilsonville, Ore., will supply an infrared camera system to the Indian air force under terms of a $7.2 million Pentagon electro-optical contract for foreign military sales. The FLIR Star SAFIRE III infrared multisensor surveillance system will be employed aboard Indian C-130J surveillance aircraft.
Electro–Optic Brief
The Kollmorgen Corp. Electro-Optical Division in Northampton, Mass., won a $7.4 million U.S. Navy contract modification Thursday to build electro-optical components and other submarine sensor systems, as well as eight universal modular masts (UMM) and one UMM interface box unit for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class fast attack submarine.
C-130-based high-energy laser weapon defeats ground target in flight test
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Laser weapons experts from Boeing and the U.S. Air Force defeated a ground target from the air with the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) aircraft in late August in ATL’s first air-to-ground, high-power laser engagement of a kind of target that would be found on the battlefield.
Government programs offer money to buy IPG Photonics fiber lasers
OXFORD, Mass.—IPG Photonics Corp. in Oxford, Mass., maker of high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers, announced the availability of government programs that provide financial incentives for customers to purchase fiber lasers.
Laser designator electro-optical sensor to be restored by Northrop Grumman
APOKA, Fla.—Military laser experts at the Northrop Grumman Laser Systems segment in Apoka, Fla., are restoring and refurbishing U.S. Army laser systems that can recognize and designate targets for laser guided munitions, under terms of a $21.9 million contract.
Nuclear event detector from C-MAC helps with design of rad-hard electronics
C-MAC Microtechnology in Old Amersham, England, is introducing a low-power nuclear event detector (NED) that detects a pulse from an ionizing radiation event, such as from space radiation, and mitigates the effect by protecting sensitive electronic systems via a controlled power-down or transition to a known state.
Mil-spec military connector introduced by ITT for RF and signal contacts
ITT Interconnect Solutions in Santa Ana, Calif., is introducing the high-reliability mil-spec 38999 Series military connector for RF and signal contacts with EMI shielding and adherence to MIL-DTL-38999 series I, II, and III standards.
Aldec delivers low-cost, mixed language simulator to FPGA market
Aldec Inc. in Henderson, Nev., is introducing a mixed language RTL simulator, the Active-HDL Designer Edition.
Single-board computer for 3U VPX embedded computing introduced by GE Fanuc
GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms in Charlottesville, Va., is introducing the VPXcel3 SBC341 3U VPX rugged single-board computer for demanding military embedded systems, such as sophisticated processing, military communications, and graphics.
ITT electronic warfare systems selected for Turkish Air Force F-16 aircraft
Officials at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., sought an electronic warfare system for F-16 Block 50M aircraft.
L-3 to deliver C4ISR system for U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter
Engineers at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La., needed a command, control, communications, computers, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) system for their work on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program.
MIPS accelerates processor IP verifi-cation with Mentor Graphics Veloce
Engineers at MIPS Technologies, a microprocessor semiconductor intellectual property (IP) company in Sunnyvale, Calif., sought a solution to perform complete system-level verification of its licensable microprocessor cores used in a variety of embedded applications.
Ultra MSI to supply hand controls for U.S. Army Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations
Officials at Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace needed accurate, responsive, handheld electronic systems for remotely controlling weapon stations.
Honeywell to enhance flight safety on Indian air force’s C-130J Hercules military aircraft
Indian air force officials in Bangalore recognized the need for advanced avionics, including a collision-avoidance system, aboard military aircraft.
Argon to supply compact, rugged LCD display for Ultra Electronics unmanned vehicle controller
Engineers at Ultra Electronics Measurement Systems Inc. (Ultra MSI) in Wallingford, Conn., sought rugged display technology for the company’s manned and unmanned vehicle control unit. They found their solution at Argon Corp. in Great Neck, N.Y.
ADL selects PC/104 cards for MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 429 avionics data buses from DDC
Data bus experts at Advanced Digital Logic Inc. (ADL) in San Diego needed PC/104 and PC/104 Plus cards for applications that require MIL-STD-1553 or ARINC 429 avionics data bus interfaces.
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