Digital Battlespace

The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) has approved a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) radar system as an authorized Electronic Chart Display and Information System, Navy (ECDIS-N) for the U.S. Navy’s 688-class nuclear attack submarine fleet.

The AN/BPS-15H radar systems on the Los Angeles-class submarines were supplied by Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit.

The CNO approval applies to AN/BPS-15H systems running under Sperry Marine’s Voyage Management System (VMS) software, integrated with the Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS) on the Los Angeles-class submarines. The approval was granted following evaluations and sea trials on USS Boise (SSN 764).

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GL Studio Based IRAS Training System Delivered to Naval Warfare School

DiSTI, a global leader in Human Machine Interface (HMI) development, today announced IFAD TS A/S has delivered the IRAS turn-key solution, a simulation-based Radio Communications Training System, to the Royal Danish Navy. IRAS enables basic radio operator training as well as rehearsal of complex communications scenarios.

The Royal Danish Navy had selected IFAD to undertake continued development, integration, and maintenance of the simulation systems in the Trainer Complex at the Royal Danish Navy Warfare School at Naval Base Frederikshavn. As part of this activity IFAD has delivered a Radio Communications Training System (IRAS) to the Communications School in which the simulated radios were all developed using the GL Studio HMI Toolkit. The purpose of IRAS is to establish Communication Simulation with training facilities where tactical and procedural education will benefit officers and operators in a variety of communications scenarios.

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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received a contract from the U.S. Army to provide soldiers with additional SCORPION(tm) unattended ground sensor (UGS) system spares and technical support.

The primary function of the SCORPION(tm) system is to provide long and short range target recognition for situational awareness, border and perimeter security and persistent surveillance.

The contract, valued at $2.4 million, is a follow-on contract to the recently completed CENTCOM UGS program for which Northrop Grumman delivered over 600 SCORPION(tm) systems to the U.S. Army and over 900 worldwide. Work on this current contract will be performed at the Northrop Grumman Xetron facility in Cincinnati.

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The C4I market peaked in 2008, reports Forecast International’s “C4I Market Overview.”  Richard Sterk, Senior Analyst at Forecast International, comments, “The world C4I market is now in the beginning of the predicted ‘market correction’ with the completion of many 9/11-inspired programs and efforts.”

The “C4I Market Overview” examines over 200 leading programs and some 25 companies that are expected to produce at least $64.1 billion in market value over the next 10 years.  The programs examined are expected to be worth $11.645 billion in 2008, and then steadily decline in value to $3.384 billion in 2017.  This drop is not unexpected, as it represents the end of the initial response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that flooded money into defense and homeland security programs with the hope of immediate, short-term fixes.
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All Bands, All Modes, Full Encryption in One Radio

Thales Communications, Inc., announces the introduction of Liberty^TM, the first multiband software defined Land Mobile Radio (LMR) for government agencies and first responders. For the first time, Federal, State, Local, and U.S. Department of Defense agencies will be able to communicate across all of the public safety bands 136-174 MHz, 380-520 MHz, 700 MHz, and 800 MHz using a single portable radio that operates in direct mode or uses existing infrastructure in any of the bands. Liberty is size, weight, and performance equivalent to existing single-band portable LMRs and eliminates the requirement to carry multiple radios to cover fragmented frequency bands.

The nation learned from the tragic events on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, that a lack of communications and situational awareness paralyzes command and control. The root cause for interoperability remains the same–multiple users in different frequency bands using different waveforms.

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BAE Systems today showcased a vision system suite with content developed here for military ground vehicles that provides enhanced situational awareness for U.S. and coalition ground forces.

Installed on the company’s Bradley Technology Demonstrator, the vision system suite provides the driver and crew with complete vision around the vehicle in daylight, darkness, and all-weather conditions. Featured technologies include BAE Systems’ taillight mounted thermal camera system, forward viewing thermal camera system, and a 360-degree panoramic vision system.

The event marked the first time BAE Systems showcased the Bradley Technology Demonstrator vehicle for its Austin employees, customers, public policy leaders, and journalists. U.S. Army officials from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment along with the Director of the 3rd Cavalry Association joined more than 600 BAE Systems employees for the viewing and demonstration.

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On 19 March a delegation from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) witnessed the first demonstration of the latest variant of Thales UK’s self-propelled Starstreak missile system, incorporating automatic target tracking (ATT), new control consoles and the firing of the new standard of Starstreak missile (Starstreak II). The demonstration was carried out at the Manorbier Range in South Wales and was 100% successful.

The incorporation of ATT technology into the weapon system architecture not only contributes to improved accuracy and performance but also results in a major reduction in training time required for the operators and significantly reduces the workload of the system operator.

The target for the engagement was the Banshee, which is representative of a small unmanned aerial vehicle, the growing threat to British forces on operation. The enhancements to the Starstreak missile itself mean that the range is extended to beyond 7km and the increased coverage, altitude and guidance precision means that it is optimised for small target destruction. The upgraded launcher and missile is planned to enter service at the end of 2010.

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