The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a body-worn device to monitor thermal conditions and alarm warfighters on potential hazards. Funded through the Small Business Innovation Research initiative, Burn Saver is a lightweight device designed to track the heat flux and temperature of fireground environments through the use of built-in sensors, DHS said Tuesday. 

“The weakest part of our ensemble is our face piece, so having the Burn Saver to help us prevent that failure is very important,” said Lisa Pine, training and safety officer at the Fire Prevention and Control’s Colorado division. 

The device will also provide an alarm notification once it calculates that the user has 45 seconds before the face piece receives damage to mitigate potential risks. DHS’ science and technology directorate performed a field test to assess the Burn Saver’s durability, range of motion and effects on firefighter mobility.

Col. Greg Griffin, chief of defensive cyber operations at the Defense Information System Agency, said the agency’s interactions has to be synchronized to address immediate concerns. Griffin explained during AFCEA’s TechNet Cyber 2019 event that the agency has to align all its organizations and carry out cyber defenses in order to fill gaps, DISA said Monday.

“From the different theaters, such as DISA Pacific Field Command, DISA Global Operations Command, DISA Europe Field Command, and other DISA entities, executing cyber defense and synchronizing all those organizations together has been a challenge, and that’s the mission of the team I lead,” added Griffin.

Lt. Col. Jim Lacovara, operations chief of DCO at DISA, noted that the agency records 800 million events, 300 million cyberattacks and 10 million alarm notifications. He added that DISA needs to adopt an agile approach to repel evolving cyber adversaries.

“It’s clear to say humans can’t keep up with this type of scale. Not only do we need tools to [help identify the possible threats], we need tools to actually do some of the work for us, otherwise some of that work is sort of falling on the floor,” said Lacovara.

The Special Operations Command plans to apply artificial intelligence into its operations to help the U.S. stay ahead of Russia, China and other adversaries in employing new technologies to boost military power, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. Officials from SOCOM’s component commands discussed the efforts of near-peer competitors to modernize capabilities during the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, Fla. 

“We must sharpen our competitive edge by keeping the latest technology in the hands of our teams unencumbered by legacy systems and slow processes,” said Lt. Gen. Francis Beaudette, commander of Army SOCOM. “We cannot expect success fighting tomorrow’s wars with yesterday’s weapons or equipment.” 

Rear Adm. Collin Green, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, said man-machine teaming will help service members improve efficiency, training and readiness. SOCOM also wants to integrate AI into radio frequency, 5G network and airborne mission network to improve security and how the command detects threats.

Col. Steve Butow, space portfolio director for the Defense Innovation Unit, said that the recently established agency is looking to issue its first contract award within 60 days, Space News reported Tuesday.

“At DIU, we don’t like to pick winners, we build menus. Sometimes we get two solutions that are quite unique and we want both of them,” he noted during this year’s Space Tech Expo in Pasadena, Calif. 

According to Butow, DIU is interested in reducing latency in satellite communications and improving data transmission between ground systems and satellite platforms. Other technical areas that DIU is prioritizing include GPS resiliency, hardware and software modernization, power management, supply chain operations, space situational awareness and logistics.

Raytheon announced on Tuesday that the company has completed technical testing for the U.S. Army’s ring Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) sense-off at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The two-week missile defense demonstration highlighted Raytheon’s readiness to deliver mission-critical LTAMDS capability.

During the sense-off, Raytheon’s LTAMDS solutions include demonstrating the key mission and advanced capabilities to service members, validating the maturity of the LTAMDS design, acquiring and tracking a variety of threat-representative targets and showcasing the ease of maintenance and sustainment to U.S. soldiers.

“Raytheon’s clean-sheet approach and decades-long investments in gallium nitride technology allowed us to demonstrate and deliver a mature solution that will meet the Army’s initial operational capability,” said Tom Laliberty, vice president of integrated air and missile defense at Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business.

Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Cummings Aerospace, IERUS Technologies, Kord, Mercury Systems and nLogic were integral to achieve the U.S. Army’s timetable along with significant investments from Raytheon.

“Our industrial partners contributed the unique technology and capabilities necessary to ensure our LTAMDS solution supports service members,” said Doug Burgess, Raytheon’s LTAMDS program director.

During the next phase of the competition, Raytheon will develop and deliver a final proposal addressing the Army’s key evaluation criteria.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions.

With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I® products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries.