The Army National Guard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday to mark the opening of its aviation support facility with a readiness center in Kankakee, Illinois.

Construction of the Army Aviation Support Facility was financed with $53.7 million in federal funds and $11.9 million in state funds began, the Illinois Army National Guard said Saturday.

The military organization intends to relocate approximately 200 traditional Army National Guard Soldiers, 40 full-time employees and 10 UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopters from Chicago Midway Armory to the 112,150-square-foot AASF.

AASF features maintenance hangers, shops, flight facilities, fuel distribution, fire suppression systems and a cold storage.

The facility’s 73,050-square-foot readiness center has classrooms, offices, ground equipment maintenance, a weapons simulator and flight simulators, vaults and a medical clinic.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has begun to study a light-based wireless communication technology that uses light instead of radio waves to facilitate data transmissions.

A demonstration of the Li-Fi technology in a classified work environment showed that the platform can deliver secure networked communication in an enclosed space, DISA said.

The agency expects Li-Fi to provide 10 times faster point-to-point transmission rates than Wi-Fi technology.

“With Li-Fi, the entire visible and non-visible light spectrum is available for use — laying the groundwork for 10 gigabits per second transmission rates within the next calendar year,” said Bill Butler, head of DISA’s Li-Fi University Affiliated Research Center Project.

The military could potentially use Li-Fi to conduct battlefield communications that cannot be detected through existing direction-finding technology, DISA noted.

In the commercial sector, Li-Fi could support communication between vehicles that require integrated high-speed motion detection as well as address technology issues associated with the use of radio platforms in hospitals, airplanes and in construction sites.

Butler said DISA is currently working to acquire equipment and plan a demonstration of Li-Fi in a secure, networked environment.

He added that the agency will continue to partner with the academia on efforts to develop next-generation, non-radio frequency wireless communication technologies for the Defense Department.

The U.S. Air Force has developed capacities to halt unauthorized small unmanned aircraft systems as well as boost the safety and security of base personnel and resources.

The service branch said Monday the 55th Security Forces Squadron now possesses a capacity to prevent sUAS platforms from flying within the airspace and boundaries of the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska using multiple unique defense systems.

“Our mission is to ensure the safety and security of resources and personnel on base and this is just one method of keeping pace with an ever evolving threat,” said Lt. Col William Smith, commander of the 55th SFS.

“We want the public to be aware that if we feel a sUAS is posing a threat to military operations or flight safety, either intentionally or unintentionally, we have an obligation to respond accordingly,” said Smith.

Current base policies prohibit the recreational and hobby use of sUAS systems within the main base, the Rising View housing areas, the Capehart Chapel, the Ehrling Bergquist Clinic and the Base Lake, the report noted.

UAS users may request permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate commercial sUAS platforms within Offutt AFB if they meet a number of requirements listed on the FAA website including the certification and registration of the drone unit.

The U.S. Navy has named its latest Expeditionary Sea Base ship under contract with General Dynamics‘ shipbuilding business as USNS Miguel Keith.

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said the vessel designated T-ESB 5 is named after the late U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Medal of Honor awardee Miguel Keith, the Navy said Saturday.

The future USNS Miguel Keith is designed to aid multiple missions including air mine countermeasure, counter-piracy, maritime security, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and crisis response.

The Navy said the 784-foot-long vessel is anticipated to board 250 personnel and support MH-53 and MH-60 helicopters on its 52,000-square-foot flight deck with an upgrade option to accommodate MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

T-ESB 5 will feature fuel and equipment storage and spaces for repairs and mission planning.

General Dynamics NASSCO started construction on the fifth ESB ship under the Navy’s Expedition Transfer Dock/Expeditionary Sea Base program in January and is expected to deliver the ship by 2019.

Christopher Caruso, a U.S. Air Force avionics technician, has created new technologies designed to simplify maintenance of the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

Caruso built a digital video recorder tester and a sniper pod test stand during his deployment at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the Air Force said Friday.

He connected a small television to an aircraft to develop the DVR tester, which works to bypass the DVR head unit and provide a live view into the aircraft’s multifunction display.

Caruso said the DVR tester helps maintainers see any issues with the wiring or the DVR head unit in real time.

The avionics technician built the sniper pod test stand to eliminate the need to mount a pod to the aircraft during maintenance and operational checks.

Sniper pods are mounted on aircraft using tools that block some compartments, limiting maintenance that airman can conduct on pods, the Air Force noted.

Chief Master Sgt. Wesley Ruuti, superintendent of the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron F-16 maintenance, said Caruso’s test stand reduces sniper pod maintenance time by two to three hours.

Ruuti noted that the Air Force unit’s leadership provided guidance and support to help Caruso develop his technology ideas.