Tag Archives: UAV

CAE will work to diversify its defense and security portfolio, with an emphasis on space and cyber capabilities. Daniel Gelston, group president of CAE’s Defense and Security unit, announced that the business will partner with defense primes during the early stages of new competitions. To remain a competitive partner, CAE will invest in research and engineering efforts. 

The U.S. Army has demonstrated a machine learning-based sensor technology designed for fixed-wing aircraft that works with synthetic aperture radars to detect explosives from a designated safety point. Lt. Col. Mike Fuller, program manager at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said the team used side-by-side comparisons of multiple modalities during the assessment to maximize the probability of threat detection while minimizing false alarms.

The Department of Commerce’s (DOC) bureau of industry and security has announced new controls to prevent U.S. individuals from supporting weapons of mass destruction programs and foreign military intelligence activities in Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela and other terrorist-backing countries. The bureau is broadening the license requirements for exports to military intelligence end users in those countries. 

The U.S. Navy is fielding an MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to support squadron operations ahead of its deployment with a littoral combat ship (LCS) next year. The Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22 recently received the MQ-8C variant of the Northrop Grumman-built unmanned aircraft intended to operate with LCS for surface warfare missions. 

Catherine Marsh, director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), said IARPA’s cloud infrastructure enabled the agency to support employees who have transitioned to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. “One of the major accomplishments at IARPA has really been our seamless transition to a remote working environment in the cloud,” Marsh said.

The CIA has declassified documents about a reconnaissance drone project in the 1960s. The Aquiline project sought to develop reconnaissance drones based on birds’ flight characteristics. The drone has a wingspan of 10 feet for use in carrying infrared cameras, radio equipment, radar and other payloads.

Gen. David Berger, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, outlined his plans for advancing the transformation of the service branch’s force structure by 2030, Seapower Magazine reported Thursday. The Force Design 2030 report seeks to shift the Marine Corps’ focus from countering violent extremism in the Middle East to peer-level competition in the Indo-Pacific region in accordance with the National Defense Strategy.

The U.S. Air Force has assigned program executive offices to manage acquisition activities for the service branch’s new Vanguard program.

The U.S. military has launched efforts to modernize its explosive ordnance disposal technologies and one of the service branches has made progress developing robotic systems in the past year, National Defense reported Friday.

The U.S. Army invites university students to submit concepts on unmanned aerial vehicles for a chance to win up to $35K, Army Times reported Friday. Wichita State University organizes the C3 Converge/Collaborate/Create Challenge that allows college and graduate students to pitch Army UAV ideas to defense and industry experts.