BAE to develop testbed for space technologies
BAE Systems will develop a space evaluation and analysis testbed under a $12.8 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced on 14 November.
The testbed will help the US military develop, evaluate, integrate and analyse advanced space enterprise C2 tools and capability technologies as part of DARPA's Hallmark programme.
The US military must be able to quickly establish situational awareness and execute operations in space. Within the space domain, many thousands of objects that are moving at extreme velocities must be tracked and managed. This information must be fused with land, air, sea, cyber, defence and intelligence data in order to make critical, time-sensitive decisions to protect space assets while supporting terrestrial missions.
BAE Systems will design and develop a scalable and secure enterprise software architecture that would becomethe backbone of technology development and experimentation. The architecture would facilitate the creation of a testbed facility — the Space Enterprise Analysis Capability (SEAC) — that would support the modelling of current and future space situational awareness and C2 technologies. The SEAC would also enable realistic, scenario-based exercises for testing space C2 technologies against sophisticated emerging threats.
The testbed will support live data feeds from diverse sources and provide strong security and data protection for varying levels of classification, in addition to external interfaces to support air, cyber, land, and sea environments.
Mike Penzo, director of ground resiliency and analytics at BAE Systems, said: ‘Military commanders must have superior space domain awareness in order to quickly assess, plan, and execute operations in this increasingly complex environment.
‘The Hallmark testbed is designed to help the military quickly evaluate and integrate technologies for space C2.’
More from Digital Battlespace
-
US Space Force increases efforts to plug training capabilities gaps
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
-
US Space Force bets big on the use of AI to improve its capabilities
The service has been conducting several acquisition and upgrading efforts involving artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve communication, data analysis and ISR systems.
-
Thales selected for Syracuse satellite communications terminals for French vehicles
The Syracuse 4B communications satellite, developed by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, was launched last year, bolstering secure military satellite communications for the French Armed Forces. Thales has now been selected to provide terminals for vehicles.
-
The New Battlefield: Space Defence, Emerging Threats, and Strategic Opportunities (Studio)
The growing importance of space in modern warfare, advancements in satellite technology, and increasing threats from rivals like China and Russia were among the topics of a Eurosatory 2024 panel on military space operations.
-
BAE Systems to provide radios for South Korean aircraft
AN/ARC-232A is a Starfire radio that provides VHF/UHF communications to airborne platforms and the transceiver is software-programmable, allowing for multiple waveform support as well as optional national electronic counter counter-measure (ECCM) capability.
-
Lockheed Martin to work with DARPA on AI effort
During the 18-month period of the contract, Lockheed Martin will apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to create surrogate models of aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare and weapons within dynamic and operationally representative environments.