Australia looks towards space with force restructure, investment and training
Australia is looking to improve its presence in space with a focus on communications and creating a dedicated segment of its defence forces committed to the domain.
Harris Corporation has announced that it has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a potential total value of $400 million to provide the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with next-generation communication capabilities. The company announced the news in an 18 April, 2012 statement.
Under the five-year IDIQ contract Harris will supply its Falcon III AN/PRC-117G manpack and AN/PRC-152 handheld radio systems, as well as field support services as needed to address requirements for next-generation tactical communications. The contract is part of the Capital Equipment Replacement Programme and represents an interim step in the modernization of the SOCOM tactical radio inventory.
The AN/PRC-117G is the first NSA Type-1 certified wideband manpack radio system. The AN/PRC-117G enables dismounted and vehicular warfighters to communicate via voice, video and data in real time. The wideband capabilities of the radio support network-enabled missions such as collaborative chat, video, e-mail, biometric enrollments and more from the field. The radio provides the highest level of information assurance connectivity to tactical units via NSA-certified High Assurance Internet Protocol Equipment encryption. Harris has shipped more than 20,000 AN/PRC-117G radios to US and allied forces such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, other NATO countries and Australia. The AN/PRC-117G is the first radio to receive NSA Type-1 certification to operate the Soldier Radio Waveform, developed by the JTRS Joint Program Executive Office.
The AN/PRC-152A offers tactical users the broadest set of capabilities in any handheld radio. Wideband networking capabilities are initially provided by the Harris Adaptive Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2). The Soldier Radio Waveform will be added to the radio later this year. The AN/PRC-152A also hosts SINCGARS, VHF/UHF Line-of-Sight, HaveQuick, IW for tactical satellite communications and other combat net radio waveforms. This makes the AN/PRC-152A the only Type-1 certified wideband networking handheld radio that is also fully interoperable with deployed DOD radios.
Australia is looking to improve its presence in space with a focus on communications and creating a dedicated segment of its defence forces committed to the domain.
The Portuguese company’s naval communications system is in service across more than a dozen countries. It has turned to its home nation for support in developing a new vehicle based C2 system.
The Vision4ce Deep Embedded Feature Tracking (DEFT) technology software is designed to process video and images by blending traditional computer vision with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to present actionable information from complex environments.
Persistent Systems has been cleared by National Security Agency (NSA) to transmit sensitive data on commercial networks. The devices are added to the NSA’s Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) component list which also includes other companies’ products providing the same security.
The release of the UK’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) has been long promised as mid-year. It is possible it could be as early as 2 June although the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to play its cards close to its chest.
Intelsat outlines how its multi-orbit SATCOM architecture is enhancing connectivity and resilience for special operations forces operating in degraded and contested environments.