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.
BAE Systems Australia has received a four-year contract worth $30 million to upgrade maritime satellite communications terminals for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the company announced on 25 May.
The company will increase bandwidth for the Maritime element of the Advanced SATCOM Terrestrial Infrastructure System (MASTIS) terminals, which will provide more efficient usage of defence satellite capacity and enhanced network interoperability between ships, aircraft and land based platforms.
The MASTIS terminals are equipped with two antennas which are capable of transmitting and receiving in X- and Ka-bands simultaneously and are able to connect to two different satellites at the same time. This dual-band, dual-antenna approach will provide the navy with advanced SATCOM availability and a substantial increase in the ships' data capabilities, even under heavy interference conditions.
MASTIS terminals equip three variants in the RAN fleet including the dual antenna terminal variant fitted to Landing Helicopter Dock vessels and Air Warfare Destroyers. In total the upgrade will address all of the navy’s in-service MASTIS fleet of 17 ship systems and one training suite.
BAE Systems will work with Airbus Defence and Space, which supplied a significant portion of the original terminals including the three axis stabilised antenna system.
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
The service has been conducting several acquisition and upgrading efforts involving artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve communication, data analysis and ISR systems.
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.
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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.
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.