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.
Sofradir has signed an agreement with Thales and Sagem to acquire the companies’ infrared (IR) detector technology development and manufacturing facilities. Sofradir, a joint subsidiary to Thales and Sagem, will take on IR technologies originally developed for the parent companies’ internal purposes.
Under the agreement, Sagem will transfer to Sofradir the Indium Antimonide (InSb) technology. The Quantum Well-Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) and Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) technologies will be transferred to Sofradir from the GIE III-V Lab, an economic interest group with partners Alcatel Lucent, Thales and research institute CEA (the French nuclear energy and alternate energies commission).
By consolidating these IR technologies in one company, Sofradir joins a very small circle of IR detector manufacturers with expertise in all the cooled and uncooled IR technologies. IR detectors are advanced technology components that are vital to multiple military, space, commercial and scientific applications: thermal imagers, missile seekers, surveillance systems, targeting systems or observation satellites.
Thales and Sagem spokespeople praised the agreement that strengthens a key technopole and further enhances years of research initially carried out by Thales and then by the III-V Lab and Sagem.
Philippe Bensussan, chairman and CEO of Sofradir, said: ‘The technologies from Sagem and the III-V Lab enable Sofradir to have from this point forward the complete portfolio of infrared technologies. These assets consolidate Sofradir’s leadership position. With the new technologies, Sofradir along with its subsidiary ULIS will be able to select the technology best adapted to our clients’ applications. We are in a fortified position to offer IR products with more innovation, performance and compactness in order to respond to any IR market need.’
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.
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.
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.