UTC to supply DB-110 systems to USAF
UTC Aerospace Systems has received a contract from the US Air Force to supply the DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system, the company announced on 21 February.
The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has an initial ceiling of $22.9 million and supports requests for the DB-110 system from multiple countries via the US foreign military sales programme.
The DB-110 is a dual-band 110in focal length reconnaissance system that is capable of producing high-resolution imagery from nadir to a stand-off range of 80 + nautical miles, day or night. The system is a derivative of the strategic Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System sensor on the air force’s U-2 and can collect more than 10,000 square miles of high-resolution imagery per hour.
The DB-110 is operational on F-16, F-15, special mission aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft such as the P-3. It has also been demonstrated on the MQ-9 Reaper.
The IDIQ contract also includes multiple UTC Aerospace Systems ground exploitation stations that enable the ingest, exploitation, archival and dissemination of intelligence products from the DB-110 as well as from full motion video gimbals and non-traditional ISR targeting pods.
Operating as nodes within a larger network, the ground stations provide a repository for multiple intelligence products and a platform to discover and share information between broad tiers of end users.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Digital Battlespace
-
Chess Dynamics successfully demonstrates Vision4ce AI-driven tracker
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.
-
Wave Relay devices cleared for security use on commercial systems in industry trend
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.
-
UK teases cyber spending boost in Strategic Defence Review ahead of “imminent” release
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 emphasises SATCOM resilience for SOF in contested domains (video)
Intelsat outlines how its multi-orbit SATCOM architecture is enhancing connectivity and resilience for special operations forces operating in degraded and contested environments.
-
US Space Force’s next-generation missile warning system moves forward with $500 million in new contracts
Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) satellites are intended to provide early warning of missile launches from any location worldwide and new ground stations will result in expanded coverage of critical missile warning.
-
Airbus launches final CSO observation satellite for French Armed Forces
Airbus was awarded the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO) contract at the end of 2010. This included an option for a third satellite, which was activated after Germany joined the programme in 2015.