Tag: defense

Despite ceremony cancellation, USGIF honors 2020 award winners

The USGIF Awards Program annually recognizes the exceptional work of the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) tradecraft’s brightest minds and organizations pushing the community forward.

Award winners are usually recognized at the annual GEOINT Symposium. This year’s event, scheduled for April 26-29 in Tampa, Florida, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, you will not see the awardees recognized on the GEOINT Symposium stage this year,” said Kevin Jackson, chair of the USGIF Awards Subcommittee. “So please take a moment to read their accomplishments and join me and the USGIF in congratulating the 2020 USGIF Achievement Awardees and the runners-up.”

Award winners are nominated by their colleagues and selected by the USGIF Awards Subcommittee.

“The 2020 USGIF awardees reflect the importance and the significance of the outstanding work that occurs daily in the GEOINT community,” Jackson said. “You will see how the GEOINT community always rises to the occasion to face head on the world’s toughest problems and this year is no exception.”

Academic

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute

On Dec. 7, 2019, after denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea collapsed, North Korea reversed commitments made in Singapore and resumed engine testing at its Sohae Satellite Launch Center. Using new technological opportunities offered by high-cadence moderate resolution satellite imagery and flexible high-resolution satellite image tasking provided by Planet Labs, analysts at the CNS, through the use of open-source GEOINT, detected and correctly identified preparations for the engine test 39 hours before it occurred. Announcing in advance that North Korea was preparing to violate an international nonproliferation commitment.

Community Support

NGA Expeditionary Operations Office

NGA’s Office of Expeditionary Operations provides deployed personnel and technology to support GEOINT activities of worldwide U.S. military operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, and other national security objectives. The team’s world-class workforce seamlessly enables trusted global GEOINT capabilities today, while developing programs and processes to meet emerging challenges. Robust partnerships with DoD and IC allies fuel innovation and expertise, helping U.S. and foreign partners build programs that anticipate their needs, expanding the GEOINT community and optimizing meaningful consequence across the GEOINT enterprise.

Government

Mark A. Skoog and Loyd R. Hook

Implementing digital terrain solutions for safer aviation has been a career-long goal for Mark Skoog and Loyd Hook. As true innovators and lifelong proponents of using digital terrain data, Skoog and Hook lead the development efforts of NASA’s award-winning Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS), which prevents imminent collisions with the ground. Auto GCAS is the culmination of a decades-long effort to bring geospatial intelligence to aircraft safety. This work involved traveling the world, evaluating myriad digital terrain from Sweden to Hawaii. The team extensively tested the system to ensure against every category of controlled flight into terrain mishaps—and found it would have prevented every one, which resulted in ten lives saved thus far in the USAF operations.

Industry

Lockheed Martin Space GATR Team

Globally-scalable Automated Target Recognition (GATR) is an artificial intelligence system that finds objects of interest in satellite imagery on a worldwide basis. It was developed by a team of scientists and engineers from Lockheed Martin Space who combined state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms with scalable high-performance computing in a cloud-based framework to achieve high-speed global automated target recognition (ATR). Unlike other ATR systems, GATR searches extremely large geographic regions with accuracy and speed. The GATR team, led by Dr. Mark Pritt, includes Tyler Bartelmo, Gary Chern, Dr. Austen Groener, Michael Harner, Andy Lam, Stephen O’Neill, Ryan Soldin, and Steve Wozniak.

Military

RS/GIS CX, The GRiD Team

David Finnegan and the Geospatial Repository & Data Management System (GRiD) program provide the Department of Defense (DoD), intelligence community and geospatial community with a centralized repository for the storage, discovery, and dissemination of critical terrain and 3D data. Prior to the GRiD program, the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) lacked a centralized mechanism for the storage and discovery of this essential content. Historically, the data was subject to local storage, limiting visibility and resulting in retasking collection assets for previously characterized areas, putting military personnel and equipment at risk. By partnering with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the DoD, the GRiD program is now the community standard and enterprise solution for 3D/elevation data discovery across the NSG.

USGIF, the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, is dedicated to bringing together the many disciplines involved in GEOINT to exchange ideas, share best practices and promote the education and importance of a national geospatial intelligence agenda. For more on the awards program, visit the USGIF website.

April 22, 2020
Drones equipped with GNSS, inertial a game changer
Why do we keep hearing about unmanned aircraft all the time, almost everywhere? Fortunately, the buzz has gone beyond next-door neighbors flying dangerously close to your roof or hovering annoyingly around a living room window, and incidents of UAV incursions shutting down airports seem to be getting fewer — improved enforcement and higher penalties may be slowing down these incidents.

Now, UAV users are taking on productive, innovative tasks that couldn’t previously be done, or finishing projects surprisingly quickly and more affordably than ever before, with drones built or adapted for new applications. And equipment manufacturers are creating new sensors customized for use on drones.

Commercial, integrated GNSS/inertial sensors are available that have extremely high performance — previously only available with expensive mil-spec electronics — but in lightweight, small packages, supported by real-time kinematic (RTK), precise point positioning (PPP) corrections or post-processed kinematic (PPK). UAVs carry still, video and multi-spectral cameras generating automatically geocoded outputs, ready for post processing into multi-layered formats — virtually everything a customer could ever dream of having. And lidar sensors enable drones to build accurate models of everything they overfly.

Drones originated largely with military forces. Originally used for forward intelligence gathering, UAV tasks have multiplied and substantially expanded in scope.

Commercial industries were quick to realize the benefits. Before drones, the cost of many tasks done manually would be prohibitive and too time-intensive. Fast, affordable data collection now allows us to quickly tackle and solve many problems.

UAVs can pre-survey large, previously inaccessible tracts of difficult terrain, collect detailed visual representations of entire cities, monitor and support crop growth, or even survey underwater terrain using lidar. UAVs provide crop-growing support by flying autonomous patterns and spraying fields with pesticides or fertilizer. They also are being called into service to spray villages with disinfectant to control the spread of coronavirus, and to survey England’s beaches to monitor coastal erosion.

Check out some case studies here:
Featured photo: PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
April 1, 2020
2-in-1 UAS system ready for US defense and security

The Scorpion. (Photo: Quantum-Systems)

Two new small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are available to the U.S. government defense and security markets.

Auterion Government Solutions Inc. and Quantum-Systems GmbH have partnered to bring the Vector and Scorpion to market. The partnership brings together high-quality sUAS hardware with a secure, scalable, open source, operating system, Auterion OS.

Auterion OS is employed on sUAS from small multi-rotors to hybrid VTOL Group 2 air vehicles. The open-source operating system aligns with the Defense Department’s Group 1 UAS Architecture.

2-in-1 UAS

Vector and Scorpion form a 2-in-1 system kit. Scorpion is a tri-copter that can be used for dynamic urban environments and other mission sets that require a combination of maneuverability and hover to collect intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data, as well as situation awareness information. If required, it comes with a tethering system to enable 24/7 operations.

By configuring the base fuselage with fixed wings and tail section, Scorpion transforms into Vector, an energy-efficient, fixed-wing VTOL for longer range, longer endurance ISR missions.

The Vector. (Photo: Quantum-Systems)

Command and control

Quantum-Systems uses a proprietary flight control stack as well as its qBase command and control software on the two air vehicles.

When the platforms are integrated with Auterion Enterprise PX4 software, Auterion Ground Station software, and the Auterion Hand-Held Ground Control Station (H-GCS) they form an open ecosystem that is aligned and integrated with DoD’s Group 1 UAS Architecture and requirements for a common Group 1 control system.

The integration enables these sUAS to be extensible, tailorable and interoperable for customers in both the U.S. defense and security markets.

“We are excited to be working with Quantum-Systems to bring forth a new, integrated, rucksack portable sUAS that we feel will transform the way our customers collect, process and disseminate ISR and Situation Awareness information, in all environments,” said David Sharpin, CEO of AGS.

“By setting up a U.S. entity, Quantum-Systems will move closer to the customer while working on setting up a large-scale U.S. production,” said Florian Seibel, CEO of Quantum-Systems.

February 28, 2020
Report: DoD drone spoofed GPS on small aircraft

The MQ-9 Reaper drone. (Photo: U.S. Air Force/Paul Ridgeway)

A small aircraft’s encounter with a likely military drone near Edwards Air Force Base resulted in navigation failure, according to a report filed with NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System.

In October 2019, a single engine Piper P-46 Malibu was flying at 24,000 feet 36 miles north of Los Angeles en route San Diego.

Defense drone overhead

The pilot reported, “I saw a DOD drone (inverted V tail) pass overhead approximately 1,000 [feet] above. At the same time, my PFD [primary flight display] indicated that I had a large magnetic variation error, and in turn … indicated that I was now flying to a new way point (TCH VOR) located in Utah, well off my flight plan.”

Later, the navigation system indicated that the aircraft was on its way to a spot in Montana.

Interestingly, the flight plan displayed by another cockpit instrument, the Multi-Function Display, was not affected.

The aircraft had been operating under an Instrument Flight Plan. Federal Aviation Administration rules for light aircraft allow such operation with GPS as the sole navigation sensor.

With the primary flight display not operating properly, the aircraft was no longer able to fly a safe instrument approach to landing. Fortunately, the weather was such that it could proceed and land using Visual Flight Rules.

In the pilot’s words, “Had it not been a VMC [visual meteorological conditions] day allowing me to fly a visual approach, I would have had to [advise Air Traffic Control] – and find a way to land without any reliable approach capability.”

A combination of factors

The general consensus among experts is that this incident was inadvertent and likely arose from a combination of factors. Most significant were that the drone flew above the light aircraft, temporarily blocking some GPS signals, and emitting electromagnetic radiation from one or more of its on-board systems.

It is not possible to say what those systems and radiation may have been. It is unlikely they were intended to interfere with GPS reception, as that would pose serious safety-of-flight concerns in the nearby congested Los Angeles airspace.

GPS signals are infamously easy to disrupt, though. It is probable that the close proximity of the drone resulted in some radiation from its systems “spilling over” into GPS frequencies and causing the problem.

Of greater concern is that the light aircraft’s systems did not quickly reset and recover once the drone had moved off and the interference ceased. Had the aircraft been flying in the clouds or bad weather, the loss of its only radionavigation source could have been quite serious.

While not clear from the report, it is likely that the navigation system only recovered after a complete shutdown and restart. From the report in the NASA database:
“The system has since been checked and is operating correctly, but it seems pretty clear this was some type of interference / jamming arising from the DOD drone. Clearly, this is a significant risk to all aircraft, and because if [sic] occurred within the LA airspace it is a serious threat to safe flights.”

The need to address interference

Shortly before this incident, the International Civil Aviation Organization identified addressing interference with satellite navigation system signals an “urgent priority.” This was in response to concerns from several member countries and organizations citing safety of flight issues. One example cited was the near loss of a passenger aircraft flying in the mountains during a period of GPS disruption.

The October 2019 report of interference from the drone is number ACN 1696794 in the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. It can be accessed by searching here.

February 12, 2020
New UAS manufacturer specializes in defense drones
CP Aeronautics offers American-built combat-proven unmanned aerial systems for defense, homeland security and civil applications

CP Technologies has launched a new division, CP Aeronautics, to provide integrated turn-key solutions based on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms, payloads, data links, ground control stations (GCS) and communications for defense and civil applications.

Designed as leading-edge UAS-based solutions, CP Aeronautics’ systems offer operationally proven solutions for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems requirements. CP Aeronautics’ broad product portfolio has demonstrated excellent performance and operability in demanding environments, the company stated in a press release. Backed by continuous research and development, these systems are built on three decades of technological and operational experience.

“Through our in-house capability as a UAS manufacturer and integrator with specialist subsidiaries and technology partners, we offer a complete range of subsystems including air vehicles, inertial navigation and avionics, electro-optical payloads (EO), communications, propulsion systems, launch and retrieval systems, command and control units,” said Brad Pilsl, vice president of business development at CP Aeronautics. “We also offer high-end training solutions for our partners and customers.”

CP Aeronautics will support government and commercial customers with the entire infrastructure necessary for development, production, integration, flight-testing, certification and operational support of UAS throughout their service.

The combat-proven operational systems include:
- Orbiter 2 Small-UAS (SUAS)
- Orbiter 3 Small Tactical UAS (STUAS)
- Orbiter 4 Small Tactical UAS (STUAS)
- Aerostar Tactical UAS (TUAS)
- Dominator XP (MALE UAS)
- Pegasus 120 high-performance multi-mission vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS
The Dominator XP UAS. (Photo: CP Aeronautics)
February 10, 2020
DroneSentry-X counter UAV system mounts on vehicles

Photo: DroneShield

DroneShield has released a vehicle-mounted drone detection and defeat product, DroneSentry-X.

Lightweight at about 10 kilograms, it can be easily mounted on most vehicles. DroneShield expects the product to be of interest to military, law enforcement, security and VIP the markets. The product is suitable for both vehicle/convoy and fixed site installations. The product was developed in response to substantial customer interest, according to the company.

“Vehicle market for counterdrone protection is rapidly rising,” said DroneShield’s CEO Oleg Vornik. “In addition to catering for that segment, DroneSentry-X provides a more affordable detect-and-defeat solution for price-sensitive customers as an alternative to purchasing full-functionality DroneSentry product from us. DroneShield offers a complete suite of detection and defeat solutions to our customers, and this new product covers the customer need which we identified in our recent engagements.”

January 9, 2020
US prepares for drone strikes against Middle East targets

A Patriot missile launch.
(Photo: U.S. Army)

U.S. forces and air-defense missile batteries across the Middle East were placed on high alert Jan. 7 in preparation for possible Iranian drone attacks, reports CNN, including all Patriot batteries and forces in the area.

U.S. officials told CNN that intelligence mounted about a threat of an imminent attack against U.S. targets in the wake of the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. U.S. intelligence also observed Iran moving military equipment, including drones and ballistic missiles, over the last several days.

The movement may be an Iranian effort to secure its weapons from a potential U.S. strike, or put them in positions to launch their own attacks.

Iran has put missiles on its drones that have been used in other attacks, including a significant attack on Saudi oil installations last year (see below).

Targets of concern are U.S. locations in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

2019 Drone Tensions

Drones forces from both sides targeted assets in 2019. In June, Iran shot down a U.S. military drone that it claimed was an intruding American spy drone entering its territory. The U.S. said the drone was shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

In July, U.S. Marines jammed and destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz from aboard the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, because the drone has closed too close, to approximately 1,000 yards. Iran denied losing any of its drones.

In September, Iran was blamed for an attack on the Saudi oil industry, with drones and cruise missiles assumed launched from an Iranian base in Iran close to the border with Iraq. The Abqaiq oil plant was struck by more than a dozen projectiles.

Maritime Alert

On Monday, the U.S. Maritime Administration issued an alert to commercial vessels operating in the Middle East, citing multiple maritime threats and stating “there remains the possibility of Iranian action against U.S. maritime interests in the region.”

According to the alert, “The U.S. government is continually assessing the maritime security situation in the region to safeguard freedom of navigation, ensure the free flow of commerce, and protect U.S. vessels, personnel, and interests.

“U.S. Fifth Fleet Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS) has the latest information on the dynamic maritime security threats and operational environment in this region. U.S. commercial vessels are advised to exercise caution and coordinate vessel voyage planning for transits of the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea with NCAGS and follow NCAGS’s recommendations and guidance whenever possible.”

January 7, 2020
Centauri acquires Design Knowledge and PreTalen companies

Centauri, a provider of high-end space, intelligence, directed energy and cyber solutions, has acquired The Design Knowledge Co. (TDKC) and PreTalen Ltd.

TDKC has proven capabilities in microelectronics trust and assurance, space domain awareness, and advanced visualization for enhanced situational awareness. PreTalen’s core competencies are the related practices of cyber warfare, navigational warfare, and positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) techniques and technologies in support of defense and offensive operations to counter adversaries.

Both companies are headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.

The acquisitions more than double the number of Centauri employees in the region to more than 300, supporting customers across the space, cyber and intelligence markets.

In addition, to bringing TDKC and PreTalen’s capabilities to bear for Centauri’s broader customer base, Centauri is building additional research and development labs, and secure facilities in the Dayton region to expand innovation and cutting-edge solutions for Centauri’s customers.

“Both TDKC and PreTalen have exceptional talent and share a common culture of innovation in pioneering new capabilities for the warfighter” said Dave Dzaran, CEO of Centauri. “With TDKC, we are building world-class capability to help ensure trusted microelectronics in the supply chains for the defense and intelligence communities. Their expertise in space domain awareness brings additional AI and machine learning technology to further strengthen Centauri’s existing space-related mission capabilities focused on the next generation of solutions that will serve this rapidly-evolving domain.”

“Similarly to TDKC, PreTalen’s unique skill sets relating to all aspects of the PNT architecture serve as a true differentiator on their programs,” said Dennis Kelly, president and COO of Centauri. “PreTalen has built a critical mass of the most innovative employees in both PNT and cyber, and we are excited to facilitate collaboration not only with our Dayton operations but also across the rest of our company.”

Greg Gerten, CEO of PreTalen, and Dan Schiavone and Eric Loomis, founders of TDKC, as well as both of their leadership teams, including Bruce Hart, will become a part of Centauri’s growing operations in the region.

This investment in the Dayton region comes on the heels of Centauri’s hiring of Col. Elena Oberg, former vice commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, headquartered just outside Dayton at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

With the addition of TDKC and PreTalen, Centauri now has more than $475 million of annual revenues and 1,650 employees, approximately 20% of which support customers located in the Dayton market.

“I speak for all of PreTalen when I say that we are extremely excited to be joining forces with Centauri,” Gerten said. “Our team is eager to apply our core capabilities to the space and Intelligence communities, and we look forward to replicating our past success for an ever-increasing number of customers. Furthermore, Centauri’s focus on innovation meshes well with what we’ve spent 12 years building here at PreTalen, and I’m thrilled to continue our journey with their support.”

December 10, 2019
Economic outlook: GNSS on the rise
Trade wars may be THE only serious limiting factor

The GNSS chip market worldwide is projected to grow by $2.7 billion, guided by a compounded growth of 8%, to 2025, according to ResearchandMarkets. Other market reports cite “huge growth” and “strong development” in GNSS-related markets such as simulators, aviation and defense. We can count ourselves lucky — or remarkably prescient — to be part of such a robust industry, in such uncertain times.

The world conquest by smartphones, smart cities and the internet of things (IoT) will strongly support this market growth. Also on the horizon is the rising tide of GPS-enabled vehicles, putting automotive telematics on the road to assisted-driver and ultimately autonomous driving.

M&A. Meanwhile, the fast pace of mergers and acquisitions among manufacturers and integrators will strengthen the GNSS economy and propel it even higher. Such interactivity will bring higher revenue shares to key players as well as support overall profitability increases to come.

Accurate monitoring of operations and assets; the astonishing rise of drones to active roles in many industries; and the constant innovation and imagination churning out new products, solutions and augmented services — all will consolidate the strength of our remarkable economy. The much-heralded arrivals of BeiDou and Galileo fully upon the scene will only make the immediate future stronger for our industry.

Chart: GPS World

PNT Broadly. Where GPS, GNSS, and multi-GNSS go, they carry other positioning technologies along on their coat tails: inertial, signals of opportunity, Wi-Fi, ultra-wideband and more. The growing pie is certainly big enough for all to get a large share.

That’s not to say there are no barriers to growth, no clouds on the horizon. Licensing, laws and regulations will, as ever, constrict growth. This is not always a bad thing. Controlled growth and wise use benefit us all, and prevent runaway bubbles that can burst for lack of proper internal support.

Mapping. Meanwhile, a host of well-established businesses and nascent enterprises exploit the increased interest in location-based information as an enabler for many consumer, organizational and governmental services. This means that mapping and all manner of technologies associated with it — laser, lidar, infrared and more — may grow at even faster rates.

A brave new world awaits. Once GNSS is integrated with artificial intelligence, there’s no telling where we’re headed.

Of the many uncertainties across the globe, economic warfare poses a greater risk to GNSS than does military conflict. The latter, cynically enough, will actually benefit the industry in the short run, though its effect may chill in the long run.

Chart: GPS World

Trade. One of the biggest questions confronting the industry now is whether the trade and tariff war between the U.S. and China will continue, and what effect it will have. Experts disagree widely on both questions, though almost all of them, except the leaders who are supposed to listen to them, agree that it’s generally a bad thing.

As was stated in these pages at this time last year, if business confidence falls as a result, global output could also drop.

Opportunities Outweigh Obstacles

Industry leaders confront spectrum issues, jamming

In contrast to the rosy forecast on the previous page, serious issues confront the GNSS market. None of them are more serious, thornier or difficult to resolve (despite the many solutions offered) than spoofing and jamming.

Like a tragic hero, GNSS carries a potentially fatal weakness within its strength. To be ubiquitous and highly precise, the signals come from space. Coming from space, they are weak and susceptible to malicious meddling.

Other political and technological obstacles put pressure on the GNSS industry, and therefore upon the whole PNT industry. GNSS always will be the backbone, the center core holding together various adjunct positioning, navigation and timing technologies.

These issues, following closely on the heels of spoofing and jamming, include but are not limited to: spectrum competition and spectrum management; cybersecurity; privacy; net neutrality; national security export controls; product liability; and failure, however temporary, of GNSS systems.

We’ve seen this last most recently with Galileo, but all the GNSS have suffered such setbacks, and surely will again. The nature of the response to each occurrence is the most critical factor.

Keep on the Sunny Side. However, the opportunities far outweigh the obstacles. The greatest opportunities always arise from the greatest asset that the industry possesses: intellectual capital.

Many of the opportunities are cited on the previous page. While high precision will continue to lead the innovation charge and provide the highest profit margins, the smartphone and the automobile will increasingly take up the MVP (most valuable positioner) role within the industry.

Market Intelligence. All these factors make unprecedented demands on management attention and agility. Executives need good market intelligence to keep abreast and ahead of fast-developing research and development trends, market shifts, developments in neighboring or competing technologies, and protectionist tariffs and import/export controls.

Insight provided by all regions, sectors and job titles

This year’s State of the GNSS Industry Survey provides insight from around the globe.

Just over half our respondents work for companies or organizations headquartered in North America; 15% are from Asia-based operations; roughly 10% each for enterprises in Europe and Latin America; slightly less for the Pacific region; and the rest of the replies scattered across Africa, the Middle East and Russia. Truly an international sampling!

Chart: GPS World

Chart: GPS World

Chart: GPS World

Chart: GPS World

Demographics. For job titles, we drew in-depth data from:
- owner/president/CEO, 21%
- engineer, 20%
- general, product or program manager, 19%
- other, mostly surveyors or GIS analysts, 18%
- researcher, 10%
- vice president, CTO, COO, CFO or similar, 6%
- sales and marketing, 5%
Sector. The intelligence in the following pages accumulated from these industry verticals:
- survey and high precision, 29%
- defense, security, government, 19%
- mapping, data acquisition/processing, GIS, 14%
- satellites, signals and simulation, 9%
- machine control, precision agriculture, or transportation (non-autonomous), 6%
- autonomous vehicles (air, ground or water), 5%
- wireless and consumer, 4%
- other, 13%
September 30, 2019
Orolia Defense & Security completes acquisition of Talen-X

Talen-X has joined Orolia Defense & Security to expand its capabilities and resources, enabling the development of more advanced position, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions and to offer more robust customer support.

Orolia Defense & Security has completed the acquisition of Talen-X, a U.S. company specializing in advanced GNSS solutions and interference, detection and mitigation (IDM) technologies.

“Orolia Defense & Security is excited to bring on Talen-X as they offer a complementary portfolio of solutions and bring many years of advanced PNT experience to the team. We look forward to continuing their growth by providing additional resources and capabilities, while ensuring the growth and success of their current customers,” said Hironori Sasaki, president of Orolia Defense & Security.

In early 2019, Orolia Defense & Security spun off as a separate entity from its parent company Orolia, with the mission of providing resilient PNT solutions and custom engineering services to U.S. government agencies, U.S. defense organizations, and their contractors.

Orolia Defense & Security operates as a proxy-regulated company, free of foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI). As such, Orolia Defense & Security is approved to work on the full spectrum of U.S. government classified and unclassified projects and is positioned to support strategic partnerships in the development of key PNT technologies for the defense market.

“Our culture of innovation, together with our demonstrated testing capabilities, will complement Orolia’s technology expertise and significantly enhance the reliability, performance and safety of military operations,” said Tim Erbes, Orolia Defense & Security’s Director of Engineering. The acquisition also enables Talen-X’s existing resources, operations and capabilities to be scaled and accelerated to better support the warfighter.

At the Modern Day Marine and Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) exhibitions, Orolia Defense & Security is showcasing its latest technologies such as the BroadSim Wavefront GNSS simulator, ThreatBlocker jamming/spoofing detection and protection device and BroadShield threat detection software.

Authorized for use with U.S. military signals such as GPS L1/L2, P, Y, and M-Code, Orolia’s simulation and IDM solutions serve unique and challenging program requirements.

September 18, 2019
Defense in front of UAV development

The MQ-9B SkyGuardian will participate in NASA-sponsored flight tests in 2020. (Photo: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)

The defense segment is going from strength to strength — despite a phase not too long ago when defense spending appeared to be dropping. Widespread drone use received a boost with specialized equipment developed for defense forces applications.

The Predator Advances

The General Atomics Predator has gone from a long-distance loiter-and-observe UAV to frontline precision-strike capability, and has been adopted by many military forces around the world.

From first flights in 1994 to initial production in 1997, the Predator has now evolved into many configurations equipped with piston engine, turboprop and jet; line-of-sight radio and satellite command and control; synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral targeting system; video, TV and thermographic cameras; and laser designators and other payloads.

From pure reconnaissance to various strike and attack configurations, the names have also changed. Predator, Reaper, Gray Eagle, Avenger, Protector, Guardian and SkyGuardian have a host of RQ/MQ designations. For instance, In the RQ-4 Global Hawk name, the “R” means reconnaissance, the “Q” means unmanned aircraft, and the “4” is the series.

The SkyGuardian version of the Predator is a certifiable variant anticipated to ultimately become fully authorized for controlled airspace. It will take part in the NASA Systems Integration and Operationalization (SOI) demonstration program in mid-2020, which will highlight commercial UAS missions using larger drones in the national airspace.

The Predator family has now been evolving for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, the popularity of the Predator family of military unmanned aircraft has led to recent headline news about Predators shot down in the Gulf of Hormuz, or crashed in Afghanistan — such is the price of success!

Global Hawk Gathers Intel

The Northrop Grumman Global Hawk has become a U.S. mainline, high-altitude intelligence gathering asset, deployed by both the U.S. Air Force (RQ-4 Global Hawk) and Navy (MQ-4C Triton). Other friendly nations have also shown various levels of interest in acquiring variants, including Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

Northrop Grumman has reintroduced the Firebird as a contender in the airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) field. The Firebird can be configured as unmanned (ground control), autonomous or piloted, and has payload flexibility through open architecture, plug-and-play integration.

The North Dakota UAS test range facility at Grand Sky has initiated procurement of two Firebird UAVs, which they intend to supply to their customers for mapping, inspection and monitoring applications using their extensive, long-range BVLOS capabilities.

Skyborg Equipped with AI

And then there’s this U.S. Air Force Skyborg program, which aims to drag the most possible out of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in an airborne fighter support roll. Kratos has flown the drone hardware a couple of times – the XQ-58A Valkyrie is a “low-cost” unmanned aircraft designed to fly alongside front-line attack aircraft like the F-35 and F-18.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is researching the technology, new sensors, payloads and networking capability these drones will be outfitted with to fly alongside manned fighter jets.

A whole slew of other extremely capable drones are already being operated by the U.S. Army and Navy in a variety of support roles.

Anti-Drone Detection and Prevention

On the flip side, an entirely new related industry segment has come about in the last several years, usually adapting existing radar, sound, infrared or other ground detection systems.

This segment is aimed at circumventing unwelcome drone encroachment over sensitive facilities. Airports, governments, prisons, and energy and water utilities are among the facilities who want to prevent unwanted drones penetrating their airspace.

Solutions may be portable and short range, or ground-based and longer range, with the capability to take down an invading drone or detect where it came from and provide significant warning time.

One solution uses an attack drone that ensnares an intruder-drone in a net and brings it the defender’s location to support second-level investigations. Whatever the solution, drone defense is a growing field.

September 18, 2019
SiTime offers MEMS timing solutions for rugged GNSS
Endura MEMS timing products. (Photo: SiTime)

SiTime Corp. has unveiled its Endura micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) timing solutions for aerospace and defense applications including precision GNSS, as well as field and satellite communications, avionics and space.

The Endura products are engineered to provide high performance in harsh conditions — severe shock, vibration and extreme temperature — that are routinely experienced in these applications.

SiTime offers customers 5 million possible part numbers that can be created from 17 programmable products.

“When exposed to high levels of shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures, legacy timing components have been prone to failure, degrading system performance and reliability,” said Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing. “To solve these problems, SiTime created an oscillator system of silicon MEMS, analog circuits, compensation algorithms, and advanced packaging, which is designed to outperform any other available timing solution in harsh environments.

“For example, Endura precision TCXOs deliver 4 parts per trillion per g (ppt/g) of acceleration sensitivity, which is 50 times better than legacy quartz-based solutions. With such performance, we believe that Endura will transform the oscillator landscape in aerospace and defense.”

Highlights of the company’s solutions include:
- 4 parts per trillion per g force of acceleration (50 times better than quartz)
- Supports –55 degreesCelsius and +125 degrees Celsius operation
- Key timing specifications conform to MIL-PRF-55310
- Five million possible part numbers
Endura Super-TCXOs (temperature compensated oscillators) for use in high-speed communications and GNSS applications include:
- SiT5146/SiT5147 – 1 to 220 MHz, ±0.5 to ±2.5 ppm, -40 degrees Celsius to +105 degrees Celsius
- SiT5346/SiT5347 – 1 to 220 MHz, precision ±0.1 to ±0.25 ppm, -40 degrees Celsius to +105 degrees Celsius
- SiT5348/SiT5349 – 1 to 220 MHz, ultra-precision ±0.05 ppm
SiTime’s portfolio of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Endura products spans six oscillator types and 17 products. All devices offer programmable options such as frequency, operating voltage and stability.

In addition, some devices offer specialized programmable features such as spread spectrum, pull-range, and differential output type.

Endura products are available with up to two grades of acceleration sensitivity, as low as 4 ppt/g (typical). This breadth of products provides customers with a large selection and the ability to configure each device for their application requirements.

Endura products are also designed for continuity of supply for long-life programs.
July 24, 2019