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GA-ASI, CAL FIRE and CA ANG Complete Flight Demo of REAP Pod on MQ-9A

Sunday, July 2nd, 2023

Pod Provides Communications Infrastructure in the Event of Natural Disaster

SAN DIEGO – 30 July 2023 – In collaboration with the California Air National Guard (CA ANG), National Guard Bureau (NGB), AT&T FirstNet, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA?ASI) successfully completed a flight demonstration of the Rosetta Echo Advanced Payloads (REAP) Pod on an MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). During natural disasters, it’s fairly common for first responders and residents of affected areas to lose cellular communications due to downed infrastructure. The REAP Pod provides potentially lifesaving communications infrastructure from an aircraft, ensuring lines of communication remain open between providers of emergency services and those desperately needing assistance.

This flight demonstration, held on May 25, 2023, showcased bridged communications networks providing seamless connectivity between airborne and ground participants. The system showcased the ability to bridge VHF/UHF networks, function as a P25 repeater, connect geographically disparate mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), and most importantly, provide both FirstNet and emergency 911 cellular capabilities.

As California heads into its heavy wildfire season, the REAP Pod on CA ANG MQ-9As will provide needed communications to support CAL FIRE’s rescue efforts.

“GA-ASI is excited to showcase the capabilities of the REAP Pod,” said GA-ASI Vice President of Mission Payloads and Exploitation Satish Krishnan. “The CA ANG MQ-9As with REAP can ensure CAL FIRE and other first responders maintain critical communications infrastructure at a time when it’s most urgently needed and can help save lives.”

The REAP Pod was developed through a collaboration between GA-ASI and Ultra Intelligence and Communications. The system features a suite of advanced communications equipment that helps support disaster relief operations, including VHF/UHF Line of Sight (LOS), P25, MANET, FirstNet Cellular, and a high-bandwidth LOS backhaul. The REAP pod also has the ability to support military waveforms like Link 16.

As manufacturer of the REAP Pod, GA-ASI aims to ensure the successful initial deployment of the pod as an operational proof of concept. This deployment serves a larger objective by advancing the implementation and effectiveness of the REAP Pod and setting the stage for potential adoption by the Air National Guard on the MQ-9A and the Army National Guard on MQ-1C Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

www.ga-asi.com

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MDM 23 – Aries Defense Launches NEOS

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

NEOS is a new hardware solution from Aries Defense designed to optimize network bandwidth utilization for UAS/UAV Platforms. The system compresses and optimizes the data allowing more signals to be passed simultaneously.

Based in their OverWatch integration kit, it provides network bandwidth management and adds a fully customizable reticle to the video feed which allows for quicker call for fire commands.

Aries Defense is working with Skydio and L3Harris Technologies for integration of their systems, allowing multiple users access to multiple feeds. With the Marines deploying a UAS at the squad level, NEOS offers simultaneous direct access to a wider range of sensors both at the tactical edge as well as at the command post and even national level.

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The Sound of American Pride: Safariland’s Exclusive Liberator HP and HP-R

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

Jacksonville, Florida – Safariland®, a brand of The Safariland Group, a leading global provider of safety products designed for the public safety, military, professional, and outdoor markets and one of Cadre Holdings, Inc.’s (NYSE: CDRE) (“Cadre”) key brands is proud to offer a limited-edition Liberator® HP and HP-R line in a patriotic We The People theme.

“Liberators are designed, engineered, and assembled with excellence right here in the USA,” said James Imhoff, GM of Communications for Safariland. “The We The People hydrodip launch is timed with Independence Day to highlight the celebration of America’s freedom. We’re thrilled to offer this limited-edition Liberator headset, born and built in our great Nation and chosen by so many first responders and shooting enthusiasts.”

The Liberator HP provides enhanced hearing protection in all environments, including high-decibel, constant background audio. The wearer is fully protected, while advanced sound localization allows for maximum situational awareness and sound detection.

In addition to the Liberator HP, Safariland will also offer the all-new rechargeable Liberator HP-R as part of this limited-edition offering. As the only premium hearing protection offering this state-of-the-art rechargeable system, the Liberator HP-R is engineered to provide extended usage between charges, supplying a quick and effortless recharge. The headset offers a high level of protection from the environment and industry-leading sound localization.

Designed, made, and worn in America, Safariland’s Liberators provide our Nation’s heroes and tactical community with the tools needed to get the job done. Now available, the exclusive Liberator HP and HP-R in We The People print represents the sound of American pride.

Key features of the Liberator HP/HP-R include:

• 200 – 400 hour run time (mode dependent)

• 3 Distinct hearing protection modes

• Advanced auto-shutoff technology

• Designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA

• First of its kind multi-mode adjustability providing Active Noise Reduction (ANR) and Active Noise Cancellation simultaneously

• IP-68 Waterproof design

• Noise reduction rating (NRR) of 26dB

• Slim earcup design layered with sound barrier technology

• Rechargeable model offering Up to 80 hours of operation between charges

For more information about the new and improved Liberator HP line, Lib HP-R and recently launched products, visit safariland.com.

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MDM 23 – Silvus Technologies x Ops-Core

Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

Ops-Core has introduced a cable and PTT to facilitate use of the AMP headset with the Silvus Technologies Streamcaster radio.

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Persistent Systems to Support Tomahawk Robotics in $55 Million Upgrade of Navy Robots

Thursday, June 22nd, 2023

Flexible Cybersecure Radio (FlexCSR) contract will replace hundreds of legacy radios used by Navy EOD robots with MPU5 mobile ad hoc networking radios, plus NSA-certified Type 1 encryption

June 21, 2023

Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) technology, announced today that it will support Tomahawk Robotics, a Florida-based developer of common control systems for unmanned systems, on a $55 million contract as it moves to production to upgrade U.S. Navy explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) robots.

The Flexible Cybersecure Radio (FlexCSR) contract, awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, will have Tomahawk Robotics replace hundreds of legacy radios used to control and communicate with Navy unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) with Persistent Systems MPU5 MANET radios that have been incorporated by Tomahawk Robotics into a solution that includes NSA Type 1 encryption.

“We are very excited to be supporting Tomahawk Robotics on this Navy contract,” said Ryan Kowalske, VP Business Development for Persistent Systems. “FlexCSR will provide Navy EOD robots with more capable and secure radios. Plus, it shows how other military robots with our MANET systems can be upgraded with Type 1 encryption, when deemed appropriate.”

In addition to being the prime contractor on FlexCSR, Tomahawk Robotics is also a member of the Wave Relay® Ecosystem, an expanding industry alliance of unmanned system, sensor and controller companies all using the Persistent Systems MANET as their default communications network.

“With the growth of the Ecosystem and contract awards like FlexCSR, we are seeing a transition to the long-envisioned networked battlefield, where people, platforms and payloads are all interconnected,” says Kowalske. “Persistent Systems is proud to be making that happen.”

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OR Summer Show 23 – Brunton ECOmpass Tag-Along

Monday, June 19th, 2023

The Brunton Tag-Along compass is an old favorite. It’s great for attaching to zipper pulls on shell jackets or just adding to an emergency kit.

Brunton has refreshed it by manufacturing it from recycled materials and added a thermometer.

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MPU5 Firmware Update Uses AI to Counter Electronic Warfare Threats

Thursday, June 15th, 2023

June 13, 2023

Firmware increases throughput of MPU5 and hardens network against electronic attack

Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET), announced today that the company has rolled out its free 19.7.1 firmware upgrade for customers of the handheld MPU5 networked radio and other Wave Relay® MANET products.

The new 19.7.1 firmware adds Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the Wave Relay® MANET, allowing it to rapidly adapt radio parameters to maximize network throughput. The reinforcement learning algorithm continuously adapts modulation selection, coding rates, spatial streams, and other RF parameters, selecting from thousands of permutations. The algorithm receives an “award” as the capacity of the link increases.

“With this firmware update, our MANET products deliver the maximum network capacity to our end-users,” said Sam Pera, director of Sales Engineering for Persistent Systems. “This means more voice, video, and data – delivering increased situational awareness to the warfighter.”

The upgrade also expands the library of electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures that can be employed by the MPU5 when operating in congested or contested environments.

“The fusion of EW countermeasures with AI based adaptation creates an extremely robust, market leading capability,” Pera noted. “Delivering a system that continuously adapts in contested RF environments to maximize performance.”

The new 19.7.1 firmware also enables the auto-discovery of video camera feeds on the Wave Relay® network, supports pan, tilt, zoom control of FLIR camera gimbals, and embeds KLV metadata into the MPEG video stream.

The MPU5’s Android operating system has also been upgraded several generations improving both security and application performance. Indeed, company officials describe 19.7.1 as a “significant upgrade”—one that was years in the making and supported by the law enforcement, intelligence, and special operations communities.

“They were all beta testers of the new 19.7.1 firmware,” said Pera. “We incorporated their suggestions and received extremely positive feedback with regard to the performance improvements.”

The new 19.7.1 firmware is available now for download in the Customer Support Portal.

www.persistentsystems.com

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Satcom Direct Joins Forces with McQ to Launch Groundbreaking Video Bandwidth Agility Kit

Thursday, June 15th, 2023

New tech streams HD video in reduced bandwidth BLOS applications

Melbourne, Florida/ 13 June 2023 – SD Government, the satellite communications provider for global governments, has teamed with advanced surveillance systems experts, McQ, to add the SD Video Bandwidth Agility Kit (VBAK) to its expanding portfolio of services. Delivering near real-time high-definition video over low bandwidth in beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) applications for military and civilian government customers, the VBAK is a breakthrough technology for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue (SAR) missions. With its clarity, speed, and multiple-platform capabilities, it is transforming fixed-wing, helicopter, and UAV operations with reduced weight and size limitations.

The VBAK internal compact SD WiFi Hub router and video compression module sit between the onboard camera and modem in a hardened case, collecting video data and compressing it using McQ vWatch® software. The video is then transmitted through the SD Plane Simple® Ku-band antenna to a coordination server, where it is distributed simultaneously to multiple end-users, including command and control centers and other aircraft. The video compression bundle is transport agnostic and compatible with Ka, Ku, and L-band satellite communication (SATCOM).

The system, available as a complete roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) kit, can be installed as a bundle with the SD Plane Simple® Ku-band antenna connecting with the Intelsat FlexAir network and is bolstered by worldwide award-winning customer support. VBAK is compatible with the Tactical Removeable Airborne Satellite Communications (TRASC) BLOS C-130 Multi-Purpose Hatch System (MPHS) solution from SD Government and R4 Integration, Inc. Combined, these two RO/RO systems enable simple equipment sharing across the fleet.

In a VBAK proof-of-concept mission held at the Red Flag Alaska Range in March 2023, the HD video feed (1080p/H.264/30fps) from a Northrop Grumman LITENING Advanced Targeting Pod mounted on an Alaska Air National Guard SAR HC-130J, was compressed into a 300kbps stream and routed over the Inmarsat GX network using a MilliSat EX Ka-band antenna that relayed the feed to a ground station where the streaming quality was evaluated. The aircraft departed on a high-level route at 18,000ft MSL from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and an iPerf test was completed during the sortie. The signal-to-noise ratio averaged 5.3 (compared to the normal range of 3.0 to 8.0), 1.8mbps upload, and 1.5mbps download speeds were achieved, and video dissemination occurred with sub-2 second latency. Near real-time or better, this low latency shows how VBAK enables HD video streaming on bandwidth limited to provide capacity for other applications and when high bandwidth is unavailable.

Adding flexibility to the SD VBAK package, the system will operate on a variety of internet protocol networks, including cellular and IP radio modems, as well as satellite. In addition, the McQ vWatch module provides a set-up web page. Its user interface displays video and includes controls for frame rate, pixel resolution, camera pan, tilt and zoom. Frame rate and pixel resolution are adjustable for the best data rate. At the same time, SD’s Data Center and Private Network offer continuous vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection, and encryption while ensuring data never touches the public network.

“The VBAK bundle is an asset that users have been demanding for some time, and we are proud to deliver it to our government customers. The ISR market and operators are balancing the demand for larger data offloads with the economics of the available BLOS solutions. The integration of the McQ vWatch software into the SD ecosystem of hardware and connectivity solutions provides operational agility and cost advantages for the operator, and we are looking forward to working with customers to implement the technology,” says Hayden Olson, GM, Satcom Direct Government. “Our collaboration with McQ on such an innovative piece of technology advances critical service communications during BLOS missions to support positive outcomes in the most challenging environments and consequently protect and save lives.”

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