Earlier this year Safran purchased Orilia, a business which specializes in resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) among other things. One of those other things is Emergency Locator Beacons like this one for Search and Rescue they showed me at AUSA.
It’s a simple device that transits the location once turned on via the integrated tape-style antenna which stores wrapped around the device. It also resists GPS jamming and spoofing for high confidence of isolated personnel location.
Designed by ONYX with input from Kägwerks, Force Fynder is a plug-and-play hub allowing it to collect a wide range of sensor data, including inertial measurement and multi-axis positioning, in addition to a variety of available bio-metric sensors. It can also be used as a stand-alone wearable module using its onboard Accelerometer, Altimeter, and Barometer.
The system utilizes radios (selectable between BLE, LTE 3/4/5G, and Satcom) offering over 12 hours of battery life and allowing communication with other intelligent systems in a heterogeneous ecosystem. The range is 10-25 km, antenna (and SATCOM) dependent.
onyx-ind.com/onyx-force-fynder
The US Army’s Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) certainly has a unique geometry and the rail system remains challenging.
A couple of companies have come up with ways to attach over-the-ear style comms headsets with varying degrees of success thanks to the accessory rail and helmet shape. Generally, the arm ends up sticking out quite a bit.
Gentex tasked their Ops-Core team to take a crack at it and they created two styles. Here you can see an IHPS from head-on equipped with an AMP headset. On the left is the more prevalent style of attachment arm which is quite pronounced. To the right is a modified solution using the standard AMP arm, which is much more streamlined.
Here Ops-Core uses the issue IHPS accessory rail along with a custom arm. This sticks out quite a bit from the helmet.
Next, Ops-Core developed a rail appliqué which facilitates use of the lower profile AMP attachment arm.
While there is currently no official requirement for attachment of an over-the-ear style comms headset to IHPS, individual organizations are procuring the capability. Perhaps soon, we will see a new Army requirement and this will be one of the options.
• Thales has just been awarded its fifth order, valued at $100M to deliver 4,000 handheld Improved Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radios (IMBITR) for the US Army’s Leader Radio Program under the second full-rate production order (FRP-2), bringing the total number of IMBITR to be deployed by the US Army to 14,000.
• The radio forms a critical element of the US Army’s modern, resilient tactical network, giving warfighters increased flexibility in multi-domain operations through enhanced communication capabilities.
• The IMBITR is the first handheld radio to use the US Army’s latest Warrior Robust Enhanced Network waveform, and is able to operate in challenging radio frequency (RF) environments, enhancing situational awareness and faster decision-making.
Thales AN/PRC-148D IMBITR Photo Credit: Thales
Thales announces its fifth order for the US Army Leader Program, valued at up to $100 million, demonstrating continued success within the US Army’s Handheld, Manpack, and Small Form Fit (HMS) Army Leader Radio Program.
In September, awards were made under the FRP-2 contracting effort and existing competitive, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. This most recent award represents an additional 4,000-plus AN/PRC-148D 2-channel IMBITR (Improved Multi-Band Inter/Intra Team Radios), bringing the total of IMBITR radios ordered by the US Army to more than 14,000.
This contract demonstrates Thales’ ability to deliver mission critical capabilities into the Army’s Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) and Capability Set formations. As a critical component of the Army’s unified network strategy, the Thales IMBITR system extends advanced networking capabilities to the tactical edge, allowing warfighters increased flexibility in multi-domain operations.
In partnership with the U.S. Army, Thales is delivering the latest WREN-TSM Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) waveform, as well as the simultaneously critical narrowband, tactical line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications capabilities. Together, these provide cryptographically modernized assured, simultaneous networked voice, data and video communications for improved situational awareness and real-time decision-making.
The Thales AN/PRC-148D IMBITR is the first handheld radio to field the U.S. Army Warrior Robust Enhanced Network (WREN-TSM™) waveform, which is a Type 1 robust, reliable, and scalable networking waveform capable of 800-plus nodes and operating in challenging radio frequency (RF) environments.
Currently, 8,400 IMBITR radios are operationally deployed, highly successful, and a preferred solution for the Security Force Assistance Brigade and Infantry Brigade Combat Team/Stryker Brigade Combat Teams.
“Thales is proud to continue as a key contributor to the Army’s Leader Radio Program of Record, and the first to field the WREN-TSM waveform in support of the Integrated Tactical Network. With the new Thales IMBITR radio, Soldiers will experience continued benefits from a decisive tactical advantage that comes with using the most capable radio on the market.”
Mike Sheehan, CEO, Thales Defense & Security, Inc.
www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/defence-and-security
Join OTTO Communications at the Association of the United States Army 2022 Annual Meeting (AUSA), October 10-12, 2022. Come by booth #7741 where OTTO is showcasing several new products in communications, navigation, and timing, including the all-new Lynq PRO™ and more. You will See and Hear the Difference.
To schedule a meeting with OTTO at AUSA, please email GOVTeam@ottoexcellence.com, or visit otto-comm.com for more information.
Brisbane, Australia – September 28, 2022 – Leading global technology distributor and solutions provider Avnet will be participating in Land Forces 2022, an international land defence exposition to be held in Brisbane, Australia, at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre from 4 to 6 October. It marks Avnet’s second presence at the major aerospace and defence exhibition in the Pacific.
The Avnet booth (Hall 4, 4G14) will present five cutting-edge products. For example, the recently launched Avnet RFSoC SOM, a state-of-the-art 16-channel re-configurable wireless System-on-Module (SOM) is ideally suited for integration into drone detection systems and Phased Array Radar among other applications across aerospace and defence sectors. In addition, innovative solutions from Avnet’s partners Advantech, Mercury Systems, Renesas, Samtech and Western Digital will be displayed alongside the Avnet RFSoC SOM.
The Avnet RFSoC SOM is Australia’s first System-on-Module (SOM) to be marketed as an off-the-shelf product. Its adaptability, scalability and reliability make it ideal for integration in a wide range of complex wireless systems, shortening their time to market while overcoming the problem of a global chip shortage.
“At a time when advanced technology is playing an increasingly critical role in national and international security, the first-mover advantage is more important than ever,” said Tan Aik Hoon, Regional President for Avnet South Asia, Korea and Avnet United. “We foresee that packaged off-the-shelf solutions like the Avnet RFSoC SOM will help defence customers remain at the vanguard of technological change and even gain a winning edge.”
“The early response to the launch of the Avnet RFSoC SOM has been highly encouraging. Already in production, several orders have been placed by customers hailing from the defence sector and other industries for shipment,” added Tan.
Australia is an important market for Avnet with success across the company’s wide line-cards in various sectors including telecommunications and connectivity. With an end-to-end ecosystem covering every aspect of product development from ideation to production, Avnet is ideally positioned to support Australia’s aerospace and defence industry.
Find out more about Avnet at Land Forces 2022 here.
Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET), announced today that AeroVironment’s unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) business has joined Persistent’s Wave Relay® Ecosystem.
The Ecosystem is a growing industry alliance of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), UGVs, and sensor companies all utilizing Persistent’s Wave Relay® MANET as their preferred network for command-and-control and communications functions.
“We are very excited to have AeroVironment’s UGVs join the Ecosystem,” said Nick Naioti, Senior VP for Business Development for Persistent Systems. “In building the networked battlefield, we are providing the warfighter with increased situational awareness while also reducing size, weight, and power.”
At the core of the Ecosystem, the Wave Relay® MANET enables tactical teams to receive critical information from unmanned systems and their sensors which facilitates improved decision making, increasing both soldier safety and effectiveness.
According to the agreement between the two companies, the following UGVs will incorporate Persistent’s MANET hardware:
• telemax™ EVO PRO;
• telemax™ EVO HYBRID;
• telemax™ EVO PLUS;
• tEODor™ EVO; and
• EVO Upgrade Kit.
These ruggedized, all-terrain UGVs perform a variety of dangerous missions, including explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), hazardous materials handling (HAZMAT) and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threat assessment.
“Persistent has established itself in the market as a network provider that delivers extended range, high throughput and robustness against radio interference, all of which are critically important to our customers’ life-saving missions,” said Brian Young, AeroVironment vice president and product line general manager for UGVs.
In addition, Wave Relay® MANET gives companies the opportunity to move beyond simple point-to-point solutions and build whole constellations of connected air and ground assets, Naioti said.
African countries interested in AERONet following successful Continued Light Attack Experiment (CLAE)
Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) technology, announced today that it received a request from the U.S. Air Force to supply the Airborne Extensible Relay Over-Horizon Network (AERONet) to a country in Africa.
The request comes on the heels of a successful demonstration in May of the exportable AERONet airborne communications relay at the Continued Light Attack Experiment (CLAE).
“We showed partner nations how AERONet could be used to support missions such as close air support and high-value target takedowns,” said Robert Truglia, AERONet program manager for Persistent.
At CLAE, U.S. Air Force pilots taking off from Moody Air Force Base, in Georgia, flew AT-6E Wolverine turboprop aircraft with Colombian, Nigerian, Thai, and Tunisian personnel and conducting simulated bombing runs and high-value takedowns, in which the aircraft aided in the capture drug smugglers and violent extremist role players.
During this experiment, the platform-agnostic AERONet kit provided the communication backbone for participating nations linking aircraft, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, and three geographically dispersed command-and-control centers in Georgia, Florida, and Arizona, Truglia said. This allowed partner nations to view full motion video and participate in the event from their home countries.
Lt. Col. Gerald Ferdinand, CLAE collaboration director, called CLAE a success, concluding, “AERONet can advance joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) capabilities by expanding our network with existing partners.”
As part of the post-CLAE AERONet order from the African country, Persistent Systems will supply equipment and services to both the U.S. Air Force and the partner nation. Meanwhile, interest in light attack aircraft for surveillance and strike missions grows elsewhere.
“We’ve just seen the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch program sign an IDIQ contract with L3Harris for AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft,” Truglia said. “Like the aircraft tested in CLAE, these Sky Wardens will be used in coordinated close air support and precision strike efforts in irregular warfare operations.”
Update: system going to Nigeria and Tunisia.
