Tactical Food Pack is an Estonian company who continues to increase their freeze dried offerings with main meals as well as complete rations. Although their recipes may favor the European palate, it’s an option for those who want to try something different.
They’ve also introduced snacks like rum balls, jerkies and even shake mixes.
True Velocity and LoneStar Future Weapons exhibited in the PT Defence booth at both Enforce Tac and IWA Outdoor Classics.
However, the RM777 bullpup rifle, which fires TV’s proprietary plotter cases 6.8 TVCM cartridge, was in the Beretta booth at Enforce Tac. This prompted me to clear up something I had misunderstood from SHOT Show.
Should the TV team win the US Army Next Generation Squad Weapons PON, the contract guns will be manufactured by LoneStar. They plan for any commercial guns to come from Beretta.
New from German company Tec Target Schneider is an integrally suppressed, detachable 5-round magazine fed, bolt-action, bullpup rifle. The top of the receiver features a partial Picatinny rail and it’s only offered in right hand configuration.
TTS’ earlier models were designed specifically for sniping. However, this model was displayed in the IWA new products was designated as a “hunting” rifle. It’s 83 cm long and offered in:
.243
7 x 57
.308
.30-06
8 x 57
9.3 x 62
Austria’s Allradwerk refurbishes and sells surplus military vehicles like the Pinzgauer series and G-Wagen. Displaying with renowned Bavarian hunting outfitter Frankonia they have unveiled their electric modifications to these icons.
They promise 120 Km at peak performance of 18kwh.
World Defense Show, March, 7th 2022 – TEKEVER, the European leader in Maritime Surveillance, and US-based Overwatch Imaging, a leader in airborne imaging systems for both piloted aircraft and drones, have successfully integrated the PT-8 Oceanwatch payload on the TEKEVER AR5 UAV, adding 360º automatic small target detection capabilities to the system. The news was announced in Riyadh, during the World Defense Show.
VIDEO – we.tl/t-nlUQDi6ULy
World Defense Show, March, 7th 2022 – TEKEVER, the European leader in Maritime Surveillance, and US-based Overwatch Imaging, a leader in airborne imaging systems for both piloted aircraft and drones, have successfully integrated the PT-8 Oceanwatch payload on the TEKEVER AR5 UAV, adding 360º automatic small target detection capabilities to the system. The news was announced in Riyadh, during the World Defense Show.
“The Overwatch Imaging payload enhances the situational awareness capabilities of the TEKEVER AR5, namely for 360º automatic detection of small targets. Like a radar, the sensor automatically detects targets, and allows the operator to recognize and validate the information. Because it’s based on visual data, the PT-8 Oceanwatch allows us to consider very significant information for automatic classification, such as the color of the targets. We believe it will greatly help us improve mission effectiveness”, said Tiago Nunes, TEKEVER’s Director of Products.
“The TEKEVER AR5 UAV is a very capable system with a large payload capacity and multiple state-of-the-art sensors operating simultaneously,” said Greg Davis, CEO of Overwatch Imaging. “Our PT-8 Oceanwatch enhances the system capabilities with AI software, creating an even more powerful maritime patrol UAS.”
The AR5 is a Medium-Altitude/Medium-Endurance, Fixed Wing UAS designed for missions such as land and maritime surveillance, extended patrols, and search & rescue. It is capable of BRLOS (beyond radio line of sight) by way of satellite communications. The AR5 offers superior performance with reduced operating costs, using a satcom terminal and multiple sensors that operate simultaneously.
The Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch is a passive image-based radar system that enables much faster search for small or long-range maritime objects compared to traditional maritime patrol systems that use video or human-based search alone. Oceanwatch combines multiple high-resolution cameras and AI-enabled processing at the edge to automatically identify objects in water during the day and at night.
SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM’s Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T), will host the tenth Innovation Foundry (IF10) Event 03-05 May 2022. S&T Futures seeks to bring together U.S. and International Special Operations Forces (SOF), Industry, Academia, Government and futurists in an exploration design thinking facilitated event to assist USSOCOM in decomposing future scenarios and missions to develop concepts for future SOF operator skillsets and traits in a 2040 timeframe. The theme of IF10 is “Future SOF Teams: Diversity of Skillsets and Traits.”
IF10 participants will explore the impact of future missions, operating environments, and social and technological changes to SOF Operators, the people who are the core of the SOF enterprise.
To ground the discussion, IF10 participants will use a fictional mission scenario that reflects the complex interplays of social, technological, political, and cultural factors as they might play out in 2040 to explore the human dimensions of the challenge, the skillsets and traits needed for SOF operators in 2040 and beyond.
U.S. Citizens Only
Submit NLT 27 March 11:59 PM ET. Visit events.sofwerx.org/if10 for details.
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Soldiers assigned to the 50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced, 35th Corps Signal Brigade are in the early stages of using the Starlink commercial satellite system globally — improving transport diversity options for commanders and pushing data across the Army network at a faster rate.
The Starlink system, operated by SpaceX, consists of low earth orbiting satellites which provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe. The terminal is small and lightweight, featuring a .6-meter phased array antenna and weighing only 15 pounds.
“The benefit of this system is the amount of time it takes for the signal to go up into space and come back down; it saves us a lot of time on latency,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kyle Neese, the senior battalion network technician for the 50th ESB-E. “The old military satellite communication system uses what’s called geosynchronous [satellites], which orbit around the equator at a steady pace, but it takes a little over half a second for the signal to travel up and back down. With Starlink, it comes back at more than twice the speed.”
The 35th CSB aims to use the Starlink system to achieve faster broadband and increase internet speed capabilities in order to support XVIII Airborne Corps’ warfighters and their mission command systems.
“The Starlink terminal is being used to provide tactical network speeds of up to 70 megabits per second with approximately a third of the normal latency over military SATCOM” said Neese. “Testing is still being conducted to increase these speeds further in support of troops on ground.”
SpaceX is also piloting the creation of a miniature mobile satellite antenna to make the Starlink system more portable.
“So far, we’ve tested version one which comes with a dish, a power injector, and a router. The simplest way to hook the Starlink up to our kit is to take an ethernet cable and plug it into our router, which connects to our cradle point router and the cradle point router connects to our other systems as normal,” said Warrant Officer Corey McClure, a network technician for the 50th ESB-E. “This is the first of its kind to come on the market, and so far, it’s been great. It’s going to allow us to be a lot more flexible in terms of where we can set up and what we can do.”
Work is ongoing to assist with compatibility of the Starlink system with some of the current SATCOM equipment that the Army has in use.
“Starlink data rates exceed some of our current capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Mallory Wampler, the commander of the 50th ESB-E. “I know they’re still doing some engineering and design modifications to make the equipment more ruggedized like our 1.2 meter Hawkeye terminal, T2C2 and our Phoenix E systems.”
Wampler said she hopes to continue leveraging commercial off-the-shelf equipment to keep pace with technology improvements. “We are always looking to provide the most redundant Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency plan or PACE plan as possible to support the warfighter and all mission command systems.”
From the initial implementation of this new equipment, the 50th ESB-E, 35th CSB has been at the spearhead of testing the Starlink system to meet the modern-day demand of signal equipment.
“We had the opportunity to work with the joint staff during the Bold Quest exercise last summer,” Wampler said. “We learned it brings a significant capability to the formation, which is good to align with our scalability. The bandwidth throughput is the most crucial factor with this new equipment, and I think it directly aligns with the 18th Airborne Corps’ line of effort when it comes to innovation and modernization. This is the future, and I’m excited to see where this equipment can take us.”
As part of XIII Airborne Corps’ Dragon Innovation Program, the 35th CSB is informing senior leaders on innovative ways to increase mission readiness in Corps Signal Brigades as part of the Army’s modernization efforts.
By SPC Maxine Baen
We’ve written about the Military Through the Ages weekend in the past and it is a must attend event if you are near the Tidewater of Virginia.
You’ll get to see hundreds of reenactors depicting every type of military unit from 500 B.C.E. all the way to modern-day soldiers.
It’s coming March 19-20, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the historic Jamestown Settlement.
Get the details here.
