Defense Systems

ULA's Air Force launch contract under scrutiny

The Air Force is considering early termination of a launch support contract option, as Sen. John McCain renews a push to ban use of the Russian-made RD-180 engine.

Defense Systems

Army adds $97M to Shadow drone deal

The service is acquiring more of the catapult-launched ISR unmanned aircraft, which has also been used in concert with Apache helicopters.

Defense Systems

Air Force puts its first cyber weapon system into play

The AFINC creates centrally managed points of entry for a million users at 237 locations around the world.

Defense Systems

Ultra-high-speed chip could make the spectrum feel less crowded

DARPA's analog-to-digital converter can analyze large swaths of the electromagnetic spectrum, keeping systems alter to jamming and other interference.

Defense Systems

Army building an airfield for drone training

The site next to the National Training Center in California will accommodate training on the Gray Eagle ISR aircraft.

Defense Systems

Air Force takes open approach to upgrading its network

The service is adopting open standards via contracts to keep its infrastructure refreshed.

Defense Systems

Software could expose the identity of hackers

Researchers working with ARL use "stlyometry" to sniff out the stylistic fingerprints of code writers.

Defense Systems

Air Force wants sense and avoid technology for large drones

The service is looking for sense and avoid technology for aircraft such as the Predator and Global Hawk that could also be transitioned to smaller drones.

Defense Systems

Service leaders call for more focus on electronic warfare training

EW division chiefs from the military services tell a congressional panel the U.S. needs to keep up with nations such as Russia and China.

Defense Systems

Army adding gigabit wireless to its tactical network

Aruba's Command Post Wi-Fi brings NSA-approved wireless to WIN-T at the battalion level.

Defense Systems

Palm-sized atomic clock could reduce reliance on GPS

A DARPA program is calling for a small, low-power but extremely accurate clock that could maintain location data when GPS goes out.

Defense Systems

Navy awards another deal for electronic warfare upgrades

General Dynamics will perform more work on improvements under the SEWIP program.

Defense Systems

Northrop wins contract for GPS upgrades

The company will support modernization efforts for the embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation System.

Defense Systems

Tern gets closer to extending ships' ISR reach at sea

The DARPA-ONR program to develop long-range, vertical-lift drones for smaller ships moves into Phase 3.

Defense Systems

IG: DOD not keeping track of cloud contracts

Without a standard definition and a comprehensive list of contracts, the department can’t determine if it’s saving money by moving to the cloud, the report says.

Defense Systems

Navy awards large deal to upgrade satellite communications

Raytheon gets a contract that could be worth up to $467 million for Navy Multiband Terminals, which will quadruple capacity while providing anti-jamming features.

Defense Systems

SpaceX lands a rocket upright after orbital flight

The lower stage of a Falcon 9 lands vertically after delivering a payload of satellites into space.

Defense Systems

DISA awards $4.3B in contracts for telecommunications support

Eight companies will compete for work on the Defense Information Systems Network over the next 10 years.

Defense Systems

Army fields robots for chem/bio/nuke detection

Researchers and contractor iRobot enhance the PackBot 510’s detection capability for use in South Korea.

Defense Systems

Army streamlines tactical network with virtualization

Upgrades to WIN-T Increment 1 increase capability while cutting back on the amount of equipment required on the battlefield.