Dialing Up for Satellite Data
Space command operators recently used the Internet to command and control a satellite using standard Internet protocol and open systems. Using a program developed by the Air Force Space Battle Laboratory and NASA’s Glenn Research Center, operators contacted a disaster monitoring satellite owned by the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, via a secure Internet link. A joint U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force team set up a virtual mission operations center to test the capability to acquire satellite data, task satellite payloads and perform tracking and control of space assets via the Internet. The capability will allow warfighters to log on to the Internet and download up-to-date weather forecasts, pictures as well as threat and target information from around the world
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Participants Sought for UAV Experiment
The U.S. Joint Forces Command is seeking participation from industry and academia in an experiment involving unmanned aerial vehicle and intelligence capability interoperability. This experiment is part of the Extended Awareness series. Organizations interested in participating should submit a response, no more than five pages long, that identifies their organization as well as the proposed capabilities that could be provided. This information must be submitted by July 30, 2004. Industry representatives interested in the project's specific technical focus areas and criteria for the proposals as well as how to submit their idea can find more information by clicking here to review the full announcement.
Australia, U.S. Team on Missile Defense
The United States and Australia have signed a framework memorandum of understanding for future cooperative missile defense activities. The 25-year agreement addresses joint development, testing and potential operations for missile defense systems, and it incorporates Australia as a participating country in the U.S. missile defense program. Near-term cooperative efforts will include development and testing of advanced radar technology for improved early detection of ballistic missiles after launch as well as potential options for providing a missile defense capability for a new Australian destroyer. The agreement also provides for the potential for industry-to-industry cooperative technology development ventures.
U.S. Air Force Looks at New Emergency Network
The U.S. Air Force has contracted for a study to develop its new Ground Element Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network (MEECN) System, or GEMS, program. This network would replace Air Force and U.S. Navy fixed and deployable communications for bomber, tanker, reconnaissance and other alert communications facilities. It would provide an upgraded networked infrastructure for alerting aircrews, handling messages and supporting communications links. Improvements would include updated extremely high frequency (EHF)/advanced EHF satellite communications and redundant very low frequency paths for critical strategic message traffic as well as ultra high frequency communications and emergency action message processing systems. Rockwell Collins (
www.rockwellcollins.com) is conducting the GEMS study under a $2 million contract.
U.S. Marines Get New Battlefield UAVs
The U.S. Marine Corps is acquiring a new lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use in Iraq. Manufactured by the Boeing Company (
www.boeing.com), the ScanEagle UAV is 4 feet long and has a 10-foot wingspan. Capable of remaining airborne for more than 15 hours, the UAV features an internal avionics bay that can seamlessly accommodate new sensor payloads. The ScanEagle is launched from a pneumatic catapult, and it can fly pre-programmed or operator-controlled missions. It is retrieved by catching a rope hanging from a 50-foot pole. This system enables the UAV to maintain a small footprint for launch and recovery operations. The Marine Corps is taking two ScanEagles to Iraq.
Transformation for Space Exploration NASA has realigned its organizational structure in an effort to streamline the agency and begin a more integrated approach to science requirements, management and the implementation of systems development and exploration missions. The move restructures the administration’s strategic enterprises into mission directorates that include aeronautics research, science, exploration systems and space operations. NASA’s functional offices are being restructured to the mission support offices of the chief financial officer, associate administrator for institutions and management, chief information officer, chief engineer, chief of strategic communications and general counsel. NASA officials say the administration’s decision-making process will improve with the establishment of the Strategic Planning Council, Director of Advanced Planning and Chief Operating Officer Council.
Navy Pay System Sets SailDeployment of the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) is now being scheduled for active duty locations worldwide following the Milestone III decision that gave final authority for operational production to the U.S. Navy. Authorization, which the U.S. Defense Department granted late last month, allows the Navy to direct NSIPS developer Lockheed Martin Information Technology (
www.lockheedmartin.com) to mass produce, install and maintain the Web-based enterprisewide pay and personnel system. NSIPS is the first Navy program that integrates pay and personnel for active duty and naval reserve in a web environment and also is the first enterprisewide system hosted on the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet. It will support more than 500,000 sailors at 530 sites around the world, including 169 ships at sea, and facilitates the Navy’s integration into the Defense Department’s Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System (
SIGNAL Magazine, January 2004, page 17).
NATO Air Headquarters Changes NameNATO Headquarters, Allied Air Forces North has changed its name to Component Command-Air Headquarters Ramstein (CC-Air-HQ). Effective as of July 1, the new name reflects the streamlined NATO command structure initiated in 2002 at the Prague NATO Summit. The CC-Air-HQ’s mission includes ensuring the security and territorial integrity of NATO nations through air policing, maintaining the security of member nations through command and control of air operations, and contributing to the preservation of peace and stability through operations, co-operation activities, exercises and dialogue. The CC-Air-HQ, located at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, is under the operational command of Joint Force Command Headquarters Brunssum in the Netherlands.
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