New Generation of SINCGARS Ordered
More than 70,000 fifth-generation single channel ground and airborne radio systems (SINCGARS) will be deployed through a $478 million order placed by the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Command. The radios provide voice communications and data routing on the battlefield, allowing soldiers to plan their operations in a totally secure communications environment. Four generations of SINCGARS have been deployed to U.S. forces over the past decade, and now nearly 250,000 units are deployed worldwide. ITT Industries, White Plains, New York, will provide the new generation of radios, which has improved voice and data operations. Additional improvements currently in development include combat identification software to reduce casualties from friendly fire.
 
DD(X) Moves Forward
Program management and total ship systems engineering support for the U.S. Navy’s DD(X) Destroyer Class Program Office will be provided by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), El Segundo, California. The DD(X) program is developing the foundation for the next generation of U.S. naval surface combatants. Under a $71 million task order placed by the Naval Sea Systems Command, CSC will perform a range of program management and engineering services, including business and financial solutions implementation; acquisition and ship production analysis support; aviation, mission and human systems integration; and environmental, safety and health support.
 
Airport Anomalies Revealed
Leveraging existing airport surface detection equipment, Technology Service Corporation, Silver Spring, Maryland, will develop the Secure Perimeter Awareness Network (SPAN) to provide airport perimeter intrusion detection. In March 2005, the company successfully demonstrated such a system at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The system combines radar, cameras, infrared imaging and motion detectors to filter out unwanted airport traffic and to identify anomalies. The approach enables quick and cost-effective security upgrades because it leverages radars used by air traffic controllers, eliminating the need for additional radar installations. The system involves a separate radar signal processor that operates in parallel to the air traffic controllers’ processors. In addition to combining radar and security sensors, SPAN will provide preprogrammed response guidance, which will be routed to the appropriate security staff in the event of an alert. The Technical Support Working Group, the U.S. national forum for coordinating interagency and international research for combating terrorism, and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration selected the technology for a two-year, $10 million development contract.
 
Establishing Joint Terminology
Data-sharing capabilities between government and law enforcement organizations is the subject of research commissioned by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York. Quimba Software Incorporated, San Mateo, California, has won the $1.2 million federal Small Business Innovative Research program phase two contract. Quimba researchers will develop a data-sharing environment that can be deployed across diverse functional boundaries. The project will entail designing software to create and reconfigure an entire data-sharing chain dynamically using ontologies. Ontologies establish a joint terminology between diverse communities of interest.
 
Tactical Radios for the Guard and the Reserve
Addressing critical needs of the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve, the U.S. Army has purchased $50 million in Harris Corporation, Rochester, New York, radios. The advanced high frequency (HF) radio systems will be used in the Army’s Modularity Program, a major force transformation initiative to redesign the Army into a more powerful, flexible and rapidly deployable force. Harris will provide its Falcon II AN/PRC-150 (C) manpack and AN/VRC-104 vehicle-mounted radios.
 
The Electric Warship
The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract for research to facilitate its vision of a next-generation nuclear submarine that would have a common ship power system architecture. The objective is to make it possible to transfer electric power from the propulsion system and ship service systems to advanced electric weapons, sensors and countermeasures. This integrated power system would increase fuel efficiency and reliability and will lead to stealthier hull forms, reduced reliance on logistics, plug-and-play maintainability, larger payload and mission capacity, and reduced crew size. The project is part of Tango Bravo, a joint effort of the Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to demonstrate a submarine that can overcome technological barriers that have a significant impact on a submarine’s infrastructure and cost. DRS Technologies Incorporated, Parsippany, New Jersey, will design and develop a shaftless propulsion system that eliminates the need for a shaft that penetrates the submarine’s pressurized hull, dramatically reducing the ship’s weight, size and cost. The lighter, smaller and more power-dense drive system would be based on advanced permanent magnet motors and drives. Work on the $30 million contract will be done at DRS’ facilities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Danbury, Connecticut; Fitchburg, Massachusetts; and Hudson, Massachusetts.
 
Extreme Temperature Technology
Seeking to enable further exploration of the surfaces of the moon and Mars, NASA has funded research to extend the performance range of semiconductors to include operating at temperatures as low as -230 degrees Celsius. The technology will allow data gathering in the extreme temperatures of space without the costly protective systems required to maintain the operating temperature of the current generation of semiconductor devices. BAE Systems will conduct the research and development at its Manassas, Virginia, facility. The contract is valued at $12.5 million.
 
Young Scientists Learn Business Angles
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a $3.1 million grant to train doctoral-level science and engineering students in nanotechnology while giving practical experience in how to develop new technologies for commercial applications. The new program will connect courses, seminars, research, internships and advising across six science and engineering departments to offer an interdisciplinary background in nanotechnology. The doctoral program will involve team training on an 18-month technical challenge project in partnership with the university’s Isenberg School of Management. Teams will generate prototypes of nanoscale devices and will prepare plans for product development and commercialization, producing scientists and engineers who will have an understanding of the business angles behind getting new technologies to market. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded the grant through its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) Program in Nanotechnology Innovation. IGERT is an NSF-wide program to establish new models for graduate education and training that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.
 
Next-Generation Atomic Clocks
Cesium atomic clocks, the enabling element of Global Positioning System (GPS) precision navigation, are slated for improved frequency stability and integrity of output signal. Symmetricom Incorporated, San José, California, will develop high-performance atomic clocks based on its proprietary optically pumped cesium beam technology. Symmetricom pioneered the use of cesium atomic clocks on GPS satellites, enabling full operational capability of the GPS system in April of 1995. This next-generation atomic clock is being prepared for possible deployment on the GPS III satellite constellation. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, awarded the $3.9 million contract.


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