Category Archives: MRO’s

Lockheed, Intel’s Altera Collaborating On Microelectronics Project For MH-60R Defense System Upgrade

Lockheed Martin said Monday its working with Intel and its Altera semiconductor manufacturing firm to develop an open architecture, low size weight and power upgrade that increases the capability of the electronic defense system on the Navy’s MH-60R helicopters. 

Kevin Mahoney, Lockheed Martin’s director of airborne electronic warfare, told reporters the project is in support of the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s (OUSD R&E) Stimulating Transition for Advanced Microelectronics Packaging (STAMP) program, with an aim to demonstrate a specific use case for upgrading capabilities using domestically-produced microelectronics.

“Secure, dependable access to microelectronics is a national security imperative. Our customers’ missions depend on advanced semiconductor technology. The 21st century technology we need to maintain our security going forward depends on a steady and secure supply of microelectronics. This strategic collaboration will help reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources for microelectronics,” Mahoney said during a briefing on the new effort.

Under a $7.7 million, 18-month Other Transaction Authority agreement, Mahoney said Lockheed Martin will take the Intel and Altera-developed Multi-Chip Package (MCP2), put it into a Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA)-aligned 3U module and integrate it as a digital upgrade for the MH-60R’s AN/ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) system. 

“Utilizing Altera’s Multi-Chip Package, which features the latest in semiconductor technology, our project seeks to revolutionize the efficiency and effectiveness of defense systems for expected use on MH-60R helicopters. This technology promises a leap in capabilities to ensure superior performance on the modern battlespace,” Mahoney said. “That SOSA alignment that we’re doing really allows us to make this system more open, make it more easily upgradeable in the future for both hardware and software updates and eases integration into the host platform.”

John Sotir, senior director of Altera’s military aerospace and government business unit’s acceleration division, told reporters the company’s MCP2 microelectronics solution incorporates “the most advanced data converters into one package.”

“That gives you higher performance for new mission capabilities in a constrained SWaP-C environment,” Sotir said.

Mahoney said this project in support of the STAMP effort aligns the CHIPS and Science Act’s, bolstering domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity and the Pentagon’s efforts to “bridge the valley of death” in implementing new microelectronics capabilities. 

“What STAMP is focused on is helping to bridge that valley of death, [to] take the technology development and bring it further into an actual product that can be used by our armed forces,” Mahoney said. “There is not a guaranteed contract application and implementation of this at the end of STAMP. But what STAMP does is take that chip-level investment [and] turns it into a usable product so it basically shortens the putt into actual implementation onto a platform.”

Mahoney noted the technology being developed through this STAMP project has “very wide applications” beyond use on MH-60Rs, adding Lockheed Martin has its own parallel effort “investing to look at those other platforms and other opportunities where this can be applicable.”

“This versatility ensures our defense systems remain adaptable and capable of addressing emerging threats,” Mahoney said. “Everything we’re doing is applicable to all onboard ESM systems across the services. So we’ll be looking to take this and apply it to every rotary or fixed-wing platform that we currently have systems on and really maximizing this investment from OUSD [R&E], Intel and Lockheed Martin.”

Lockheed Martin is planning demonstrations for late 2024 to showcase how the technology with Altera’s chip capability can work with additional platforms, according to Mahoney.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post Lockheed, Intel’s Altera Collaborating On Microelectronics Project For MH-60R Defense System Upgrade appeared first on Avionics International.

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Valkyrie Unmanned Combat Aircraft Demonstrates Electronic Attack With F-35s – April 2

An XQ-58A Valkyrie autonomous unmanned combat aircraft equipped with an electronic attack payload successfully demonstrated suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) capabilities with two F-35 fighters in a recent live flight test event at Eglin AFB, Fla., Kratos Defense & Security Solutions said on Tuesday.

The test of Kratos’s low-cost Valkyrie completes the first phase of the Marine Corps’ Penetrating Affordable Autonomous Collaborative Killer-Portfolio (PAACK-P) program, part of an effort to inform requirements for the unmanned combat aircraft to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Aerial System Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) for use in the SEAD role.

Kratos received a $22.9 million phase two contract modification in December 2023 to conduct additional engineering and flight tests of the Valkyrie in support of the PAACK-P program.

“MUX TACAIR promises to increase the lethality and survivability of our current crewed platforms,” Lt. Col. Bradley Buick, Marine Corps Aviation Cunningham Group Capabilities, Research, and Integration officer, said in a statement. “These platforms are the future of air warfare.”

The Marine Corps last October conducted the first flight test of the Valkyrie as part of PAACK-P, which is aimed at having the unmanned aircraft serve as a cooperative combatant.

“We’re very excited about the mission capability demonstrated during the flight and the incredible effectiveness per cost that this enables, not to mention the elimination of risk to a human pilot, and elimination of risk to expensive manned platforms,” Steve Fendley, president of Kratos’s Unmanned Systems Division, said in a statement. He also said the test included electronic warfare systems supplied by Northrop Grumman.

Kratos said all flight-test objectives were successfully met. Valkyrie can operate as a loyal wingman with manned fighters, operate in swarms, and individually.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post Valkyrie Unmanned Combat Aircraft Demonstrates Electronic Attack With F-35s – April 2 appeared first on Avionics International.

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Honeywell To Acquire Italian PNT Company To Bolster Autonomous Capabilities – March 27

Honeywell on Wednesday said it has agreed to acquire Italy’s Civitanavi Systems S.p.A., a provider of position, navigation, and timing (PNT) technology to the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets, a deal that adds new technology to its product portfolio that will strengthen its ability to help customers for autonomous operations.

The $217 million deal is expected to close in the third quarter subject to clearing anti-trust authorities, approvals in Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada related to foreign direct investment regulations, and the tender of at least 95 percent of Civitanavi’s outstanding shares. Honeywell said Civitanavi’s controlling shareholder, which owns 66 percent of the company, has agreed to the deal.

Civitanavi specializes in fiber optic gyro technology that currently is not part of Honeywell’s navigation product suite. Honeywell said that Civitanavi’s inertial navigation, geo-reference, and stabilization systems will complement its existing navigation and sensors business.

“By integrating Civitanavi’s inertial technologies and sensors across Honeywell’s existing commercial, military, space, and industrial platforms, our customers across the globe will now have access to a more robust portfolio of aerospace navigation solutions in support of their journey toward autonomous operations,” Jim Currier, president and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, said in a statement.

Civitanavi had $50 million in sales in 2023.

UniCredit is Honeywell’s financial adviser on the deal.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post Honeywell To Acquire Italian PNT Company To Bolster Autonomous Capabilities – March 27 appeared first on Avionics International.

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Army Is ‘Biggest Participant’ By Quantity In First Round Of Replicator, Bush Says – March 20

The Army will be “the biggest participant” for the first round of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative to field thousands of attritable autonomous systems by August 2025 “in terms of quantity,” according to the service’s acquisition chief.

“In the Army’s case, we had something that we were already working on that was similar [to Replicator’s requirements]. So we nominated that and luckily that made the cut. And so that was a win-win for the Army. Those are the ideal situations I think, when it’s something that the service needs to do, can’t quite get through its own system, [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] (OSD) is doing its cross-look oversight and accelerating where they believe it’s necessary for the enterprise. I think that’s the best use of an OSD-led system approach like Replicator,” Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said on Wednesday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks first announced the Replicator initiative last August, detailing the effort to produce and field thousands of “all-domain attritable autonomous systems, or ADA2 capabilities, over the next 18 to 24 months “to help us overcome [China’s] biggest advantage, which is mass.”

Bush did not offer further details on what capability will be scaled up as part of the initiative, which is in line with the department’s approach to not disclose specific Replicator details to the public.

“That’s a choice the department’s made to keep it rather buttoned up. Those in industry that we’re working with of course know [details], but there’s going to be a bit of a gap [for] those that aren’t involved directly just because of the classification structure they put around it,” Bush said during a panel discussion at the Reagan Institute’s National Security Innovation Base Summit in Washington, D.C.

In December, Bush said the Army had nominated three candidate systems for Replicator, confirming they were unmanned systems that are “bigger than a quadcopter but smaller than a MQ-1 [Predator drone].”

Gen. James Slife, the Air Force’s vice chief of staff, joined Bush on the panel and said his service has “several compelling programs” that are being considered for Replicator.

“They’re not quite as technologically mature as some of the Army programs that are going to be in the [first round] of this. But we’re excited, frankly, about the prospects of Replicator,” Slife said. 

Hicks confirmed last week that the Pentagon plans to spend $1 billion over the next two years on Replicator, to include $500 million in FY ‘24 that will either be supported by a reprogramming request or included in the final defense appropriations bill and another $500 million included in its FY ‘25 budget submission.

“We need to see that [FY ‘24 funding] come to fruition. [The appropriators] have been very positive about it. But, of course, we don’t have an [FY ‘24 appropriations] bill and the reprogramming request continues to move through as an alternative path,” Hicks said during a separate discussion at the Reagan Institute event on Wednesday. 

“If the Ukrainians and Russians can put out thousands of UASs every month — every month — and we are having heart attacks over whether the Defense Department of the United States of America can put out multiple thousands over 18-24 months, if we can’t do that we have a much bigger problem than whether Replicator was a good success. And we say we want us to take risk, this is a good example,” Hicks added.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post Army Is ‘Biggest Participant’ By Quantity In First Round Of Replicator, Bush Says – March 20 appeared first on Avionics International.

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