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USAF Moving to Field KC-46A Communications “Backbone”

The U.S. Air Force intends to field a communications “backbone” for the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in the next year in Capability Release 1 (CR1) of the service’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) effort. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

DAYTON, Ohio – The U.S. Air Force intends to field a communications “backbone” for the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in the next year in Capability Release 1 (CR1) of the service’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) effort.

The Air Force has said that the KC-46A will serve as an ABMS data link for combat forces, especially in large theaters, such as U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

“I’ve narrowed the scope of that CR1 initial capability to just getting the organic communications capability integrated on the KC-46 so that they can start getting the connectivity that they need,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Luke Cropsey, the program executive officer for command, control, communications, and battle management, told reporters last week during the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s annual industry days conference.

“Because the timing is so critical in getting that capability in place and out to them, we’ve narrowed the scope down to getting that initial palletized [compute and data storage] capability into the back of that KC-46 and giving them the opportunity to start experimenting with a couple of different ways CONOPS-wise, maybe start using that as a basis for that capability—the work we’re doing on that digital infrastructure stack.”

The latter “is the next piece to that and making sure that we’ve got the capability of getting that fused [data] store and comms package put together in a tight, compact way that allows us to get it out into the various edge locations that PACAF, USAFE, INDOPACOM, EUCOM, are telling us they need that capability, where they want it to go first so we can start deploying it, really in the next year, starting to build out that connectivity and that backbone,” Cropsey said.

The Air Force disclosed its ABMS plans for the KC-46A more than two years ago and said that the service’s goal was to field ABMS on the first of 179 planned KC-46As by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 (Defense Daily, June 9, 2021).

Boeing said in April that the Air Force had picked the company to aid the service’s ABMS Airborne Edge Node (AEN) concept by studying how to integrate new forward edge processing on the KC-46A.

The Air Force requested more than $500 million for ABMS in fiscal 2024. While three of the four defense mark-ups recommended the full amount, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel has advised a reduction of $16 million, including $10 million less for AEN as “early to need.”

The Air Force had planned for AEN to be in CR1.

The networking of platforms through AEN is to improve data security and reduce time lags for processing information and sending it to front-line forces.

In March 2021, the Air Force identified a critical deficiency in the flight management system of the aerial refueler of the KC-46A Pegasus tanker. Boeing shared in 2022 that it expected to resolve the flight management issues via the development of a software fix.

This article was originally published by Defense Daily, a sister publication of Avionics International. It has been edited. Read the original version here >>

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Panasonic Expands GEO Ku-Band Satellite Capacity

Panasonic announced a major expansion of its global connectivity network. It is adding new and expanded GEO Ku-band satellite capacity and expanding its current capabilities through the introduction of additional HTS capacity over China and Japan.

Panasonic Avionics has embarked on an ambitious journey to expand its existing network. The addition of new and expanded GEO Ku-band satellite capacity promises higher-speed in-flight internet connections.

This network boost emphasizes the incorporation of new HTS (High Throughput Satellites) and XTS (Extreme Throughput Satellites), offering enhanced coverage spanning across North, Central, and South America, the North and South Atlantic Ocean, Europe, the Middle East, the Arabian Sea, Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

There will also be a significant focus on Asia—Panasonic Avionics is incorporating additional HTS capacity over China and Japan to strengthen its footprint in a pivotal region.

Beyond just coverage, the expansion promises to deliver accelerated speeds. Airlines and passengers can anticipate speeds of up to 75 Mbps via HTS and 200 Mbps through XTS satellites. This represents a 50% global capacity increase for reliable high-speed internet services.

The forthcoming launch of multi-orbit connectivity services will integrate an electronically steered antenna (ESA), designed to access both GEO and LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites.

More than 70 leading airlines globally have chosen Panasonic Avionics’ in-flight connectivity services, indicating the industry’s growing demand for more robust and high-speed connectivity solutions.

“For the past few years, we have seen exponential growth in the adoption of in-flight connectivity,” remarked John Wade, Vice President of Panasonic Avionics’ In-Flight Connectivity Business Unit. “Passengers want faster internet speeds for traditional services like email, web browsing, social media, and messaging, and they are increasingly looking to stream content, play games in-flight, and use collaborative cloud-based applications.”

He added, “Given our unique approach to satellite capacity, and with our multi-layered, multi-orbit connectivity network, Panasonic Avionics has the unique ability to leverage a wide range of different, industry-leading satellites, rather than the high-risk approach of relying solely on proprietary satellite technology. This enables Panasonic Avionics to add new capacity quickly and easily when and where it’s needed, ensuring we can deliver an advanced and virtually uninterrupted service. The result is a better experience for passengers and higher Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for airlines.”

Panasonic’s first XTS satellite entered service on Feb. 3, 2021. In July of that year, the company announced that it had activated XTS satellite coverage over China and the Asia Pacific region. “The beam over Asia Pacific from APSTAR 6D, Panasonic Avionics’ first XTS satellite, has gone live through teleports in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and Perth,” according to the company.

A Path to Safe Drone Operations: The Latest from EASA

This week, EASA published a drone directory for uncrewed aircraft that are classified in the “open category” and are labeled with specific class marks. The agency also released a template for drones operating in the “specific category.” (Photo: DJI)

This week, EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) released a drone directory of uncrewed aircraft that fit within the “open category” and have been labeled with specific class marks, such as “C1” or “C2.” This list from EASA will help individuals, businesses, and other stakeholders identify drones that adhere to the new regulations set to be effective from Jan. 1, 2024.

Starting Jan. 1, the following new drone rules will be in effect:

Drones labeled with a “C1” mark and weighing up to 900g can fly in areas with lots of people, according to the A1 rules.
Drones weighing up to 4 kg with a “C2” label can fly within 5 meters of people who aren’t involved in the drone’s operation, as per the A2 rules.

There are already drones in the market that follow these rules. EASA has a list of these drones, which will soon be a part of the EASA Sustainable Air Mobility Hub—a website created by EASA to help local governments and businesses use drones in a sustainable way. It’s a key part of the EU’s new drone plan, called Drone Strategy 2.0.

A “CE” mark on a product means it meets EU standards for health, safety, and the environment. It’s for products sold in the European Economic Area (EEA).

(Photo: Asylon)

EASA also released a guide meant for drones operating in the “specific category” this week. This template, called an Operations Manual, is for drone activities under SAIL II (Specific Assurance Integrity Level II). If drone operators want permission to operate in this category, they need to submit a similar manual. This requirement is based on Article 12 of the EU’s rules from 2019 about drone operations.

EASA classifies the following uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) operations in the “specific” category:

BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight)
Operating a drone with MTOM (maximum take-off mass) > 25 kg
Operating higher than 120m above ground level
Dropping material
Operating in an urban environment with MTOM > 4 kg or without a class identification label

Based on SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment), SAIL I and II are classified as low-risk; SAIL III and IV are medium-risk, and SAIL V and VI involve high-risk operations.

The release of this template underscores EASA’s commitment to ensuring that drone operations in the EU are conducted safely and according to set standards. This is essential given the increasing number of drones and their diverse applications in today’s world.

By providing a template for the Operations Manual, EASA is also offering clear guidance on what they expect from drone operators in the specific category under SAIL II. This helps standardize operations and ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding safety and operational standards.

Mitigating Risks in the Commercial Microelectronics Supply Chain

The DoD released findings from an independent panel review of the Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance efforts. (Photo: Northrop Grumman)

The Department of the Air Force reviewed the Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance efforts by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, as directed by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The results of the review were just released on August 3.

This review involved an independent panel of 27 experts determining the best approach to mitigate risks in the commercial microelectronics supply chain and to ensure the security and integrity of microelectronic components used in Department of Defense (DoD) systems.

The panel pinpointed three main strategies to ensure that commercial production meets the department’s needs:

Trusted Foundry: an overlay on a commercial flow offered by GlobalFoundries that offers protection against unauthorized disclosure of classified information (including data and government intellectual property) to unauthorized persons.

International Traffic in Arms Regulations/Export Administration Regulations for export-controlled microelectronics

Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance: an emerging data-centric approach to independently assess integrity across the microelectronics development lifecycle including design and manufacturing

These measures aim to bridge the gap between the DoD’s unique requirements and the commercial supply chain while maintaining a consistent security posture. The study emphasized the importance of these strategies to counter security risks associated with the procurement and utilization of commercial microelectronics in defense systems.

(Photo: Department of the Air Force)

Microelectronic components, which play crucial roles in modern defense systems, include microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, and custom integrated circuits.

Most of the microelectronics in DoD systems are commercial off-the-shelf components, with a majority of the DoD’s purchases not made through the trusted supply chain.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante commented, “To stay ahead of our competitors, it is absolutely essential that DoD is able to access the commercial supply chain of microelectronics. The independent panel’s review is helping us better understand the risk-based approach we need to take to make that happen.”

Heidi Shyu, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, explained that their trusted suppliers in the commercial supply chain help to keep the department prepared. “Our focus must be to maintain and strengthen that support,” Shyu said. “The work of the independent panel—confirming what we need in the Department of Defense and what areas present opportunities, and gaps, for mitigation—has been an essential part in the overall Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance effort and will inform evolving standards such as the Department of Defense Manual 5200 series.”

Dr. Victoria Coleman, Chief Scientist of the Air Force, remarked that there has been a false dichotomy between Trusted Foundry and Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance. “While Microelectronics Quantifiable Assurance is focused on the entire lifecycle of the microelectronics and offers enhanced integrity protection, Trusted Foundry focuses exclusively on fabrication, a protection that heightens our confidence that our classified information has been protected during the commercial manufacturing of the parts we use in Department of Defense systems,” Dr. Victoria Coleman explained.

Below are the key questions addressed by the panel review:

What are the national security implications of increasing our use of commercial microelectronics fabrication flows relative to the use of Trusted Foundry flows?

Access to commercial ME is essential for obtaining performant, trustworthy, and affordable parts to create mission-capable DoD systems. Not having access threatens our national security.

What are the risks entailed?

The risks include compromise to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of function of ME devices. These risks are lower during mask and wafer fabrication and higher during design, testing, and configuration. ME is not free of risk but is not the greatest risk by far.

How can we mitigate these risks in a practical way?

Risks can be mitigated by creating a rational ME Assurance risk management regime, combining TF with MQA overlays over commercial practices, designing for assurance/defense in depth, and creating and implementing standards.

Will the risk reduction be enough?

There is no perfection but the risk can be managed to be as low as reasonably practicable.

How are we going to implement in practice a viable risk reduction regime?

By creating the ME Assurance EA, the ME Assurance Standards Board, by resourcing the ME Assurance governance appropriately, and by aligning execution of the CHIPS program with DoD needs.

Version 2.0 of the Urban Air Mobility Concept of Operations

The integration of urban air mobility into existing airspace systems is a collaborative endeavor, requiring continuous learning, validation, and adaptation to evolving technologies and methods. Speakers from the FAA, NASA, OneSky, and ANRA provided insights into their respective areas of expertise, underscoring the importance of data, collaboration, understanding new complexities, and global harmonization. (Photo: NASA)

BALTIMORE, Maryland — One of the most interesting panel discussions that took place during the recent AAM Summit—presented by the FAA and AUVSI—revolved around the evolving landscape of urban air mobility (UAM). Central to the discourse was the significance of collecting pertinent data to facilitate the integration of new aerial vehicles into existing airspace systems.

A speaker from NASA emphasized the organization’s role in gathering data to aid both the FAA and the wider industry, underscoring the importance of preparedness to scale operations and make certification timelines more efficient. Industry participants shared insights from recent demonstrations, highlighting lessons learned, especially in the realm of traffic flow management and understanding airspace dynamics.

The conversation also touched on global perspectives, with an FAA representative noting commonalities in UAM ConOps approaches worldwide, emphasizing piloted aircraft operations, integration issues, compliance, and the desire for global harmonization, especially in safety standards.

Steve Bradford, Chief Scientific & Technical Advisor of the FAA’s Office of NextGen, moderated the “Urban Air Mobility Concept of Operations” panel discussion. He brought up the need for international harmonization and asked Chris Swider, Senior Technical Advisor of the FAA, to discuss the role of ICAO in this arena.

Swider mentioned that at the last ICAO assembly which took place in October, the FAA and other member states emphasized the need for a unified approach to advanced air mobility. The FAA urged ICAO to establish a clear framework and avoid uncoordinated efforts by individual technical panels.

“ICAO did establish an advanced air mobility study group,” he remarked. “They’re going to try to create a vision, and take a look at gaps in current policy that need to be addressed,” and ensure that future technical panels work in sync. Swider sees this as a significant step towards global harmonization in air mobility that prioritizes both safety and efficiency.

Moderator Steve Bradford next asked Noureddin “Nouri” Ghazavi, Systems Engineer for the FAA NextGen Technology Development and Prototyping Division, to share some of the key points of Version 2.0 of the UAM Concept of Operations.

Ghazavi first mentioned the FAA’s “Innovate28” plan, which aims for operations at scale by 2028. He said that it focuses on the near-term integration of advanced air mobility (AAM) into the national airspace system (NAS). He noted that the FAA’s goal in developing the ConOps is to incorporate high-density UAM operations into the NAS.

“We got feedback from the industry, and we have a better understanding of their business model,” Ghazavi said. “From that point, we start looking into developing our assumptions or principles. We had a series of guided discussions with industry partners and understood that we cannot take a piece of airspace and just give it to each individual operator. So we started looking at the concept that we can integrate all operation into these cooperative areas, as laid out in ConOps 2.0.”

In 2020, the FAA’s NextGen office published Version 1.0 of its Concept of Operations for urban air mobility, which was developed in collaboration with NASA and industry.

In developing Version 2.0 of the ConOps, the FAA considered performance as well as participation requirements. Another aspect is determining the key enablers for UAM. Ghazavi emphasized the role of third-party service providers, which are crucial for a transparent system where everyone shares and accesses operational information.

Bradford asked Jim Murphy, AAM System Architect at NASA, to talk about NASA’s role in the whole concept of AAM and UAM. Murphy pointed out that NASA focuses on scalability, especially when collecting data for industry and for the FAA. “We can definitely handle one operation and new types of missions if they’re one-offs, but what happens if they’re successful? How do those tempos increase? How can we scale?”

“We do recognize that there may be differences in how the aircraft are managed or piloted—they might move into multi-piloted types of operations,” he added.

By understanding industry intentions and checking their feasibility with the FAA’s direction, NASA aims to bridge any gaps. In providing data to both industry and the FAA, NASA also ensures that when a company seeks certification for a new aircraft mission, the FAA is already familiar with it. This pre-emptive approach should expedite the integration and scaling process within the national airspace system, Murphy explained.

Bradford mentioned a recent urban air mobility demonstration that the FAA NextGen Technology Development and Prototyping Division conducted. The FAA’s Nouri Ghazavi commented that after releasing the ConOps, their real work began: focusing on its validation. The team adopted an iterative approach and collaborated with industry leaders to understand the interaction of the proposed cooperative areas in the NAS with other operations.

Ghazavi said that their specific focus was on traffic flow management outside these cooperative areas. They partnered with industry to develop the cooperative flow management detailed in ConOps 2.0. While examining how to incorporate traffic management initiatives (TMIs), it became evident that these operational corridors wouldn’t be isolated.

The ConOps also highlighted the potential to utilize cooperative areas for air traffic services. In practice, this means TMIs could affect these areas. Partners like ANRA and OneSky helped develop capabilities for management within these cooperative spaces.

“We had a shakedown activity last week,” Ghazavi said. “We’re going through a demonstration later in August—it’s going to be a virtual session, but we do have live aircraft.”

“We learned a lot from being involved in this with the FAA and having people that are experts in air traffic control as a part of this trial,” remarked Chris Kucera, VP of Strategy at OneSky Systems. OkeSky’s expertise includes building UTMs for small UAS. Now, the introduction of air taxi presents its own complexities, especially regarding different UML levels.

“Within a federated system, you’re not telling people what to do. They have resources, and they grab them when they want,” Kucera said. “So we have to set up a system that works in terms of grabbing resources. It’s a different way of thinking of the problem, and I think that complexity was realized very early on in this scenario.”

Amit Ganjoo, founder and CEO of ANRA, explained that their company has approached UAS largely from a standpoint of segregation, avoiding major interactions with air traffic control systems. The introduction of CFM (cooperative flow management) to TFM (traffic flow management) exchanges revealed complexities that hadn’t previously been considered. Beyond just strategic deconfliction, demand-capacity balancing, spacing, and airspace availability now need to be considered. Another challenge is evolving from traditional voice-based ATC calls. “Initially, if the aircraft are going to be optionally piloted, how do you translate that into Voice over IP calls?” Ganjoo asks.

The FAA’s Chris Swider commented that within the international division of the Integration Office, they learn from global colleagues. Many concepts worldwide align with those of the FAA. Common trends include starting with piloted aircraft, moving to more automation, and aiming for fully automated operations.

Swider added that there is a general approach of starting with one city and then expanding. Challenges like environmental concerns, noise, and community engagement are universally acknowledged, and a key emphasis is on compliance. In shared airspace, all must adhere to existing rules, though these may evolve. Finally, he remarked that there’s a strong desire globally for harmonized safety and efficiency standards.

The Latest Research in Air Traffic and Airspace Management

The latest in air traffic management: an adaptive tracking solution for aerial targets, a model for entity recognition in cyber threat detection, and real-time flight arrival prediction (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Darren Newell)

In the heart of the complex and rapidly evolving world of air transportation, pioneering research continues to illuminate new paths towards improved operations, heightened security, and increasingly accurate predictions. The latest special issue of peer-reviewed journal Aerospace—entitled “Advances in Air Traffic and Airspace Control and Management”—features several interesting research papers that each tackle a unique facet of the aviation industry’s most pressing challenges. From an adaptive tracking solution for maneuvering aerial targets to a state-of-the-art model for entity recognition in cyber threat detection, and an innovative method for real-time flight arrival prediction, these new insights epitomize the remarkable progress being made in the quest for a safer, more efficient, and more resilient air travel experience.

Tracking Aerial Targets

The research paper titled “Adaptive IMM-UKF for Airborne Tracking” presents a novel tracking solution for maneuvering aerial targets. The authors introduce an adaptive interacting multiple model (AIMM) that works in combination with unscented Kalman filters (UKFs), labeled as AIMM-UKF. The newly proposed system is designed to yield more precise estimates, improve the consistency of the tracker, and enhance robust prediction during periods of sensor outages.

The framework is built around two modes: a uniform motion model and a maneuvering model. It rapidly alternates between these two models based on a distance function that adjusts the transition probabilities. To verify the proposed solution’s effectiveness, the authors performed Monte Carlo simulations and compared the AIMM-UKF with ACAS Xa, the upcoming generation of airborne collision avoidance systems, using hypothesis testing of root mean square errors, normalized estimation error squared (NEES), a new proposed noise reduction factor, and an estimated maximum error of the tracker during sensor dropouts.

The experimental results showed the superior performance of the AIMM-UKF in terms of tracking accuracy, consistency, and the expected maximum error, especially in situations involving sudden and abrupt maneuvers and during sensor outages. For uniform linear motion, the performance was consistent with the ACAS Xa. However, for curvilinear trajectories, the AIMM-UKF performed better.

The authors suggest that the findings of their research will benefit the design of target tracking systems, particularly in the fields of counter-UAV technologies and military applications. Future work includes creating a dataset of airspace encounters with ground truth data and observation data, and exploring the incorporation of modern artificial intelligence methods into the proposed framework.

Detecting Cyber Threats

A paper titled “TCFLTformer: TextCNN-Flat-Lattice Transformer for Entity Recognition of Air Traffic Management Cyber Threat Knowledge Graphs” presents a novel method for entity recognition in air traffic management (ATM) cyber threat detection using a model called TextCNN-Flat-Lattice Transformer (TCFLTformer). The researchers developed this model to improve upon traditional machine learning methods and more recent deep learning techniques, which were found to be lacking in recall and accuracy or struggled with capturing both global and local features. The TCFLTformer, with its CNN-Transformer hybrid architecture, first utilizes convolutional neural networks (CNN) to extract local features from the text and then uses a Flat-Lattice Transformer to learn temporal and relative positional characteristics of the text to achieve final annotation results. The model is also designed with a relative positional embedding (RPE) and a multibranch prediction head (MBPH) to enhance deep feature learning and encode position text content information.

The study introduces the ATM Cyber Threat Entity Recognition Datasets (ATMCTERD), containing 13,570 sentences, 497,970 words, and 15,720 token entities collected from international aviation authorities and cybersecurity companies. In tests using these datasets, the TCFLTformer achieved the highest accuracy and precision scores, at 93.31% and 74.29%, respectively, compared to six other Named Entity Recognition (NER) models. Additional experiments were conducted on the MSRA and Boson datasets for a more comprehensive evaluation of the model’s effectiveness.

The researchers conclude that the TCFLTformer shows promise for ATM cyber threat entity recognition, outperforming other popular methods in terms of accuracy and recall. However, they also note that the limited size and scope of the datasets used in this study constitute a potential shortcoming and suggest that future research could use larger datasets and consider other large-scale deep learning models, such as GPT and RWKV, for comparison and analysis.

Real-Time Flight Arrival Predictions

A paper titled “A Data-Light and Trajectory-Based Machine Learning Approach for the Online Prediction of Flight Time of Arrival” presents a new method for predicting flight arrival times in real time while a flight is airborne, specifically the Estimated Time of Arrival at Terminal Airspace Boundary (ETA_TAB) and Estimated Landing Time (ELDT). The method is data-light, meaning it requires minimal data inputs and is easy to implement, and is intended for use by stakeholders like airlines, airports, and air travel app developers who lack access to extensive real-time information.

The method makes use of machine learning techniques and uses only flight trajectory information, specifically latitude, longitude, and speed. The process includes four stages: reconstructing the sequence of trajectory points from the flown trajectory and identifying the most similar historical trajectory; predicting the remaining flight trajectory based on the flown path and the matched historical trajectory using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network; predicting the flight’s ground speed along its projected path using a Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) model; and predicting ETA_TAB and ELDT using the trajectory and speed predictions.

The LSTM and GBM models used in the method can be trained offline, keeping online computational needs to a minimum. The approach was tested with real-world US flight data, and it was found to perform better than several alternative methods. The simplicity and effectiveness of the method make it attractive to potential users who need real-time ETA prediction but have limited access to data.

Despite the good performance of the approach, the researchers acknowledged that more sophisticated models with access to additional data like airspace congestion and en-route weather conditions could potentially improve the prediction accuracy. Future research could look into including more historical trajectories, incorporating altitude data into the trajectory prediction, and refining the prediction of flight terminal approach time.

Calculating Delays and Predicting Interruptions

In March, we covered a new artificial intelligence technology created as part of a project called Artimation at Mälardalens University (MDU) in Sweden. It aids air traffic controllers by calculating delay lengths and predicting interruptions. “The project results will improve the functionality, acceptance and the reliability of AI systems in general, but also meet global goals such as the improvement of industry, innovation and infrastructure in society,” according to Mobyen Uddin Ahmed, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at MDU.

U.S. Fourth Fleet Seeks Future Watchstander AI Tool

U.S. Marine Corps Tactical Resupply Vehicle 150 (TRV) unmanned aircraft system on return from resupply mission during UNITAS LXIV Exercise in Covenas, Colombia, July 15, 2023. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps by Lance Cpl. Christian Salazar)

As the U.S. Fourth Fleet starts practicing operationalizing unmanned systems, it is interested in ultimately getting watchstander data artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help sift through the added data coming in, an innovation officials hope will help spur more investment in the field.

Cmdr. David Edwards, Fourth Fleet Director of Technology and Innovation, told reporters during a media call on July 20 that several systems being used in the Fourth Fleet’s uncrewed system testing already have AI stems “baked in the ability to analyze imagery onboard the vehicles themselves.”

However, he said the fleet is thinking about pursuing a future AI tool as “something that we need in order to monitor all these data flows going in.”

In April, Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, revealed the Navy will build off Task Force 59’s successful testing of unmanned systems and AI by expanding similar work to the Fourth Fleet in Central and South America (Defense Daily, April 4).

Fourth Fleet began the work to operationalize unmanned and AI systems this month during the annual international UNITAS exercise.

Edwards noted they are currently using the Minotaur system to display this unmanned data.

He noted Minotaur is a “government-owned software device that provides a current operational picture. And that software is designed specifically to integrate data feeds from many different sources.”

Minotaur is also being used by Fifth Fleet with its Task Force 59 experimenting with unmanned systems and AI.

Edwards said while Minotaur is useful, “the watchstander needs an assist, in order to process and understand exactly what that data means and which data is important in which data is routine.”

Such a watchstander data tool “is something that we look to the future to build to help us understand all the data flowing in. So that the watchstander knows when it’s just a regular day in the Caribbean and when actions needs to be taken.”

Rear Adm. Jim Aiken, commander of Fourth Fleet, told reporters that on any given day his area of operations can have 700 fishing vessels operating, divided into those performing normal work, some turning their Automatic Identification System (AIS) on and off, providing fuel to drug runners, and participating in human trafficking.

“There’s some ways with AI tools, and we started doing some evaluation with this where we can identify those, and then instead of overwhelming our resources, we can use our limited resources in this area,” Aiken said.

He added that, given the risks in his AOR, AI can help them best use their limited resources to get after the challenges and actors not acting in accordance with international law.

DIU Director Doug Beck recently underscored how the Fourth Fleet effort here will help scale up the unmanned and AI development for the military overall.

“I’ll say this as a Navy guy, this is an area where the Navy is going from not always being the fastest to being one of the fastest and thinking about ways to do this,” he said.

Beck highlighted that Fourth Fleet is being leveraged “to do this at scale for maritime domain awareness, leveraging AI and sensors in order to make that happen. That’s a great example of beginning to scale these things, and we’ve got to go a lot faster and a lot bigger in terms of what that scale really means.”

He argued these kinds of larger-scale demonstrations will help spin the wheel to make it easier to spur more investment in AI and unmanned systems “in order to make that happen in a way that scales.”

Previously, Fifth Fleet and Task Force 59 leaders have said using unmanned and AI systems can help them develop a picture of what a relatively normal activity at sea in their AOR looks like, then when there are deviations, they can task different types of unmanned systems to investigate them.

Last month, Northrop Grumman unveiled the design of the new autonomous uncrewed VTOL aircraft capable of operating from Navy ships at sea. It will build the vehicle under a new contract from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office.

This article was originally published by Defense Daily, a sister publication of Avionics International. It has been edited. Read the original version here >>

Viasat Releases New Black ICE SDR Platform for Military Users

Viasat launched Black ICE, a new family of high-performance modem solutions that enable the integration of commercial off-the-shelf and waveforms for low SWaP, secure beyond-line-of-sight data communications. (Photos: Viasat)

Viasat is launching a new family of modem solutions, the Black ICE Software Defined Radio product line. The Black ICE SDR modem solutions can be integrated with commercial off-the-shelf and custom waveforms, for secure data transmission for mission-critical operations.

Software-defined radios can tune to any frequency band and use multiple waveforms through plug-and-play software applications built to published Army standards.

Black ICE SDRs are designed to meet the needs of military users with security, flexibility, a low form factor and high-performance capabilities. They can be used on beyond line of sight communications on crewed and uncrewed platforms, as well as expeditionary command and control (C2) operations.

The Black ICE SDR product line is compatible with Inmarsat’s Elera L-band and Global Xpress networks. Inmarsat is now a Viasat company. It can be integrated into standard Global Xpress Ka-band terminals via G-MODMAN II and open platform modem manager technology to enable the addition of a special waveform service. U.S. government Global Xpress customers can also access alternative waveforms for high data rate and resiliency necessary in congested and contested environments. More complex waveforms will enter commercial service later in 2023.

“With the increasing use of beyond-line-of-sight communications as part of ISR and C2 missions, U.S. government customers require a high-performance solution that maximizes platform range and reduces signatures for land, sea, and air,” commented Matt Wissler, Viasat Government Systems CTO. “The Black ICE SDR platform provides customers with solutions that enable flexible waveform integration and allow them to securely transmit large volumes of data while meeting the SWaP requirements of these platforms.”

This article was originally published by Via Satellite, a sister publication to Avionics International. It has been edited. Click here to read the original version >>

OPINION: Safeguarding the Aviation Industry from Modern Cyber Threats

Airlines have a big part to play in implementing new strategies to promote better cybersecurity because they’re the number one target. (Photo: ICAO/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

I spend a lot of time traveling internationally. So I naturally spend a lot of time on planes, and I get all the benefits of the new technological developments in the aviation industry, like in-flight Wi-Fi, quick and easy biometric identification, smart baggage tracking, and more.

Not having to clock out of my work when I’m flying is awesome. That said, I believe that these new technological developments, while improving the experience for frequent fliers like myself, may also increase the danger of cybersecurity threats in the aviation industry.

These threats have been around for a while, but they’re constantly growing and increasing. For example, ransomware attacks within the aviation supply chain have increased 600 percent in a single year. Whatever the reason, global aviation authorities and airlines alike need to step up to fill the security gap.

The Risk is Real

The most obvious reason attacks have increased is that everything is going digital. We’ve started to rely more and more on technologies that connect to the internet, and the aviation industry is doing the same thing. As a result, there are more vulnerabilities for malicious actors to exploit.

Another reason is the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software onboard planes and throughout the aviation supply chain. COTS is software that wasn’t specifically and solely built for the aviation industry but instead could function in any industry. A good example is the Microsoft 365 Office suite or commonplace database software like MongoDB, both of which are in common use in airlines’ daily operations.

These types of software can be a security issue because aviation authorities don’t have full control over the software. Vulnerability detection and patching is largely left up to the software vendor, with questionable success. For instance, I remember reading about a major American Airlines breach last year that affected over 1700 people. The attackers exploited the company’s Microsoft 365 account by way of a phishing attack that successfully obtained sensitive credentials from an employee.

The risk is actually greater with ground and airline systems than with in-flight software. That’s because in-flight systems have to undergo stringent testing and adhere to the strict guidelines laid out by DO-326A, the “Airworthiness Security Process Specification,” in the U.S. and ED-201A, the “Aeronautical Information System Security Framework GUidance” in the EU. The guidelines have been overwhelmingly successful in preventing cybercriminals from accessing avionics systems during flight. By contrast, airports, airline systems, traffic management systems, and more have frequently been targeted and remain vulnerable to attacks.

Airlines Need To Step Up

I think airlines have a big part to play in implementing new strategies to promote better cybersecurity because they’re the number one target. So I’ll offer my advice to those companies. There are a couple best practices you can follow to reduce vulnerabilities and breaches.

I recommend implementing a vulnerability disclosure program of some kind. These types of programs provide some kind of reward, whether that be a monetary reward or flight miles, etc., to independent security researchers who discover and disclose vulnerabilities in certain airline systems. If you do choose to implement such a program, you’ll need to lay out guidelines or an automated form to allow researchers to submit accurate and clear vulnerability reports.

You’ll also need to ensure that certain types of vulnerabilities are explicitly excluded from the reward. After all, you definitely don’t want researchers doing surprise vulnerability testing on in-flight systems and causing a safety problem, or launching a “test” denial-of-service attack on your website that could result in real customers not being able to schedule flights. You can see an example of a good vulnerability disclosure program implementation on the United Airlines website.

The other thing you can do is redouble your efforts in securing COTS software and teaching employees how to use it in the safest way possible. For example, the phishing attack that resulted in the American Airlines breach may not have occurred if the employee had been adequately trained to recognize such threats. Phishing attacks continue to be among the top threats facing the industry, so better training will help you prevent a decent percentage of attacks.

Neither of these recommendations is a silver bullet for aviation cybersecurity, but they represent a good start.

Cybersecurity is a Team Effort

Ultimately, even after individual airlines and airports have done all they can, there will always be threats and vulnerabilities. As attacks increase, we need to get smarter in how we address them. Airlines, manufacturers, developers, and every other part of the aviation supply chain can and must take part in efforts to protect aircraft, staff, and passengers alike from cyber threats.

Vance Hilderman

This article was provided by Vance Hilderman, the principal founder/CTO of three aviation development/certification companies including TekSci, HighRely, and AFuzion. Hilderman has trained over 31,000 engineers in over 700 aviation companies and 30+ countries. His intellectual property is in use by 70% of the world’s top 300 aviation and systems developers worldwide, and he has employed and personally presided over 500 of the world’s foremost aviation engineers on 300+ projects over the past 35 years. AFuzion’s solutions are on 90% of the aircraft developed over the past three decades.

University Lab Receives USAF Funding to Study Surface Cooling of Avionics

The ExSiTE Lab at the University of Virginia has received, over three years, U.S. Air Force grants totaling $750,000 to study cooling technology for avionics in high-altitude jets and spacecraft. (Photo: Tom Daly Photography)

The U.S. Air Force has awarded a total of $750,000 in grants to mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Patrick Hopkins’ ExSiTE Lab (Experiments and Simulations in Thermal Engineering) over the course of three years. Dr. Hopkins is a professor at the University of Virginia who is developing a solution for “on-demand surface cooling” of advanced electronics in high-altitude jets and spacecraft.

For aircraft that operate closer to Earth, the air’s density is generally high enough to keep avionics and other components cool. Hopkins explained that the Air Force and Space Force operate vehicles in the upper atmosphere or in space, and avionics will heat up because there isn’t enough air for adequate cooling. “You can’t bring a payload of coolant onboard because that’s going to increase the weight, and you lose efficiency,” he added.

(Photo: Tom Daly Photography)

The standard method for handling overheated air and space electronics is conduction—using a “cold plate” to conduct the heat towards radiators and away from the electronics, but this might not be adequate for today’s advanced electronics.

Hopkins and Scott Walton of the U.S. Navy Research Laboratory conducted an experiment a few years ago to explore the use of plasma to cool electronics quickly. Plasma has unique properties, including the fact that it chills before heating when it strikes a surface. The experiment involved firing a jet of plasma, generated from helium, at a gold-plated surface. “We could measure temperature immediately where the plasma hit, then we could see how the surface changed,” Hopkins said. “We saw the surface cool first, then it would heat up.”

The plasma jet pictured above is made from helium, resulting in a purple glow. (Photo: Tom Cogill)

They were able to precisely measure the temperature change because of the microscopic instruments that Hopkins had custom-made. The experiment showed temperature reductions of several degrees as a result of blasting an ultrathin surface layer, made up of carbon and water molecules, on the gold-plated surface. “A similar process happens when cool water evaporates off of our skin after a swim,” according to the news release from the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Now, Hopkins and collaborators are considering different versions of the design that could make it more effective for surface cooling. Sara Makarem Hoseini and Daniel Hirt, doctoral candidates involved in the ExSiTE Lab, plan to evaluate the effectiveness of gases other than helium, as well as different metals and surface coatings for the plasma jet to target.

Pictured above, doctoral candidates Sara Makarem Hoseini and Daniel Hirt observe the setup of the plasma ray. (Photo: Tom Cogill)

Hopkins, along with collaborators, published a review article titled, “Ultrafast and Nanoscale Energy Transduction Mechanisms and Coupled Thermal Transport across Interfaces” in the journal ACS Nano.

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