TISR 2-5 (Oct. 2012)

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter

U.S. Army PEO IEW&S

ISR Catcher Stephen Kreider Acting PEO U.S. Army PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

3-D Mapping O Ground Control Stations O Urban Eyes Unattended Ground Sensors O Handheld ISR

www.TISR-kmi.com

October 2012 Volume 2, Issue 5

Timely Battlefield Decisions Demand Accurate Intelligence.

UTC Aerospace Systems supplies forces around the world with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and support through its ISR Systems unit. By streamlining data gathered from space-based and multiple air platforms, through our intelligence exploitation systems, we help commanders access the information they need to make mission critical decisions.

See us at GEOINT 2012, Stand No. 1427 For more information visit www.utcaerospacesystems.com

Tactical ISR Technology

October 2012 Volume 2 • Issue 5

Features

Cover / Q&A Getting to the Ground Truth

6

Unattended, but always on watch: Modern unattended ground sensors employ a host of detection methods. The list includes seismic, acoustic, magnetic and imaging, with the latter covering the thermal, short wave infrared and visible spectrum.

By Hank Hogan

Lighter ISR Gear

9

As warfighters carry an increasing amount of equipment, reducing systems’ weight is an important concern. Technological innovations are helping to lighten the load for those engaged in ISR operations.

By William Murray

16

SPECIAL SECTION

Urban Eyes The world is becoming more urbanized, and ISR solutions must be tailored to the environment that they are fighting in.

By Henry Canaday

11 U.S. Army Program Executive Office, Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

21

Who’s Who at U.S. Army Program Executive Office, Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

Building a Better Ground Station Making unmanned systems’ controllers as common and userfriendly as possible is an achievable goal.

By Marc Selinger

Stephen Kreider Acting PEO U.S. Army PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

Departments 2 Editor’s Perspective 4 All Int/People 5 Army Unmanned

Aircraft Systems

14 ISR Kit 27 Resource Center

22 3-D Mapping

25

Three-dimensional applications allow warfighters, commanders and analysts to develop a deeper understanding of environments such as urban areas that help them execute their missions better and more efficiently.

By Peter Buxbaum

Industry Interview

28 Robert L. Del Boca, Ph.D. President & CEO Selex Galileo Inc.

Tactical ISR Technology Volume 2, Issue 5 • October 2012

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter Editorial Editor Chris McCoy chrism@kmimediagroup.com Managing Editor Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager Laura Davis laurad@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents Adam Baddeley • Heather Baldwin Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • Hank Hogan Leslie Shaver

Art & Design Art Director Jennifer Owers jennifero@kmimediagroup.com Senior Graphic Designer Jittima Saiwongnuan jittimas@kmimediagroup.com Graphic Designers Amanda Kirsch amandak@kmimediagroup.com Scott Morris scottm@kmimediagroup.com Kailey Waring kaileyw@kmimediagroup.com

Advertising Account Executive Dimitri Furman dimitrif@kmimediagroup.com

KMI Media Group Publisher Kirk Brown kirkb@kmimediagroup.com Chief Executive Officer Jack Kerrigan jack@kmimediagroup.com Chief Financial Officer Constance Kerrigan connik@kmimediagroup.com Executive Vice President David Leaf davidl@kmimediagroup.com Editor-In-Chief Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com Controller Gigi Castro gcastro@kmimediagroup.com Operations Assistant Casandra Jones casandraj@kmimediagroup.com Trade Show Coordinator Holly Foster hollyf@kmimediagroup.com

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE The Enhanced Polar Satellite program provides the polar military satellite communications system that provides protected communications (anti-jam and low probability of intercept and detection) for strategic and tactical users in the North Polar region. EPS is the follow-on to the currently operational Interim Polar System (IPS) and is a component of the extremely high frequency SATCOM architecture providing secure, protected communications to worldwide users. The EPS acquisition consists of four segments (payload, ground control, gateway and terminal) acquired by separate procurement actions. Fiscal year 2013 funding is expected to be at Chris McCoy $120.7 million, with an additional $347.2 billion spent between FY14 and Editor FY17. FY13 plans include the integration of the two EPS payloads onto the host satellites.

The Air Force had originally planned competitive prototyping for the control and planning segment as program development progressed. On June 18, the Air Force announced that it was waiving the competitive prototyping requirement, which it is permitted to do under the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009. That act requires major weapons systems to include competitive prototyping before Milestone B. The waiver exclusions are permitted if “the cost of producing competitive prototypes exceeds the expected life-cycle benefits (in constant dollars) of producing such prototypes, including the benefits of improved performance and increased technological and design maturity that may be achieved through competitive prototyping; or (2) but for such a waiver, DoD would be unable to meet critical national security objectives.”

The Air Force’s position was that the prototyping would cost an additional $49 million and that—per the regulation—would exceed the negligible life cycle benefits if prototyping would have proceeded.

Money savings, especially as we certainly head into uncertain times, is very important, but does it trump the benefits and needs of the deployed warfighter? The Air Force also asserted in its waiver documentation that it would not be able to meet critical national security objectives without the waiver.

Based on risk analysis, granting the waiver seems reasonable and consistent with the requirements of the law. It also seems to be a decision based on the best interest of the warfighter.

Operations, Circulation & Production Circulation & Marketing Administrator Duane Ebanks duanee@kmimediagroup.com Data Specialists Tuesday Johnson tuesdayj@kmimediagroup.com Summer Walker summerw@kmimediagroup.com Raymer Villanueva raymerv@kmimediagroup.com Donisha Winston donishaw@kmimediagroup.com

KMI Media Group Leadership Magazines and Websites Border & CBRNE Defense

Ground Combat Technology

Geospatial Intelligence Forum

Military Advanced Education

Military Information Technology

www.GCT-kmi.com

www.GIF-kmi.com

www.MAE-kmi.com

www.MIT-kmi.com

Border Threat Prevention and CBRNE Response

A Proud Member of: Subscription Information

Tactical ISR Technology

ISSN 2160-8237 is published six times a year by KMI Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction without permission is strictly forbidden. © Copyright 2012.

Tactical ISR Technology is free to qualified members of the U.S. military, employees of the U.S. government and non-U.S. foreign service based in the U.S. All others: $65 per year.

Foreign: $149 per year.

SPECIAL SECTION:

Integrated Fixed Towers

Border Protector

www.BCD-kmi.com

Michael J. Fisher Chief U.S. Border Patrol U.S. Customs and Border Protection

June 2012 Volume 1, Issue 1

Leadership Insight: Robert S. Bray Assistant Administrator for Law Enforcement/Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service

Wide Area Aerial Surveillance O Hazmat Disaster Response Tactical Communications O P-3 Program

www.BCD-kmi.com

Medical Military Training Military Logistics Military & Veterans Technology Forum Affairs Forum

Special Operations Technology

Tactical ISR Technology

U.S. Coast Guard Forum

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

www.TISR-kmi.com

www.USCGF-kmi.com

Corporate Offices KMI Media Group 15800 Crabbs Branch Way, Suite 300 Rockville, MD 20855-2604 USA Telephone: (301) 670-5700 Fax: (301) 670-5701 Web: www.TISR-kmi.com www.MLF-kmi.com

www.M2VA-kmi.com

www.MT2-kmi.com

BECAUSE IT’S NOT JUST YOUR JOB, IT’S YOUR LIFE.

TM

Enhanced perception & awareness can save lives. FLIR’s mobile security solutions integrate imaging & radar sensors that enable automated tracking and adaptive surveillance.

When lives are at stake, you need integrated solutions you can trust.

www.FLIR.com/gs

© 2012 FLIR Systems. Inc.

ALL INT

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

UAS Training Support Future unmanned air system (UAS) operators now have access to a new training and logistics activity in Camp Lejeune, N.C. A team from the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical UAS program office (PMA-263), Camp Lejeune, N.C., launched the Training and Logistics Support Activity (TALSA) in mid-July to Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force. The activity allows troops to receive UAS training on short notice and expand the previous curriculum to include all Group I UAS assets.

Group I UAS assets weigh less than 20 pounds; typically fly at altitudes below 1,200 feet; and fly between 45 minutes to approximately two hours.

They include: RQ-11B Raven, Wasp, RQ-20A Puma and RQ-16B T-Hawk UAS. “Consistent training and sustainment support are key components for any weapon system and are integral to the warfighter’s mission success,” said Colonel Jim Rector, PMA-263 program manager. “After years of operational contingency funding and rapid fielding of numerous small UAS, we identified this as an area that we needed to rapidly improve.”

Rector said small UAVs provide the battlefield commander an organic capability, within his or her unit, to

Shallow Water Surveillance

perform over-the-horizon reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. This reduces operational risks and enhances his or her decision process.

Historically, the Marines used other contracts to support their UAS training requirements for the RQ-11B Raven. The newly established TALSA offers classes more frequently with an expanded curriculum, giving sailors and Marines greater flexibility when going on rapid deployment. Additionally, PMA-263 recruited directly from the Wounded Warrior Project to staff the support activity, giving former service men and women an opportunity to continue their service in a new capacity.

The courses focus on the systems' function, employment, maintenance and troubleshooting issues. Once trained, UAS operators can tactically and effectively employ Group 1 systems to include mission planning, mission sensor/ payload operations, launching, remotely piloting and recovering the aerial vehicle.

PMA-263 plans to establish an additional TALSA at Camp Pendleton, Calif., later this year.

“Our job at PMA-263 is to ensure we provide and support the products that find and fix our nation’s adversaries and threats,” Rector said. “This allows our sailors and Marines to do what they do best, and that is to finish those threats.”

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has announced its intention to issue a purchase order award to Systems Planning and Analysis Inc. for a 24-month contract with an estimated cost of about $50,000.

The award will be for the company to develop high level concepts of operation based on naval war fighting modeling conducted for OPNAV leveraging the analysis using the General Campaign Analysis Model (GCAM) for the employment of shallow water surveillance FNC [future naval capability]. These capabilities being are being developed by the Office of Naval Research Code 32 using Navy approved scenarios focusing on operations in pre-hostilities and hostilities. The prospective contractor will also need to possess an in-depth understanding of GCAM including analyzing the capability drivers from the model outputs.

Swarming Boats Detection Soldiers will soon have a system that enables them to protect sailors and safeguard commercial and military navigation in strategic waterways. In June, a series of tests demonstrated that Raytheon Company’s JLENS is capable of detecting and tracking swarming boats from hundreds of miles away.

During the tests, JLENS simultaneously detected and tracked multiple speedboats on the Great Salt Lake. The boats, similar to swarming boats in the inventories of hostile navies in high-threat regions, simulated a realworld scenario with a series of tactical maneuvers at low and high speeds.

“JLENS is affordable because during a 30-day period, one system provides the warfighter the same around-the-clock coverage that it would normally take four or five fixed-wing surveillance aircraft to provide,” said David Gulla, vice president of global integrated sensors for Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business. “JLENS is significantly less expensive to operate than a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft because it takes less than half the manpower to operate and has a negligible maintenance and fuel cost.”

PEOPLE Air Force Brigadier General Andrew M. Mueller has been nominated for appointment to the rank of major general.

Mueller is currently serving as component commander, E3A, NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force Command, NATO, Geilenkirchen, Germany.

Major General John A. Davis has been assigned as senior military advisor for cyber to the under secretary of defense for policy, Office of the Under

4 | TISR 2.5

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Secretary of Defense for Policy, Washington, D.C. He most recently served as director, current operations, J-33, U.S. Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Md. Major General Stephen D. Schmidt, commander, NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force Command, NATO, Casteau, Belgium, has been assigned to special assistant to the commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe/commander,

Air Component Command, Ramstein/director, Joint Air Power Competency Center, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Brigadier General Richard M. Clark, who has been selected for the rank of major general, commandant of cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., has been assigned to senior defense official/defense attaché, Defense Intelligence Agency, Cairo, Egypt.

Bezhalel Machlis

Elbit Systems has named Bezhalel “Butzi” Machlis as the new president and CEO, effective April 1, 2013, following the retirement of Joseph Ackerman.

www.TISR-kmi.com

ARMY UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

Army UAS Project Office Forward Leaning in Support of our Deployed Forces.

By Marty Shelton, Contractor Wyle/CAS Inc., PM UAS The Army’s UAS fleet, managed by the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Management Office, has surpassed 1.45 million combat flight hours in direct support of overseas contingency operations. The PM UAS workforce works to develop and equip our forward deployed soldiers with the most up-to-date and technologically advanced unmanned aircraft systems, sensors and payloads.

PM UAS serves as the single point of contact for the Army’s UAS acquisition program as well as deploying training teams, logisticians and various subject matter experts into theater, providing direct, faceto-face UAS customer service support to our warfighters.

PM UAS maintains a responsive, innovative and agile approach to advancing UAS technology. This article provides a look at some ongoing initiatives across the breadth of the UAS Project Office.

Common Systems Integration The One System Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT), with new bidirectional capability, is expected to field in 2014. The new capability introduces the challenge of training an OSRVT operator on a task that requires interaction with an air vehicle operator (AVO) and air vehicle (AV) payload.

To overcome the new OSRVT training challenges, the Army has acquired the Visualization and Mission Planning Integrated Rehearsal Environment (VAMPIRE) Bi-directional Advanced Trainer (BAT). Installed on a CF-19 laptop and fielded as part of the OSRVT system, the simulated trainer is based on the original SUAS VAMPIRE training aid. It will provide soldiers with the look and feel of the OSRVT and simulate the roles of the AVO and AV payload, allowing the user to perform all the steps as if they were operating in a mission scenario.

External Programs On the international side of external programs, foreign military sales for the Raven continue to grow. The FMS team is busy responding to inquiries from different U.S. military and security assistance organizations around the world.

Besides Raven, FMS personnel are still extremely busy with the Australian Shadow 200 TUAS program. To date, Australia has requested two Shadow 200 Systems, including launchers, air vehicles and other support equipment. Recently, PM UAS dispatched a trainer team to Australia to conduct a second 10-week Shadow Brigade Integration/New Equipment Training Course.

Fleet Management In the near future, all UAS units will report the readiness status of their systems to the Army using a newly designed Army UAS inventory, status, and flying time report. In support of this effort, members from the UAS Fleet Management Division deployed to Afghanistan to train UAS units on the use of the new Logistics Information System, Unmanned Aircraft System-Initiative program readiness module. www.TISR-kmi.com

Ground Maneuver (Shadow) The Shadow unmanned aircraft system continues to provide 24-hour support to units in Southwest Asia, having recently surpassed 750,000 flight hours. UASs have become essential in OEF because of the inhospitable terrain and limited transportation network, and Shadow continues to provide constant support to Army brigades, National Guard, special forces, Marine Corps and Australian units.

For the first time, Shadow has deployed in support of a hybrid, “full spectrum” combat aviation brigade.

The TCDL upgrade will combine many individual modifications into a single capability for the warfighter. These modifications include the universal ground control station, universal data terminal, a new portable ground control station, new generators, a longer wing and an electronically fuel injected engine. The system provides a STANAG compliant, interoperable system with Type 1 Encryption.

The Ground Maneuver Office has several better buying power initiatives to reduce cost. These include life-extension modifications on selected subsystems, component inspection after OEF rotations rather than 100 percent resets, and reliability improvements to reduce flying hour costs.

Medium Altitude Endurance (Gray Eagle) F Company of the 227th Aviation Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas, the first Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle company, is currently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Within two months of arriving in theater, the company set a remarkable operational tempo, averaging 3.5 flights, 16 combat missions and nearly 70 hours of flight per day.

F-227 is in the fight every day supporting the maneuver commanders by providing reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition, full motion video, communications relay, synthetic aperture radar and kinetic capabilities to the remote operating areas of Afghanistan.

The second Gray Eagle company, assigned to F-1 CAB, Fort Riley, Kansas, is preparing for deployment and will replace F-227 CAB sometime in early 2013.

Small UAS (Raven and Puma) The RQ-11B Raven gimbaled payload received high marks from Army units participating in Joint Airborne Operations Exercise 12-2 earlier this year. The unit conducted a brigade-level mass tactical airborne assault and supported the tactical plan using the Raven SUAS equipped with the new payload. After the unit’s assembly on the drop zone, the Raven operators deployed the aircraft to conduct reconnaissance and security. Operators report that the new payload significantly improved the integration of Raven in their tactical operations.

The long-awaited Institutional Training System (ITS) for small UAS has completed the preliminary design review and fielding will begin in first quarter fiscal year 2013. The ITS will provide SUAS master trainers a highly capable simulator to support training of operators for both currency and initial qualification. O TISR 2.5 | 5

Unattended but always on watch.

By Hank Hogan TISR Correspondent Although small and unobtrusive, unattended ground sensors can have a big impact. They provide long-term surveillance of an area of interest, thereby indicating the possible placement of IEDs. The information they supply supports raids, bolsters force protection and yields data about the pattern of life at a locale. They can also tie into larger communication and sensor networks, thus improving overall ISR. Modern unattended ground sensors employ a host of detection methods, including seismic, acoustic, magnetic and imaging. Having a multiplicity of methods assures that what’s detected is a noteworthy event and not something unimportant, such as the rustling of braches in the wind.

“In order to ensure false positives and negatives do not interfere with collection capabilities, redundancy is built into the concept of employment. An example of redundancy would be employing seismic as well as acoustic sensors over a given area of interest,” said Captain Chris Rodney of Quantico, Va.-based Combat Development Directorate in the office of the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration.

As for getting information from the sensor to a remote location, one technique currently being fielded involves satellite communications, he said. In this scenario, a ground sensor might accumulate data to transmit to a satellite overhead because doing so at preset times extends battery life. It might, however, be configured to report on activation, thereby providing near real-time reporting. An advantage of this approach is that it allows monitoring stations to be beyond the line of sight, with locations miles or even half a world away. A drawback is that bandwidth and other constraints may make it difficult to accomplish some activities. Real-time video transmission, for example, might be a challenge.

The primary detection method used depends on the mission.

However, the capability most heavily utilized in support of current operations is imaging, Rodney noted.

Whether a still photo or a video, imaging can help distinguish between someone carrying a rifle and a farmer walking out into a field.

6 | TISR 2.5

However, continuous picture taking consumes network bandwidth, drains batteries, and generates many images that are of no interest. To avoid such problems, cameras are often triggered by another sensor.

Textron Defense Systems of Wilmington, Mass., has found that, in general, the best overall detection method is seismic, said Patti Shaffner Jordan, director of business development. This assessment is based on the years of development behind the company’s MicroObserver line of unattended ground sensors.

One attribute that the company’s customers prize is a low false alarm rate. A sensor that triggers for the wrong reasons leads to alarms that are ignored, rendering the sensor effectively useless. Firing too often can also drain batteries, shortening the time a system can be deployed. This can be a particular concern if a triggered sensor brings another system, such as a power-hungry video camera, to life.

Achieving robust detection depends not only on the method used but also on what’s done with the raw data generated inside the sensor.

Intelligent software can improve the overall performance of a seismic sensor system.

“Our detection algorithms, our system, really adapts to changes in the environment. The sensor can detect if it’s raining and adjust. So we don’t false alarm on rain or other environmental factors,” Shaffner Jordan said.

Textron’s products have a mission life of greater than two years, with the actual span determined by when the batteries run out of juice. That, in turn, depends upon how many times an hour the sensor fires. Shaffner Jordan declined to go into specifics but did say the rate sustainable in a multi-year mission lifetime is in the range of hundreds of detections a day.

In addition to seismic or vibration detection, the product family also includes sensor nodes that capture digital visible imagery and perform simple thermal imaging, with both triggered by sensors to conserve batter life. The size of the nodes varies according to detection method and time of emplacement, with the short-term seismic node www.TISR-kmi.com

measuring 4.1-by-3-by-5.7 inches. Everything is tied together through a ground-based communication network that has been optimized to be both reliable and hard to detect. The network is self healing, with built-in GPS allowing geolocation of the data.

In the future, there may be greater integration between unattended ground sensors and other ISR assets, said Shaffner Jordan.

Another possibility is for integration with weapons systems.

This sort of meshing into a larger network is in the plans for products from Brighton, Colo.-based Millennium Sensor. The company focuses on tactical applications, which calls for sensors to be deployed on short notice and duration of a few months in austere locations, said CEO and Chief Technology Officer Mike Roberts.

Millennium Sensor’s products employ seismic, microwave and optical trip wire detection methods. They can send a text message to alert an operator or fire up a camera to collect an image or video from a location. The company is working with Digital Barriers of London to put the video directly onto a suitable smartphone and also to adapt sensor outputs to any type of network available. The video uses techniques that reduce the bandwidth required to transmit it, Roberts said.

Using proprietary video reconstruction techniques and specialized antennas, the approach also allows video transmission for long ranges using only half a watt to two watts of power, he added. The company’s low-light camera and video transmitter weigh only a few ounces, fit into 4.3-by-2.2-by-1.2 enclosures, and can each run for weeks with an average of 50 activations per day.

“With time division multiplexing, the thing is only on for a very short period of time. So even if you got a guy out there, it’s black until something happens,” Roberts said.

A different kind of multiplexing forms the basis for products from Qual-Tron of Tulsa, Okla. The company makes a range of ground sensors: passive infrared, seismic Phillip Parsons or magnetic. This multiplicity of pparsons@qual-tron.com methods can reduce the number of nuisance alarms through what the company calls event criteria. In this approach, certain signals in a specified pattern from the various sensors that occur within a relatively narrow window of time serve as a signature identifying a particular occurrence, such as the passing of a truck. Foot traffic, on the other hand, will not create the same sort of sensor signal.

The technology of multiple sensors and the technique of deploying two to four of them together are important, but they are not enough, said Director of Engineering Philip Parsons. “Perhaps the most important is how the equipment is deployed, which is a direct result of training. Knowing what the sensors can tell you and how to set them up is vastly important.”

The company’s sensors are increasingly being used to trigger cameras using wireless connections. Qual-Tron is in the process of

Continuously Evolving P3 Sensor/Video Platforms, providing Tactical ISR capability to warfighters for over 10 years now include Block 15 which incorporates: -External High Gain Antennas to extend LOS range up to 5km.

-Compact external battery packs extend operational duration from weeks to months.

At Millennium Sensor we continuously develop and improve P3 components to enhance and improve Tactical ISR, Force Protection/Multiplication, and provide a critical Tactical Advantage.

-Fully integrated, triggerable FLIR® imager with built in battery and video transmitter.

©2011 Millennium Sensor, LLC MRSS, MTV-IV, P3, XD, are registered trademarks of Millennium Sensor, LLC CO USA FLIR™, Quark™ and Tau™ are registered trademarks of FLIR Systems Inc.

www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 2.5 | 7

developing its own offering in this area, which it expects to have out by the end of the first quarter of 2013. Using digital technology, the camera will be thrifty when it comes to power, be bullet sized, and be significantly faster when it comes to taking a picture than other cameras. They may have a warm-up time of six to 10 seconds, but the new one from Qual-Tron will be snapping images in less than a second.

While some companies are just entering the video surveillance market, others have been there for decades. That’s the case for Supercircuits of Austin, Texas. Over the years, various methods have been used to tell a camera when to start taking images or capturing video, said Keith Harris, regional sales manager.

Sometimes motion detection is used, but this approach is prone to false alarms. A better technique is the use of a passive infrared or a seismic sensor. The best, though, may be video analytics.

“That’s using more advanced algorithms that help the device determine a little bit more detail about what activity is occurring.

It can tell the difference between the tree blowing in the wind and a vehicle moving or a person,” Harris said.

Video analytics requires more processing power and at present cannot fit into as compact a format as a less capable camera. Advances in both optics and electronics could change the situation in the future.

Also looming in the future are better images. Today, notification of a detected event can be done via text message, along with an attached still image. Tomorrow, better compression algorithms will mean video consumes less bandwidth during transmission and take up less space on a recording device. Software will ensure that what the camera captures can be seen on a phone or tablet. Advances in electronics and improvements in battery technology should also make the cameras run longer.

FluxData of Rochester, N.Y., makes cameras, or more accurately imagers, of a different variety. The company’s multispectral systems take several images simultaneously at different wavelengths and optically fuse them into one, according to CEO Pano Spiliotis.

The power of this approach can be seen when considering how one of its unattended ground sensors might monitor a tree line.

Trees have chlorophyll, which has a particular signature in the infrared. Camouflage, on the other hand, doesn’t. Thus, a camouflaged truck newly placed along a line of trees will appear as a hole in what

Keith Harris

Pano Spilotis

kharris@supercircuits.com was before a solid mass of chlorophyll. A multispectral imager tuned so as to provide the appropriate visible and infrared signal would then instantly spot that something has changed. What’s more, this information would help pinpoint when and where it had occurred.

As with other imaging solutions, the FluxData system does not run continuously. Rather, the input from a passive infrared, seismic, or acoustic sensor is fed into and triggers the multispectral, low power imager. Because it is built for a specific type of spectral detection, the system helps in analyzing a scene and in minimizing false alarms, Spiliotis said.

He added that the processing capability built into the multispectral cameras enables them to provide quantitative data and alerts and not just imagery. This is done in real time at the point of capture.

In its products, the company uses cell phone chipsets, which offer considerable processing power for not much cost. In time, the technology may return to its roots.

Spiliotis spoke of a future in which “FluxData’s unattended ground sensors are transformed into handheld devices to provide a whole new range of miniature, multispectral solutions for ISR applications.” O For more information, contact TISR Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

Cutting Edge Systems from Intevac Photonics, Leaders in Digital Night Vision Intevac Photonics develops extreme low-light imaging systems that

APAChE M611 CAMERA

combine state-of-the-art sensors in the NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR bands with advanced image processing and digital video display technology. Our night vision products, designed for ground and airborne applications, are based on Intevac’s patented Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS ®). Our family of near-eye and head-mounted video

DIGItAL FuSED BINOCuLAR GOGGLE

color display systems are available in SVGA, SXGA, and WXGA formats.

See Intevac Photonics systems and products at www.intevac.com.

Contact Mike Mohawk • mmohawk@intevac.com • 408.987.2573

Intevac PhotonIcs: INNOVATION AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT ®

8 | TISR 2.5

www.TISR-kmi.com

Innovations are helping drive down the weight of warfighter-carried ISR equipment.

Ten years ago, military operators would need to carry around 50 to 60 pounds of equipment to gain intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities remotely similar to those they can now gain with only about 10 pounds of equipment. Such form factor and weight issues become very important for warfighters engaged in urban warfare and ISR work that requires equipment that can operate well in tight spaces to avoid casualties and friendly fire.

“It lightens the soldier’s load,” said Kenneth T. Smart, president of eoMax Corp. of Toronto, which produces the Wolf Pack, a remote day/ night thermal viewing system used by Canadian forces, German Army special forces, and the Los Angeles Police Department during the last dozen years.

In one configuration, the Wolf Pack comes with a 6.5-inch flat panel. Vendors such as eoMax have compared their offerings to video hand controllers, with an obvious nod to the younger game players who usually enlist in the military.

“We’ve seen a reduced weight load” in the company’s products, said Justin Dyster, vice president of engineering and business development at Black Diamond Advanced Technology in Tempe, Ariz., which produces the Modular Tactical System, a wearable weapons system for dismounted C4ISR weighing less than 5 pounds, which interfaces with handheld intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance receivers.

There appears to be a growing demand among military operators, when engaged in built-up areas, to acquire throwable surveillance products into rooms, while other high-demand equipment has the capability of looking through walls, seeing under doors and around corners. The U.S. military is busy testing and fielding such gear.

“We saw a huge hole in dismounted operations” for a product such as the Modular Tactical System in the U.S. military and in foreign militaries and law enforcement sales, Dyster said.

Rather than rely on Defense Advanced Research Project Agency procurements, Black Diamond Advanced Technology funded its research and development 100 percent internally, according to Dyster.

The systems work well in “unreachable locations,” which is where the U.S. military oftentimes operates. The Modular Tactical System meets mil standards for temperature, immersion, salt fog, vibration and other environments, and Black Diamond Advanced Technology systems work with any battery that the U.S military has deployed, according to Dyster. Even while adding capabilities and ruggedization, www.TISR-kmi.com

By William Murray, TISR Correspondent the company has been able to reduce the weight load of the Modular Tactical System, according to Dyster.

“It’s not just a computer system,” Dyster said, addressing a common misconception, since the Modular Tactical System includes a power distribution system and a radio control system, among other capabilities.

Training is the top area that company officials have to report as lessons learned, according to Dyster. “To gain [operational] tempo in theater, you need to have training,” he said. The company, which seeks to continually improve their product, has more tightly coupled their software offerings with the corresponding hardware. They have had to overcome many challenges in order to work with secure government networks. Black Diamond Advanced Technology’s MTS was developed for two years before being deployed in Afghanistan with NATO and U.S. forces in April 2010. NATO forces also use the company’s products in Europe.

In 2013, they plan to double the processor power of their product without requiring additional power consumption, according to Dyster.

QinetiQ has a similar view when it comes to lightening the load a warfighter carries into battle. “We’ve seen a reduction in the size and weight of the robotic platforms that our customers are asking for to support an ever increasing quantity of dismounted operations,” said Charles Dean, director of business development of QinetiQ North America’s Unmanned Systems Division and a retired Army officer who reported on combat loads in battle while he was in the military. QinetiQ sells unmanned robots used for counter-IED operations and ISR missions. QinetiQ’s customers include the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as domestic and foreign customers. QinetiQ’s Dragon Runner 10 and 20 can operate in daytime and nocturnal operations, and both types of systems are in Afghanistan.

The Dragon Runner 10 is a lightweight, throwable system that enables users to attach an arm to it, allowing it to attack IEDs when required. While the Dragon Runner 20 is not throwable, users carry it on their backs during dismounted operations in Afghanistan. “There’s a great value in modularity as it allows these small platforms to support multiple customers for varying missions,” Dean said. QinetiQ’s robots are providing early warning around the world, even at Fukushima, where they have been operating for 20 months.

TISR 2.5 | 9

“These robots are saving lives every day” for military, police and innocent bystanders. The Dragon Runner 10 has been demonstrating its contributions recently for protecting dismounted forces by extending their situational awareness with a remote platform that is light enough and small enough to fit inside a rucksack, Dean said.

Knowing where a group of gunmen is sequestered in a building or a room can give a small tactical team a great advantage as they plan an attack. These systems are easy to learn and in as little as one day, operators can become proficient in their use.

The British Army, Australian Army and others use DragonRunner 20 in Afghanistan counter-IED operations, Dean said. “Saving weight includes electrical power; the Dragon Runner 10 operates for several hours on a charge, but can be recharged twice more from a single standard 3-pound military radio battery in as few as 15 minutes. One trend is using small, unmanned ISR robots to generate video to be shared with others, Dean noted. “It’s great to see what’s happening in front of police or a military unit,” that’s conducting ISR in a troublesome situation. “It’s even better if you can share that information with the rest of the small unit simultaneously.” It’s much more complicated when an operator has to verbally describe what is happening in front of a robot to a comrade or another unit.

“Critical images are hard to quickly convey with words alone,” Dean said.

For his part, Smart calls his company’s eoMax Wolf Pack remote day/night thermal viewing system a “highly interconnected, ergonomic system that can fit together like Lego blocks,” and

MODULAR TACTICAL SYSTEM • Transition in seconds from system operation to direct combat • Operationally foot-mobile • Control fielded equipment from a single display • Power MTS and interoperable gear from one battery • Reduce weight carried • IP67 – Operate in a dust storm or up to 1 meter of water • Enhance capabilities in C4ISR, BFT, SA and precision targeting

his company has patents filed in several countries for its wireless architecture. As the company gets primed for wider U.S. military adoption, the Wolf Pack has successfully completed mil-spec testing for pressure, shock, sand and other elements, according to Smart.

The Wolf Pack is maritime-capable, since users can operate the Wolf Pack in salt water environments for underwater search and other operations.

The Wolf Pack can use five power sources, including military radio batteries, Alkaline AA batteries and Lithium Polymer batteries, and it’s possible to operate the Wolf Pack on a battery for up to 10 hours. “You can change batteries in any weather,” Smart said. “It’s lightweight, durable and multi-operational,” he said. Under one configuration, the Wolf Pack comes with a pistol grip and a camera articulation section.

The Wolf Pack uses a “revolutionary” light source, according to Smart, a super high intensity LED that contains 1,700 lumens. Operators can affix the Wolf Pack to a weapon through its Picatinny rail.

The Wolf Pack C7d thermal camera module, moreover, is equipped with a 320-by-240 pixel sensor for uncooled thermal imaging.

Operators can take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s surveillance capabilities by using it as an unmanned freestanding unit. Personnel can assemble it for such purposes in less than a minute. According to Smart, the Wolf Pack has strong applications for high risk search, combat and tactical operations, physical security, force protection and interdiction of contraband, explosives and arms. The Army First Cavalry Division deployed the Wolf Pack in Iraq.

“We’re providing a super expandable system with as much power and flexibility for use as many would want,” Smart said. “Soldiers and operators will think of different wants to use our tools.” Smart and his company have filed patents in various part of the world for wireless architecture.

Jim Donnelly, director of sales, defense and augmented reality at Vuzix Tactical Display Group of Rochester, N.Y., sells the Modular Wearable Computer, a rugged, lightweight, system designed to provide monitoring, command and control, and system status for three small unit remote scouting system technologies.

His company has benefitted from the headquarters presence Bauch & Lomb and Eastman Kodak Corp. in Rochester, since Vuzix has hired a number of optical engineers from Bauch & Lomb and Kodak, enabling the company to build up a portfolio of patent-protected work, which includes more than 50 patents in video eyewear.

Vuzix, which holds a Small Business Innovation Research contract for $150,000 with the Office of Naval Research for head-worn display augmented reality military training applications, sells the Tac-Eye Handheld Viewer (HHV) system, which gives access to situational awareness and provides remote viewing technology for tactical video applications.

The Tac-Eye HHV fits comfortable in the hand and allows the user to easily view video and use the integrated mouse, one-handed.

Its high-contrast VGA display is perfect for displaying images from a thermal weapon sight, unmanned systems, or nearly any video device. And a simple control panel allows the operator to optimize the display to their conditions, with little to no training required. O

bdatech.com (855) 855-BDAT For more information, contact TISR Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

10 | TISR 2.5

www.TISR-kmi.com

SPECIAL SECTION

Solutions for the crowded, urban environment.

By Henry Canaday TISR Correspondent

extremely quiet, which allows it to gain video and audio intelligence without revealing its presence.

Recon robots are simple to operate and can be learned in five Spotting dangers in any close-in environment can be tough, minutes. “The handheld OCU has an on-off switch and a joystick,” due to massive, numerous obstructions and distance—sometimes Langdon explained. “Pull the pin on the robot and throw it over a long distance, other times extremely short. It can also be essential, compound wall or through a window, and it operates in five seconds. as hostile force or explosives can be right around the next corner, There is no delay or boot-up time. Infantry can’t wait 50 or 60 secinside the next room or under or behind the next vehicle. Tools have onds to know what is in a room.” been developed to find these threats before it is too late, and they are Langdon also cites the robot’s extreme durability. “You can drop improving. Tools that soldiers can hold and carry with them as they it from 30 feet onto concrete, and 30 feet is as high as an athletic man maneuver across the battlespace are critical to success. can throw it. So if you throw it up three stories and miss and it drops, ReconRobotics provides several throwable tactical micro-robots it still works. You can also throw it laterally up to 120 feet.” Compabased on its original Scout, which was first introduced in 2007, rable systems can only be dropped 10 or 15 feet before breaking, he explained Military Director Ernest Langdon. The new Throwbot XT said. Recon devices are also very light, compared with competitive (TXT) weighs just 1.2 pounds and, with a 1.6-pound handheld operasystems in which the robot alone can weigh 5 to 10 pounds. tor control unit, has a total system weight of 2.8 pounds.

General Robotics makes the new Ferret robot for under-vehicle “It allows users to look inside buildings, courtyards and baseinspections, explained President Ted Chavalas. ments to search for any threats,” Langdon said. “You can get video Chavalas said under-vehicle inspections have traditionof what is inside. It also takes pictures in ally been done in two ways. The first places a camera on the total darkness.” The TXT is equipped with an road—for example, at a checkpoint. But the vehicle must be infrared (IR) optical system that automatidriven over the camera, so this method is useless for inspectcally turns on when light is low. It transmits ing already-parked vehicles. video and audio up to 100 feet through walls, The second traditional method is putting a camera or a windows and doors to the control unit. mirror on a stick and passing it under stationary vehicles. “The Recon has about 2,200 tactical robots problem is it may see under trucks but can’t see everything deployed in theater and is always working under cars, which are low,” Chavalas explained. “And there is on improving and adding to their capabililousy lighting under vehicles.” If there is a bomb underneath ties. It just introduced a TXT variant with a a vehicle, this inspection method is very dangerous. microphone so soldiers can listen to what is Ernest Langdon “You need something that can get under the 4-inch cleargoing on inside a room, in addition to seeing video of the target. The Throwbot XT is also ernest.langdon@reconrobotics.com ance of cars, see under the middle of the vehicle and get plenty www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 2.5 | 11

SPECIAL SECTION under-door camera, a helmet camera, a long-pole search system, a handheld inspection tool and a thermal-handheld inspection tool to detect persons when no ambient light is available. Four monitors are included: wrist-mounted, handheld, heads-up display and monocular micro viewer.

The K-9 mounted camera transmits video from dog to handler.

It can also record audio and video for post-operation review and archiving. A light-sensitive camera and IR flood illuminator provide enhanced wireless vision in low ambient light.

Kimbro said Tactical’s products are highly durable and wireless, so there are no cords or battery packs to carry. And all systems were created based on feedback or requests from members of Special Operations Command and law enforcement agencies. The products are used by military and police units around the world.

“Later this year we will introduce an enhancement to our underdoor camera that will include a two-camera or four-camera option,” Kimbro noted. “Remote camera-switching capability on the wristmounted or handheld monitor coupled with the additional cameras Handheld ISR devices provide the warfighter with maneuverable intelligence platforms on the battlefield. [Photo courtesy of BAE Systems] will dramatically increase the visual access an operator is able to gain when the unit is placed under a door or around a corner.”

FLIR makes imaging products widely used on airborne platforms of light,” Chavalas summarized. So the Ferret robot is essentially a of U.S. law enforcement, including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Departlighting instrument with a camera attached, very mobile and fast ment and the New Jersey State Police, said Roy Keeler, vice president enough to do thorough inspection in a few minutes. of business development. “Our products are commercially developed For operator safety, the Ferret operates from a control station and military qualified, so these are for military ISR too,” Keeler 1,000 feet away, even with a low-cost transmitter used to keep total emphasized. cost under $10,000. It uses a public frequency not usually regulated FLIR also makes devices for handheld ISR, target-sighting, outside the United States and produces real-time images, necessary night-sighting for rifles and monocular or binocular night vision. to effectively control the fast-moving little beast as it searches in Distinctively, FLIR manufactures the core technologies for its own tight spaces. use and for some competitive products. “We make the cameras and Ferret is now being tested by law enforcement and several milicomponents that go inside detectors,” Keeler said. tary bases are interested in it for domestic use. Chavalas believes it is FLIR has just added short-wave infrared sensors to get much betideal for deployment in theater as well. ter definition of surveillance targets and is considering incorporation Chavalas is working on adding capabilities—for example, therof hyper-spectral imaging and other sensors—radar, for example—to mal images to see body heat. “We intend to eventually build a penetrate into ground foliage. general-purpose robot, to keep costs low and maintain high perThe company also now offers nuclear, biological and chemical formance. But it is primarily for under-vehicle inspection, which detectors. It recently introduced the Fido X3, the lightest it can do much faster and more thoroughly than and most sensitive handheld explosives trace detector on cameras on sticks or other devices.” the market. Fido X3 can screen liquids, solids or vapors Tactical Electronics products are designed for within seconds and without waiting to adjust system conthe tactical environment and used for ISR. “Our figuration or temperatures. wireless camera systems transmit real-time video Also new is FLIR’s Griffin 824, a next-generation to wrist-mounted and handheld monitors, allowexplosive trace detector that uses mass spectrometry, ing operators to gain ISR while remaining at a which improves confidence in results and reduces probsafe distance,” explained Ben Kimbro, executive ability of false alarms. The desktop Griffin can be portable vice president. in a backpack.

These systems include the tactical inspection Datron World Communications’ Scout unmanned kit, video inspection kit, helmet camera, pole camBen Kimbro aerial system (UAS) is a perfect platform for urban ISR era, K-9 camera, under door camera, RAPTR-UAV operations, essentially augmenting or replacing manned and video fiberscope with working channels. helicopter missions, said Program Manager Christopher Barter. “The The tactical inspection kit includes a wireless video fiberscope Scout system can be pulled from a small carrying case in a trunk and designed specifically for Special Operations Command, a wireless deploy within two minutes for immediate aerial surveillance,” Barter under-door camera with an IR illuminator, a handheld inspection said. Depending on payload, Scout can support a wide variety of emertool used for gaining visual access through small cracks and opengency or ISR missions. ings, a long-pole search system, a wireless wrist-mounted monitor Scout was recently chosen as a test-bed platform by the Departthat mounts to the arm for hands-free operation, and a wireless ment of Homeland Security in a study for using small UASs in natural handheld monitor with a 5-inch high resolution screen. disasters and storm responses. Scout is already heavily used by miliThe video inspection kit contains six wireless camera systems and tary customers in the United States, Canada and around the world. four wireless monitors. The kit includes: a video fiberscope, a wireless 12 | TISR 2.5

www.TISR-kmi.com

The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $23.5-million order “There are a handful of vertical take-off and land, small UASs for more of the company’s advanced, lightweight laser target locain the market,” Barter acknowledged. “What makes Scout fundator module (LTLM), the target reconnaissance infrared geolocating mentally different is ease of use and a weatherproof design.” Scout rangefinder (TRIGR). requires absolutely no pilot experience or experience with traditional “It’s like a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ targeting remotely controlled aircraft. “Everything from navigation, device for dismounted soldiers,” explained Bruce targeting and wind stability is automated and controlled by Zukauskas, LTLM program manager. TRIGR has a touchscreen software interface,” Barter noted. “The system optical sensors for daytime, an IR imager for flies itself, while the operator tells it where to go and what to night, a laser rangefinder for distance to target, look at.” Software also allows operators to focus on missions a magnetic compass for direction and a GPS to while Scout stays stable in wind gusts up to 50 miles per locate itself. All this comes in a compact 5.5hour, or extreme heat, cold, rain or snow. pound package.

Scout’s versatility means it can be modified to suit user BAE received an indefinite delivery/indefidemands. Barter is seeing increased demands for tailored nite quantity contract in 2009 and had delivered reconnaissance data, such as IR images. And as sensors more than 2,000 TRIGRs before the latest award. become increasingly small and reliable, Scout can take over TRIGR data can be downloaded through a more of the missions that once required helicopters or fixedBruce Zukauskas port, but the device cannot directly communiwing aircraft. All-digital networks will mean Scout can plug cate with other equipment. Zukauskas said automated communicatactical video into networks for even greater efficiency. tion may come in the future as Army and Marine systems develop Camero’s Xaver line of Sense-Through-the-Wall devices has been more commonality. O sold to 20 countries, including the United Sates, said Director of Business Development Josh Levontin. The most popular, Xaver 400, has been sold to U.S. forces and Camero has now introduced a smaller For more information, contact TISR Editor Chris McCoy 100 version. at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories “It’s a detection device,” Levontin explained. “It gives you a yes or at www.tisr-kmi.com. no on whether there is somebody inside a room.” The Xaver line uses wideband radar, so the amount of information yielded depends on the size of the device. The largest model, the Xaver 800, provides a threedimensional picture, the medium-sized 400 gives two dimensions and the smaller 100 only offers one dimension, essentially the distance to an object inside the room.

Camero has acquired a great deal of experience in this kind of detection since it began operating in 2006. Starting in Israel, the Xaver series is now used by many elite units.

Aerostat-mounted Antennas: In the future, Camero may network its sensors. “You could use • Overcome LOS Obstacles many smaller sensors like the 100 to give a common picture, instead • Extend Range of Radios of one large unit,” Levontin predicted. “The technology can do this, • Cover the Last Tactical Mile but it will depend on what customers want.”

Chameleon 2 is an unattended persistent covert surveillance system for urban reconnaissance missions, developed by Seraphim Optronics. Chameleon remotely monitors hostile movements, identifying a human from 250 meters and transmitting full-motion video.

It can operate autonomously, allowing one observer to control up to 32 systems for an extended time. It is designed to be camouflaged and easily concealed in urban environments.

FORAX High Antennas for Radio Vice President of Marketing and Sales Gadi Bar-Ner said ChaCommunications (HARC): • Combat proven meleon 2 can connect to soldiers’ own laptops or to its own tactical • Radios in CP on ground for access, control station by Wi-Fi or 3G. maintenance, security Just introduced, Chameleon 2 has been sold to a large company • SINCGARS,VHF/UHF LOS, EPLRS, for integration into a force-protection system. It can integrate with ANW2, WNW radar, other sensors or Seraphim’s own MUGI tool for long-range surveillance.

F-ov Distinctively, Chameleon has a 90-degree field of regard with all er-Fiber Op tics its movements internal, not external, and all communication and detection capabilities are onboard. The new device is basically a shortSYNTONICS LLC range version of the MUGI. “It uses a FLIR camera and is very small, 410-884-0500 ext 227 rugged and easily camouflaged,” Bar-Ner noted.

Sales@SyntonicsCorp.com Seraphim is now working on integrating Chameleon with tactical www.SyntonicsCorp.com radar and hopes the new tool will help fill gaps in border protection.

Recommended for Fielding by NIE 12.1

RF-over-Fiber O

ptics

R

www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 2.5 | 13

ISR KIT RVIS

Sustaining Sniper Lockheed Martin has received a $152 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for Sniper advanced targeting pod (ATP) sustainment support over a five-year period, beginning in September 2012.

The contract transitions legacy Sniper pod sustainment support from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to Warner Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Additional scope includes engineering support, initial line replaceable unit spares, support equipment and pod containers. Specific tasks will be covered under a series of delivery orders to be awarded incrementally over the five-year period.

“Receiving this contract is critical to preserving Sniper pod sustainment for the U.S. Air Force without incurring a gap in support to the warfighter,” said Ashlie Payne, Sniper program manager in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business.

“Through collaboration with Warner Robins, legacy Sniper ATP pods will continue to excel in providing aircrews with unmatched targeting capability.”

The Sniper pod provides precision targeting and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information for multiple U.S. Air Force and international aircraft, with testing ongoing on additional platforms.

Niitek Inc., a subsidiary of Chemring Group PLC, has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army worth potentially $18 million to produce and deliver 102 remote visualization systems (RVIS), initial spare parts, CONUS technical support, CONUS/OCONUS training, and logistics data in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The RVIS system provides remote viewing of the Husky Mounted Detection System (HMDS) graphical user interface (GUI) display in a follow-on vehicle. HMDS uses an advanced, high-performance GPR to detect both non-metallic and metal-cased buried threats. In deliberate route clearance missions, the RVIS system allows additional operation from another vehicle, the ability to view and manipulate the HMDS GUI and provide improved situational awareness to the route clearance package. Deliveries of the systems and initial spares are scheduled for completion by January 2013.

“The RVIS system is a complementary technology to the Husky Mounted Detection Systems currently deployed in theater,” said Juan Navarro, president of Niitek. Navarro added, “RVIS provides the HMDS operator another set of eyes by transmitting real-time detection information to a secondary display being monitored by others.

This enhanced capability allows HMDS and remote operators to quickly analyze and verify threats ensuring improved mission execution in a minimal amount of time.”

Beyond-Line-of-Sight UAS Capability AME Unmanned Air Systems (AME UAS) Fury 1500 UAS has become the first truly tactical UAS to downlink live video over satellite communications (SATCOM).

A Fury aircraft transmitted fullmotion video to a ground terminal over a high bandwidth commercial SATCOM link.

According to the company, this beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) capability solidifies the Fury’s position as the longest-range tactical runwayindependent UAS flying today. With BLOS, the Fury is able to support missions at distances previously impossible using tactically deployed unmanned systems.

“This is an important milestone for the tactical UAS community.

BLOS capability puts Fury alone in the low-altitude, long-endurance, large payload, tactical UAS market,”

14 | TISR 2.5

said John Purvis, president and CEO of AME UAS. “Now with BLOS we have blurred the line between tactical and strategic unmanned ISR without the need for a fixed runway.

This is a huge win for the warfighter and intelligence community.

The UAS can operate from almost anywhere with a minimal forward deployed crew. We feel Fury has a critical mix of capabilities for both now and in the foreseeable future.”

Designed for a broad range of missions, Fury 1500’s modularity, large volume, 190-pound useful load and 1.5 KW of available power supports several payloads simultaneously while maintaining over 16 hours of endurance. Market-leading performance coupled with low operational and acquisition costs provide Fury customers a true best-value solution.

www.TISR-kmi.com

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Enhancing the Predator B/MQ-9 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. recently announced the successful first flight of the Block 1-plus Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper, an upgrade to the original Block 1 Predator B that has been in production since 2003. The MQ-9 Block 1-plus test flight occurred on May 24 at the company’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., with no discrepancies.

“We continue to enhance the capabilities of our aircraft, improving their performance to meet emerging customer requirements,” said Frank Pace, president, Aircraft Systems Group, GA-ASI. “The first flight of the MQ-9 Block 1-plus follows in the footsteps of the aircraft’s combat-proven Block 1 configuration and is an important technological achievement that will provide increased effectiveness, increased multi-mission flexibility, and even greater reliability.”

The MQ-9 Block 1-plus is a capability enhancement over the Block 1 configuration, which has amassed more than 420,000 flight hours across all customers. Block 1-plus was designed for increased electrical power, secure communications, auto land, increased gross takeoff weight, weapons growth, and streamlined payload integration capabilities.

With the completion of development, testing and expected Milestone C decision this fall, follow-on aircraft to the MQ-9 Block 1-plus configuration will be designated “MQ-9 Block 5.”

Featuring a new high-capacity starter generator, the aircraft offers an increase in electrical power capacity over the current Block 1 design. This

increased power provides the aircraft with significant capacity for growth. In addition, the upgraded electrical system includes a backup generator which is sufficient to support all flight critical functions. This vastly improves the reliability of the electrical power system by providing three independent power sources.

Numerous new communications capabilities also will be available in the Block 5, including dual ARC-210 VHF/UHF radios with wingtip antennas, allowing for simultaneous communications between multiple air-to-air and air-to-ground parties; secure data links; and an increased data transmission capacity.

Additionally, the new trailing arm main landing gear will be included in Block 5, enabling the aircraft to carry heavier payloads or additional fuel.

Advanced Mission Computer for Growler and Hornet Boeing and the U.S. Navy have successfully flight tested a new mission computer that will expand the performance of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler.

The new Type 4 advanced mission computer (AMC) increases computing power and accelerates image and mission processing functions. Those advances will support new systems being incorporated onto the aircraft, including a distributed targeting system, infrared search and track, and a new high-definition touch-screen display.

“The Type 4 AMC puts game-changing computing power directly into the hands of the warfighters who fly the Super Hornet and Growler,” said Kevin Fogarty, director of Boeing F/A-18 and EA-18G mission systems. “Working collaboratively with the U.S. Navy and our industry partners, we

www.TISR-kmi.com

are increasing combat capability with an affordable, evolutionary approach to technology advancements.”

The new AMC was tested on a Navy F/A-18F during a 90-minute flight at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., verifying that it met critical safety and system requirements. Additional testing is planned.

Boeing will deliver to the Navy the first Super Hornets and Growlers with the Type 4 AMC in 2014. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is Boeing's principal supplier for development of the AMC.

Anti-jam ITT Exelis recently delivered the 500th stateof-the-art antenna that provides global positioning system (GPS) anti-jam protection for U.S. and allied militaries.

The N79 controlled reception pattern antenna, or CRPA, is used on fixed and rotary wing aircraft, ships and unmanned platforms operating in environments with high temperatures and severe vibration. The antenna prevents deliberate jamming and unintentional interference of timing signals when integrated with anti-jam GPS systems including the next-generation advanced digital antenna production and its predecessor, the GPS Antenna System-1.

“Consistent GPS connections are extremely important to our fighting forces, and these antennas help ensure that link works at the most critical times,” said ITT Exelis Director of Antenna and Space Programs Mark Fournier. “Because of our vertically integrated processes and dedicated workforce, we can rapidly respond to our customer requirements and consistently deliver a quality product.”

TISR 2.5 | 15

ISR Catcher

Q& A

Building the Foundation of Global Integrated ISR

Stephen Kreider Acting PEO U.S. Army PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

Stephen Kreider became the Acting Program Executive Officer for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., in April 2012. In this position he is responsible for the development, acquisition, fielding and life cycle support of the Army’s portfolio of intelligence, electronic warfare and target acquisition programs. These capabilities provide the soldier with the ability to detect, recognize and identify targets, as well as to collect, tag and mine intelligence which can be integrated into the tactical network to support force protection, maneuver, persistent surveillance, and provide a more detailed understanding of the battlefield.

Kreider is a native of Summit, N.J. He holds master’s degrees from National Defense University in national resource strategy; Florida Institute of Technology in management; and Georgia Institute of Technology in nuclear engineering. Additionally, he is a United States Military Academy graduate.

Prior to his current position, Kreider served as the acting deputy program executive officer, Program Executive Office Integration, and as director, Combined Test Organization, program manager, Future Combat System (Brigade Combat Team), APG. He was initially selected to the Senior Executive Service in October 2008.

Kreider’s other assignments include acting director and deputy director, Future Combat System Combined Test Organization, APG; commander of Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Ariz.; deputy for Ballistic Missile Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Washington, D.C.; product manager, Multiple Launch Rocket System Improved Launcher, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Department of the Army System Coordinator Multiple Launch Rocket System, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research, Development and Acquisition), Washington, D.C.; project director and technical manager, Harry Diamond Laboratories, Adelphi, Md.; as well as numerous Field Artillery positions in the 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions including Battery Command, Fire Support Officer, S-4, and Fire Director Officer.

His military education includes the Industrial College of the Armed Forces Senior Acquisition Course, United States Army Command and General Staff College and United States Army Combined Arms Service Staff College.

16 | TISR 2.5

Q: The major program central to joint information on the battlefield for the Army is the Distributed Common Ground StationArmy [DCGS-Army]. How will the system be enhanced this year?

Can you tell me about the cloud experience?

A: The DCGS-Army is the foundation program for the intelligence community. It synchronizes multi-discipline ISR collection, integrates processing and reporting across all intelligence warfighter functional areas and improves access and fusion of data from all available resources in order to supply actionable intelligence to the commanders. In simple terms, it is the catcher’s mitt of all the information and the analytic tools to process the data. The system allows us to perform analytics on a tremendous amount of information, enabling us to have an understanding of the battlefield, so we can then support the soldier while allowing them to make decisive actions and determinations.

DCGS-Army is currently operated in Afghanistan and around the world and it’s in our five military fixed sites. Additionally, we have added a quick reaction program called the DCGS Cloud in Afghanistan.

The program of record, DCGS-A, went through a Milestone C this past February with anticipation of a full deployment decision [FDD] in the first quarter fiscal year 2013 timeframe. That is the www.TISR-kmi.com

program of record contract construct that gives us what we call the DCGS Software Baseline 1.0. It is a major acquisition information system program, so it’s primarily software focused. Following FDD, DCGS-A will go into iterations of yearly updates of software as we bring in new capabilities, merge requirements and continue to leverage industry to get the best of breed.

Twice a year now, we conduct an open house innovation showcase, which is an invitation to industry where we identify to them the gaps or issues we’re trying to work, get their input, conduct an evaluation, and determine when we can get those solutions into the next baseline. We’re looking to converge the quick reaction cloud program and the baseline program into one baseline system so that it will be the foundation throughout the Army. This will be a cloudbased intelligence system across the entire Army, as DCGS cloud conversion is the intelligence community’s top objective.

Q: Everyone assumes the budget is going to get tighter over the next couple of years. How is the PEO approaching the need to become more efficient? What kind of methodologies are you using to gain more efficiency?

A: One of the main priorities I have as the PEO is to get more discipline in the process—not meaning we’ve done something wrong, but how do we get into a more deliberate process that is not just reactive to a quick reaction capability, but focused on a long-term perspective? How do we posture ourselves to look for those efficiencies in the FY15-19 POM [program objective memorandum]?

Whether we use the Lean Six Sigma process, strategically aligning with the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence vision, the Army 2020 Intelligence Visions, or simply focusing on transitioning from QRC field support representatives [FSR] that are unique to systems to multi-functional FSRs, we have a number of initiatives to do that across families of systems in the enterprise.

In the same context, how do we get to a better trained force so that the soldiers can perform operational maintenance downrange themselves? We want our soldiers to have an understanding of the systems and be able to adapt them to their needs. To get there, we have a very proactive developmental process for the training construct that is being instilled at various training environments including out at the Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort Huachuca. The current main focus is the ease of use of the DCGS-A system where we have soldiers designing the interface they want.

We are also addressing the software licensing sustainment bills while still getting the best of industry with the cloud construct serving a very large portion of that. As you go to a construct of a cloud, much like an iPad easy device, you establish the architecture, which allows innovation because it’s standardized. You allow the information to flow much easier across systems—but you’re not paying for the software licensing, and you’re using the best solutions/widgets from industry because you’ve established that base architecture.

For example, all of our different systems have map requirements with many of those map capabilities built into individual systems. The goal is to get a common architecture that provides a base platform of applications, so any program, application or widget that needs to access and either display on a map or needs to have a relationship so you can do correlation on a map can go to this application. This ultimately gives a better context across the battlefield, because we’re all talking off the same page, and all of those solutions coupled together help us get to the efficiency and effectiveness side of the house. www.TISR-kmi.com

Q: And working off the cloud means you and I have the same updated version of the program.

A: It’s much easier to push an update when you have a change to a software program while operating in the cloud environment. You just upload the software to the base function and it’s distributed to everybody at the same time, so you don’t have to send out a fielding team to go to each piece of hardware for uploading and ensuring compatibility. The architecture here at Aberdeen Proving Ground tests it before it even goes out to the field. We can field it from here and distribute it from here across the distributing network.

So that’s one aspect. The other one is we want to get more into the leveraging of COTS so that we’re not paying the developmental costs, but instead using the best of industry. This is why we want to team with industry in almost everything we do—to bring those capabilities in rather than develop a system that’s unique and therefore has a much longer sustainment tail and has more cost that requires experts to maintain. We are striving to find a more level playing ground with a common application. We’re trying to get to that basic application layer, and the unique widgets that you need to do applications. This way, anyone can write applications because they know the standard, and can modify them. It doesn’t matter whether someone is a visual person or a hands-on person; they can incorporate what works best for them on the screen. With the background associated with the common application, they’re going to get the same information. They won’t miss out on the analytical side of the house because that’s running in the background as well.

Q: A couple months ago, the Army took delivery of the last of the contracted aerostats. Since the aerostats are just a platform in essence, what are you doing to enhance that package? What’s the future of the aerostat in the Army construct in the nearest term?

A: There have been quite a few aerostats of different names, sizes and purposes. The two main aerostat programs are the Persistent Threat Detection System, which is an Army system, and the Persistent Ground Surveillance System, which is a Navair Navy system that is also transitioning to the Army, but smaller. The Army has realized the enduring capability of these systems and created a requirement called Persistent Surveillance System-Tethered program of record, which will utilize those two platforms as an increment zero construct.

Now that we have a stable platform construct, we’ll focus on increasing the capabilities and increasing the distribution of the data into the DCGS environment and into the common operating picture of the command post. At the tactical level, this gives users the capability of fusing that information to get a better picture of the battlefield.

As you know, the plan is to come out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014, and we are asking ourselves how we inculcate these capabilities into the base Army force. What do we want to institutionalize and how much do we put into contingency stock? We need to be efficient but we also want to be good stewards of the dollars invested so far. We believe we have a very stable platform—different sizes bring us different capabilities—so the focus is on the improvement of the sensors and the communication interface of the data to get a better-fused picture of the battlefield.

TISR 2.5 | 17

Q: You recently announced you were looking for industry input for the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management tool. Can you tell me about this project and what it brings to the fight? What about the funding and the timeline for the program?

A: The Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool is a subset of the Integrated Electronic Warfare System [IEWS], which happens to be one of the only new starts in the Army, and it builds off of what most of us are used to in defensive construct—CREW [Counter Radio Electronic Warfare] devices—which are the most common piece of equipment out there on every vehicle that helps jam the electronic signals to help protect the soldiers from IEDs. The IEWS is the strategy to architect electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic support into a family of systems. We are looking at what else an integrated system can do beyond the CREW defensive system we have today. Why can’t we use an integrated family of systems to block cell phone use of the insurgents to hinder their communications, counter IEDs, manage the electronic spectrum so we don’t interfere with other systems, and to collect actionable intelligence all at the same time? Similarly, we would like to disrupt UAVs, radars and their communications systems—in other words, an offensive component.

The Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool side of the house, as you mentioned, is the management of the electronic spectrum. Our objective is to have it all in one box with the ability to control the spectrum. If I’m utilizing different radios or satellite systems, or I’m focused on a particular ground radio communication frequency and I want to jam in one area and I want to collect in another, how do I manage that spectrum use across all of these systems? As opposed to now, we identify what the target is and jam it in a particular area, which impacts our adversary but may impact our own radio system. This planning tool leverages the quick reaction program spectrum management tools we are using today and integrates them into a planning tool that will be inculcated with the whole signal management construct at the battlefield.

Q: Can you tell me about EMARSS [Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System] from a progress, budgeting and milestone perspective? What are the next steps?

A: EMARSS system is currently in the EMD [engineering and manufacturing development] phase. There was a protest, which took more than six months to resolve; however, the initial award was upheld, so there was no change, but the program was delayed.

All of the aircraft for the EMD program have been bought and we already have a risk-reduction aircraft in flight. In the integration lab here at APG, we’ve actually taken one of the airframes and we brought it inside the laboratory so that we can populate it with the sensors and DCGS. This has allowed us to bring that capability right onto the aircraft into the laboratory so we can do the integration of the set requirements for those systems.

The EMARSS is a multi-intelligence based system with flexibility for additional future sensor system and it has a capacity or margin for additional capabilities. The laboratory allows us to take a look at various sensors and connect them into the architecture display to see the right mix of things that we want to do. Within the laboratory is the Surveillance Information Processing Center, which is the collection mechanism for the information coming down from the aircraft as well as the DCGS-A fielded environment, so we can do 18 | TISR 2.5

our entire closed-loop process up in the laboratory to reduce risk and continue us down the program.

We’re on track to have delivery of finished aircraft in ‘13, which will then go to a limited user test. Following that, we’ll send some of these systems over to theater and do a forward operational assessment there, leading up to the Milestone C in an early ‘14 timeframe.

Q: This is a real enterprise construct.

A: You saw it firsthand in the laboratory. It doesn’t matter where industry is anymore. I can connect them to our laboratories here, and leverage their capability. I can try everything out here, I can connect into the database that’s at Fort Bragg or at Fort Gordon; I can use real-time information to test out a new sensor or analytical tool.

Q: What is the future of your other manned systems? Will EMARSS replace all of the other manned systems? How will you phase them in with the other manned systems you’ve got?

A: That’s in the aerial environment, and we actually have five columns of thrust as we look at the Intel 2020 Vision. The first one is an unmanned aerial system, so that brings in the current Hunter system and then the Gray Eagle system.

You have the EMARSS program that we just talked about, which is a multi-intelligence integrated platform system with an objective of 24 aircraft.

There is also the ARL [Airborne Reconnaissance Low] system which we’re going to upgrade to a new platform, as the aging fleet is starting to have a little wear and tear. At the same time, we’re going to make those platforms more flexible with a plug-and-play construct for sensors. As new sensors come onboard, it’s much easier to plug and play onto the aircraft. [Regarding] the Guardrail system, which we’ve been upgrading to a 12X system—we have nine of those already delivered and will finish that production this year.

The last column is a future look at capabilities such as the large dirigible LEM-V [long-endurance multi-intelligence vehicle], the PSS-T Aerostat program of record, and other future platforms that can provide persistent oversight capability.

Q: Through your PEO, the Army’s putting a large number of sensors and data collection equipment in the field. Is the PED [processing, exploitation and dissemination] part of that keeping up with the amount of data that the sensors are able to collect?

How are you keeping pace?

A: There is currently a very robust PED process. In Afghanistan, almost all of the analyses are done at Fort Gordon, Ga., at the 513th MI brigade. Almost all of the data comes across in real time and the information [is] sent back to Afghanistan. We’re at the point of talking not megabytes or terabytes, but petabytes of information, which is a huge amount of info. We have the capability through the DCGS cloud construct to search 60-plus petabytes of information in less than a second to do correlation.

The community is looking to move to a consolidated PED environment with smaller individual PED teams in the field supporting it. It’s looking to get to an efficiency state, because we have the ability now to ingest the information and transport it to a common center. We’re trying to bring those areas together to get signals intelligence PED people and common intelligence units into a more www.TISR-kmi.com

consolidated construct. The PED people in Afghanistan might not be doing a whole lot of SIGINT, while the PED people in SIGINT in Korea might be overburdened. By bringing it to a consolidated construct, you have the ability 24 hours a day to appropriately task organize your priorities and support the field. The intelligence community is looking how to do this.

That’s not saying we’re taking all the PED away from the field, we also will support that with a multi-function team. We’re looking at the environment now to do a much more efficient PED analysis.

This helps in training, the cross-leveling of information, and in leveraging our other partners including three letter agencies.

Q: What’s the PEO doing as far as navigation and knowing positioning in areas of denied access like Afghanistan, where the terrain and other natural features get in the way?

A: There’s no one solution, rather it’s a cross-combination of things.

This PEO is responsible as executive agent for the Army for interaction with the Air Force on GPS and one of my PMs is responsible for working with the Air Force systems and we’re looking to go to the next generation of chip that has an anti-spoofing capability SAASM [selective availability anti-spoofing module] chip. The GPS Military Code is also a current project, which is much more resistant to the jamming.

We’re also looking at a lot of our other technologies. For example, how do you maintain location when you go into a cave

or a building? Sensors will also be a part of the solution. Wide area surveillance, persistent surveillance at a higher altitude like the LEM-V and unmanned aerial systems that we can put more of them up with more endurance, this allows you to get to the other side of the mountain.

It’s not really one answer, it’s a whole bunch of things that we’re looking to work to get to that answer—so we have a better understanding of the battlefield, in all instances, and then deliver better communication of that information across the battlefield.

Q: The COCOM commander of SOUTHCOM was talking about the need for foliage penetrating radar. Is there anything you can add about what the PEO’s interest in that kind of technology is?

A: We are certainly interested in these capabilities. For foliage penetrating radar, hyper-spectral; there are a lot of technologies that are in the developmental phase, some of which we have one-offs of and we’re using now in a SOUTHCOM environment. LIDAR and VADAR along with other categories will be analyzed to focus improving the sensor capability to provide what the user needs.

We’re also looking in aerial layers: How do I get to a multiintelligence platform? The real value is the integration of multifunctional and multi-sensor, so they’re complementary. How do we take leverage of these complementary pieces, how do we have a signals intelligence perspective that identifies the signal in the general area that can immediately move an EO/IR ball over to that—maybe

™

IR Revolution™360

FORCE PROTECTION DEPLOYED, PROTECTING ASSETS, AND SAVING LIVES!

360°

• REAL TIME PANORAMIC IMAGING • LONG RANGE AUTO DETECTION AND TRACKING WITH MOTION ALARM • RUGGEDIZED FOR ALL APPLICATIONS

PANORAMIC REAL TIME INFRARED CAMERA

www.Infrared360.com | Sales@hgh-infrared.com | 617-401-2196

www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 2.5 | 19

I could see the person or the vehicle, or some other type of wide aerial surveillance where I can see a convoy or a personnel coming over a mountain on a trail? Multi-intelligence integration is the real answer to get to the heart of the aspect, but we’re always looking at increased technology and capabilities to provide to the soldiers.

Q: Can you give me an overview of what your expectations are for the next 12 months for the PEO? Do you have any goals, where you expect to be 12 months from now?

A: My biggest goal for the next 12 months is setting the stage for the long-term success in the 15-19 POM. Now is the time that we’re setting that budget. We need to understand that strategy; we need to be able to determine this vast number of quick reaction programs that we’ve funded and put downrange. What have we learned from them?

What’s the enduring capability we want to maintain? How can we leverage them in a multi-integration platform versus having single platform capabilities? According to the way the Congressional budget process works in setting that stage, we have to turn in our needs for FY15 by Christmas.

Our focus for the next six months—the strategic objectives I have primarily with my PMs—is determining what is the Army’s perspective. Where do we want to go in terms of sensors? In a declining budget, we’re not going to have all of them. We’re not going to be living off the OCO dollars that have provided so many great capabilities to our soldiers. If the Army is not engaged in combat, we typically

slow down, have less soldiers, have less budget. How can we best take what we’ve learned and chart that path forward? Establishing and understanding that from the Army’s perspective, how do we support AFRICOM and PACOM? Because intelligence is always involved, we never stop when the contingency operation is over as we’re engaged at all times. So how do we take all the great things that we’ve done over the last 11 years of combat and what is our strategy as an Army, and as an intelligence community as a whole? We talked a little bit about a DCGS to a cloud.

We’ve learned from that construct and we need to go to that type of structure more often.

There are some niche sensors that we don’t necessarily need to continue to invest in. I’ve had to pay for contractor FSRs who I haven’t been able to institutionalize because I only had two or three of them and it was a specialty. Is that the right path?

How do I get to a more common architecture so that a soldier can do the operation and maintenance in the field and they can do a plug and play? If I want to look at a wide area surveillance versus an EO/ IR, if I have a multi sensor aircraft, maybe I can do both at the same time. If not, then I have the ability to take one off and put one on very quickly because the interface has been standardized, the communication process into DCGS, the analytical side is all stabilized.

Understanding the driving factors of where technology is going, what are the sustainment cost drivers, where is the software going, setting that strategic perspective is the main focus of this PEO so that we have the capabilities that the soldiers need. Not just in the contingency operation that we’re supporting now, that’s our main focus, but where are we going to be for the next conflict as we look into the future and the Army 2020?

Q: You mentioned PACOM and that reminded me that within the past couple of months, the guidance was announced that there is going to be a major shift in geographic focus toward the Pacific.

Has that philosophical and doctrinal decision impacted anything that the PEO is doing? Has it impacted anything directly you’re working on yet?

A: It becomes one of the initial questions that we ask when we look at a strategic plan, maybe more so than just a focus on Afghanistan. I’ve not seen a major change because we’ve always been world focused.

We’re already working to put a ground intelligence station in Hawaii that supports PACOM, and we were doing that before the change in focus. The cloud environment allows us to get that integration of a multi-dimensional capability and the information to the tactical edge. It doesn’t matter what region it’s in, we have the capability to quickly move into those areas. The Guardrail upgrade is primarily focused on the Korean peninsula and its capabilities. A multi-int platform capability is really region-independent, so flexibility is the construct more than a particular focus. We don’t want to get into the ‘one-eaches,’ we want flexibility to provide more capability.

One thing that has changed as a result of our DCGS-A success in Afghanistan and in the QRC of the cloud: The Marine Corps wants to leverage us and take advantage of what we’ve done. We’ve agreed and have signed a cooperative agreement where we’re going to bring DCGS into Okinawa to support a one-year operational assessment by the Marine Corps of our system, and then bring it into the cloud environment that we’re setting up in Hawaii. This gives us another strategic partner, if you will, that we will share a common architecture with. O

20 | TISR 2.5

www.TISR-kmi.com

U.S. ARMY PROGRAM EXECUTIVE OFFICE, INTELLIGENCE ELECTRONIC WARFARE & SENSORS

Stephen Kreider (Acting) PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

Col. Edward Stawowczyk Project Manager Night Vision/Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition

Col. Joseph Dupont Project Manager Electronic Warfare

www.TISR-kmi.com

Dr. Richard Wittstruck (Acting) DPEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors

Col. Keith Hirschman Project Manager Airborne Reconnaissance and Exploitation Systems

Col. John Leaphart Project Manager Aircraft Survivability Equipment

Col. Christopher Davis Project Manager Navigation Capabilities and Special Programs

Col. Charles Wells Project Manager Distributed Common Ground System-Army

TISR  2.5 | 21

Unmanned community pursues ground control station upgrades.

By Marc Selinger, TISR Correpsondent The rapid growth of unmanned systems over the past decade has fueled a surge in ground stations to control them. While flashylooking ground robots and remotely piloted aircraft receive most of the publicity, the unmanned systems community is paying a lot of attention to the ground stations, too.

Currently, most unmanned systems have their own ground control station, each requiring its own development, procurement, training and logistics. Many ground stations are also bulky, difficult to use and unable to talk to each other.

The Department of Defense, the individual military services, defense contractors and NATO are pursuing a wide range of activities to overcome these hurdles.

DoD The Office of the Secretary of Defense is pushing the services to ensure their ground control stations can be easily upgraded and can share intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information with each other. An OSD-led working group has been working on the issue for several years and now has 625 members from academia, government-funded research centers and industry.

“Twenty years ago, ISR systems were kind of purpose-built for a single customer,” said Dyke Weatherington, DoD’s deputy director for unmanned warfare. “Today, that’s not so much the case. They support a broad range of users and customers. So if we can collectively make them more interoperable, that’s a win on both sides.

That’s a win for the warfighter because he’s got access to a greater volume of information. It’s a win on the acquisition side because we can ideally lower costs by identifying those elements upfront that we need to standardize as opposed to delivering capability to the field and then having to retrofit it over time.”

OSD’s approach is also expected to allow ground station companies to keep improving their systems, such as by adding the latest mapping or weather application in a matter of hours or days.

“They can pull out the best product possible for the warfighter at the best rate,” said Rich Ernst, who works interoperability issues for OSD. “It’s not a winner-take-all mentality. It’s a possibility for us 22 | TISR 2.5

to go back and re-compete the technology over and over in a control system and evolve the control system.”

Air Force The Air Force is working on a two-step upgrade effort for the Block 0 and Block 15 ground stations that control its MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft. The goal is to make it easier for pilots and sensor operators to train and conduct missions.

“We’ve operated MQ-1s and MQ-9s for over 11 years in combat, so we have a lot of lessons learned,” said Major Erik Jacobson, a manager in the remotely piloted aircraft section of the Air Force’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance directorate. “Having come out of an advanced concept technology demonstration, the legacy systems were designed for engineers. We’re now way past that, so the user is the central focus, not the engineer.”

The first upgrade, known as Block 30 or safety tactical operational reliability maintenance (STORM), adds capability improvements, such as high-definition video and touchscreen displays, and ergonomic enhancements, such as adjustable seats and rudder pedals. Prime contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) expects to start delivering STORM to the Air Force in early 2013. The Air Force plans to begin fielding STORM in August 2013.

The second upgrade, known as Block 50 or the advanced cockpit, will provide 3-D graphics and moving maps, fused sensor data on a single display, collision- and terrain-avoidance aides, and automated handoffs between launch/recovery teams and mission operators. The Advanced Cockpit is currently in development and undergoing flight testing near Palmdale, Calif. The Air Force forecasts a procurement contract award for July 2013, and GA-ASI estimates Block 50 will be fielded in about 2016.

“The Block 30 is an evolutionary leap,” said Chris Pehrson, strategic development director at GA-ASI. “The Block 50 is a revolutionary leap; it feels like a cockpit without the motion sickness.”

The GA-ASI ground stations come in various fixed-site and mobile configurations. www.TISR-kmi.com

Army The Army is pursuing the Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) to improve upon its decade-old One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS). UGCS is designed to operate three types of Army unmanned aircraft: Gray Eagle, Hunter and Shadow. While UGCS retains the exterior of OSGCS—an HMMWV-mounted shelter for both Hunter and Shadow and a 5-ton truck for the longer-endurance Gray Eagle—the new consoles and software that operate all three aircraft are identical.

“You can take soldiers and instead of training them on multiple ground control stations, you can train them on one ground control station,” said Lieutenant Colonel James Kennedy, the Common Systems Integration (CSI) product manager in the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office. “Then, regardless of where they are stationed, they’ll be able to fly whatever aircraft their particular unit is using.”

The Army is conducting developmental testing of UGCS and expects to begin fielding it by spring 2013.

The Army and UGCS prime contractor AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems say the new ground station’s ability to control all three unmanned aircraft types was demonstrated at the Manned Unmanned System Integrated Capability (MUSIC) exercise at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in September 2011.

“What MUSIC did for us is it validated the concept that universality was possible,” said Ed Gozdur, the Army’s CSI deputy. “It demonstrated a concept that we had been thinking about for a long time.”

AAI is also under contract to provide a UGCS variant for the Army’s long endurance multi-intelligence airship, which will be able to operate in unmanned or manned mode.

In tandem with UGCS, the CSI team and AAI are replacing the legacy analog data link with a new digital data link, the Tactical Common Data Link. The new data link’s benefits including using a less crowded radio band and providing encryption.

The Army and AAI are also looking at upgrades to the Open System Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT), which is currently fielded and allows troops to receive unmanned aircraft-generated video on

www.TISR-kmi.com

Chris Pehrson

Lt. Col. James Kennedy

a ruggedized laptop computer-like device. The Army plans to begin fielding a new encryption capability for OSRVT in October 2012, said Todd Bartley, CSI ground station lead. In addition, the Army is studying the possibility of reducing the OSRVT’s size, perhaps to a tablet-like configuration.

“Right now, it’s on the Panasonic Toughbook,” Gozdur said. “We have an objective requirement to make it smaller, handheld, so we’re investigating … alternatives for that.”

Marines QinetiQ North America developed the Tactical Robotic Controller (TRC), in cooperation with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. TRC can control more than a dozen unmanned air and ground systems made by different companies. Adding the ability to control a new vehicle type can be done in as little as 30 minutes, said Ed Godere, QinetiQ senior vice president of unmanned systems.

Robotic controllers are often the size of a small suitcase, but the latest TRC version weighs just 8 pounds and is small enough to be comfortably worn on a Marine’s back. To make it easy to use, TRC’s input device is modeled after popular electronic gaming devices.

QinetiQ has delivered almost 100 TRCs, many of which are being used by the Army in combat today with the unmanned Minotaur

TISR 2.5 | 23

surveillance (BAMS) aircraft and the helicopter-like Fire Scout, and could be used for unmanned land and sea systems.

The tactical control system (TCS), which operates Fire Scout, will be replaced by CCS “as cost and schedule permit,” the Navy said. In the meantime, the Navy is upgrading TCS. Raytheon recently received a $28 milEd Godere lion contract to migrate TCS from the Windows operating system to the more-secure Linux system.

The Navy has successfully conducted laboratory tests with CCS on a command and control prototype for the Shadow unmanned aircraft, Paul said.

The Navy plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for CCS at a future date, and “the scope of the effort will be based on what can be leveraged from existing unmanned aircraft system efforts,” Paul said.

The CCS schedule is tied to the UCLASS schedule, which is under review by the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to support a potential fall 2012 RFP release for UCLASS.

International

A soldier with 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, controls a Raven unmanned aerial vehicle during a joint air assault operation planned and led by the Iraqi army and Iraqi national police in the Ma’dain area east of Baghdad, Iraq. The Raven is being used to provide real time observation of the objective during a search for weapons caches and insurgent activity. [Photo courtesy of DoD]

mine-roller robot, which is based on a QinetiQ robotized Bobcat loader. TRC allows soldiers to operate the Minotaur from a safe, standoff distance during patrols.

“Minotaurs and their TRCs have been very effective,” Godere said. “These lightweight controllers enable dismounted forces to use robotic platforms in some of their most dangerous missions.”

TRC is also being used with unmanned Polaris all-terrain vehicles in Afghanistan for counter-IED missions. In addition, DARPA and Boston Dynamics are testing TRC with the LS3 four-legged robot for possible use as a supply vehicle.

Navy The Navy is pursuing the Common Control System (CCS) to meet common requirements for its current and future unmanned aircraft. The program envisions build-it-once, hardware-agnostic software that provides command and control, mission planning, data dissemination and other applications for a wide range of unmanned aircraft, eliminating the need to develop such tools for each aircraft type, said CCS program manager Mike Paul.

CCS will initially serve as the ground control station for the future unmanned carrier launched airborne surveillance and strike System (UCLASS) but will ultimately support other unmanned aircraft, such as the Global Hawk-based broad area maritime 24 | TISR 2.5

Efforts to improve ground control stations aren’t confined to the United States. A NATO industry advisory panel recently concluded that it would be “very feasible” for a ground station to control unmanned systems in all four domains: air, ground, sea and underwater, according to Mike Meakin, president of Ontario, Canada-based InnUVative Systems, who helped lead the group.

“A single control station should be able to control all systems simultaneously without any degree of difficulty,” said Meakin, whose company developed the 4CE (pronounced “force”) control station, which enables a tablet to simultaneously operate an iRobot indoor unmanned ground vehicle, the Aeryon Scout quad-rotor micro air vehicle and the MicroPilot fixed-wing autopilot used on various unmanned Mike Meakin aircraft.

Discussion on NATO’s path for- mmeakin@innuvativesystems.com ward is expected to continue in the coming months.

In addition, NATO said the ground segment for its planned Global Hawk-based Alliance ground surveillance system will be able to share intelligence information with a wide range of command and control and ISR platforms.

NATO countries are also keeping close tabs on U.S. efforts, which could serve as a model for their own, according to QinetiQ North America’s Godere.

“They’re looking at where the U.S. military is going,” Godere said, “because they like to have common equipment with the United States in military operations.” O For more information, contact TISR Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

www.TISR-kmi.com

Adding dimension to a flat world.

Three-dimensional mapping technologies are understandably advancing in the tactical sphere.

Three-D applications allow warfighters, commanders and analysts to develop a deeper understanding of environments such as urban areas that help them execute their missions better and more efficiently.

Three-dimensional visualizations use geospatial data and imagery to consolidate and present information in a fashion that is easily usable by those who need it. Three-D gives individual warfighters a better picture of the terrain and the environment they are operating in, particularly at close quarters in urban areas. With a 3-D representation, warfighters can better understand how the terrain and the man-made environment affects military operations.

“There is always a need for warfighters to have an appreciation of the terrain they will be operating in,” said Mark Grablin, director of Airborne Reconnaissance Systems at Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions. “The farther they can get away from two-dimensional maps, the more information they will have for operational planning and execution of different missions.”

“Three-dimensional mapping is an important situational awareness tool for warfighters,” said John Coots, director of business development at Hover Inc. “It is used for planning to gain a better understanding of missions. Three-D technologies can even pinpoint specific buildings so warfighters can plan how they are going to approach it.”

“Three-D is important for mission planning, rehearsal and analytics,” said Matt Morris, a director of product development at Overwatch, part of Textron Systems. “Advances in dissemination technologies, such as such 3-D PDF files, make it easier to distribute the 3-D maps. Before, you needed high-end software to be able to render the 3-D image on a screen.”

“One thing that 3-D really brings out is a normal human sense of vision,” said Rick Black, director for defense and intelligence programs at Zebra Imaging Inc. “A photograph will always look flat.”

Geographical information systems form the core of 3-D mapping technologies, while light detection and ranging (LiDAR) provides the key elevation data used to generate the 3-D representation. “Three-D maps require a strong visualization capability,” said Morris.

“You take in imagery and elevation data and create a realistic terrain picture by draping imagery over the elevation data. What warfighters see when they are on the ground can’t be represented in a two-dimensional map. Three-D maps can allow warfighters to acquaint www.TISR-kmi.com

themselves with a mission environment before they get there.”

LiDAR technology has been around since the mid1990s. But its application to military missions took off in the last decade thanks to the fact that United States armed forces found themselves fighting in theaters in which they owned the skies, allowing the aerial overflights that collect LiDAR data in Afghanistan and Iraq to proceed undeterred. From there, military and industry imaginations kept thinking up and developing new and better ways to collect, extract, analyze, exploit and apply LiDAR data.

Airborne LiDAR uses 1.064 nanometer wavelength laser light pulses to gauge distances by measuring the time delay between transmission of the pulse and detection of the reflected signal. A rangefinder mounted in an aircraft swings back and forth collecting data on up to 150,000 points per second, providing resolutions of one point per meter on the ground and one point per 15 centimeters vertically. The data returned by the LiDAR sensor provides location data on an x-y-z axis, referred to as a point cloud. Ground based LiDAR utilizes rotating rangefinders with up to 64 lasers channels, that can collect up to 1.3 million points per second.

The importance of LiDAR to 3-D mapping is that it provides accurate elevation data. LiDAR sensors and data pinpoint the location and elevation of surface elements such as buildings, trees and roads. Under the right circumstances, it can also detect hidden objects by, for example, penetrating forest or jungle canopies.

LiDAR really shines when it is used in conjunction with data from other sources such as electro-optical, infrared and hyperspectral sensors. U.S. forces in Afghanistan use the BuckEye system, which was developed under the auspices of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and which combines airborne LiDAR technology with digital color camera imagery. Fusing data from multiple sources increases the probability that features can be automatically extracted from the raw data and that an accurate situational picture will result. Some 3-D mapping applications also use BuckEye data.

“LiDAR adds a human dimension to situational awareness and mission planning,” noted Morris. “You need to know the height of a building to know whether to bring a 6-foot ladder or a 12-foot ladder. LiDAR elevation data provides the information that can be included in 3-D representations.”

Overwatch markets a series of products that first automatically extract features from LiDAR data, and

By Peter Buxbaum TISR Correspondent

Mark Grablin

John Coots

jcoots@indigo-i.com

Matt Morris

Rick Black

TISR 2.5 | 25

Wolfgang Juchmann, product marketing manager at Velodyne. “Our then incorporate those into 3-D maps and visualizations. Its LiDAR high-definition LiDAR sensor uses a rotating head featuring 64 semiAnalyst software works as an extension for systems such as Esri ArcGIS conductor lasers, each firing up to 20,000 times per second, resulting and Overwatch’s geospatial analysis software. The company’s Remotein a total of 1.3 million data points per second. This allows the sensor View and 3D Pro are the 3-D visualization tools. to achieve data collection rates that are an order of magnitude higher Automated feature extraction, as exemplified in LiDAR Analyst, is than most conventional designs. The resulting point cloud is so dense a capability that allows software to recognize certain specific objects that computer programs can identify objects such as street curbs and represented in LiDAR point clouds. Programming the software to be overhead wires at distances up to 100 meters.” on the lookout for topographical features such as hills or man-made The technology was originally designed to compete in DARPA’s objects such as buildings, vehicles, or power transmission lines allows Grand Challenge, a competition designed to spur innovation in the those features to be separately and distinctly portrayed. field of unmanned ground vehicles. It has since “LiDAR Analyst uses advanced algorithms to detect, recogbeen applied to mapping systems as well. nize and extract complex 3-D building shapes from point cloud A somewhat different approach to 3-D mapdata so that all the buildings across a city or area of interest ping is taken by Hover Inc. and its Indigo can be inventoried,” said Morris. “The buildings, trees and product, in that it does not use LiDAR data to shrubbery can also be stripped away to reveal the true ground generate 3-D images. “LiDAR data is not availlevel for a detailed digital elevation model, which is especially able in every area of the world,” noted Coots. useful for mountainous terrain.”

Instead, Indigo creates 3-D models from Analysts use 3D Pro to generate detailed 3-D terrain and imagery. “We can take satellite images and urban models that help decision makers and warfighters ground photos in a variety of formats and comunderstand the real-world conditions they face. The solution bine all those to make a high-quality and high provides interactive tools that allow users to perform line-ofWolfgang Juchmann resolution 3-D model based on our patented sight analyses and to identify buffer zones and landing zones. wjuchmann@velodyne.com algorithms,” said Coots. “We only project into Users can set conditions such as cloud cover, fog and night the 3-D model we can see. There are no fake facades or manipulation vision. of photographs. If we don’t know, we say we don’t know. That way the “The software brings realism to simulations and increases mission warfighters don’t plan for something that may not be there.” success,” said Morris. “It can be challenging for analysts and warfightHover plans on evolving Indigo into an enterprise solution that ers to visualize territory or a target of interest based upon 2-D imagery. will allow dissemination over a variety of different handheld devices.

A rich 3-D scene provides better context and fills knowledge gaps.”

Housing such an enterprise solution in a cloud computing environZebra Imaging Inc. takes 3-D to another level by producing holoment, according to Coots, will enable the more rapid update of the 3-D grams of terrain, particularly urban terrain, of interest. A hologram models as new images are captured. is a 3-D, 360-degree representation of an object or area that can be Lockheed Martin is investigating the possibility of adapting 3-D observed from all sides. The hologram is projected by illuminating technologies developing in the commercial gaming industry to miliZebra’s proprietary film. The company is in the process of introducing tary applications. “We have been involved in the Distributed Common a new product that projects a hologram above the glass of a screen Ground System programs for decades,” said Grablin. “We work on the without the use of film. principle of adding value. In this case, we are talking about adding “A hologram is virtually solid but not physically solid,” explained value to sensor data and other information that will allow analysts, Zebra’s Black. commanders and warfighters to make sense out of them for planning Zebra’s holograms are can be created from a variety of data. They and targeting. The idea would be to take digital elevation maps and have utilized LiDAR data from the BuckEye program, as well as comcombine them with different tools and information that already exits mercial satellite imagery and airborne imagery. to create knowledge within existing ground stations for warfighters in “We typically extract elevation data from LiDAR and generate 3-D real time. The view would be updated as new information comes in models by overlaying imagery on top of that,” said Black. “The holoto allow warfighters a view not only of their current environment but grams have been used to plan line-of-sight communications in urban where they will be going on their missions.” areas. Line of sight is not easily discernible from a flat representation.

Zebra Imaging has developed a 3-D hologram application that is The holograms have also been used for route planning, for mission prenot dependent on its proprietary film. The system is currently being brief and debriefs, for flight rehearsals, and for virtual reconnaissance.” studied by the Army and the Air Force and will soon be unveiled to Unlike photographs or maps, hologram users don’t need any spethe public. cial training to understand the terrain being represented, according “The biggest problem for 3-D,” said Black, “is that there are not to Black. “It makes it easier to understand where vehicles can transit enough applications to bring all of the data to users. LiDAR data collecand how much they can carry,” said Black. “By walking around a holotion is expanding faster than the output uses for the data.” gram, warfighters may be able to identify a cave system on the side of That doesn’t worry Morris, who said that “the expansion of LiDAR the mountain that they never noticed before.” collection will drive the use cases,” which in turn, presumably, will Zebra has placed over 12,000 of its hologram products in Afghanistimulate the development of the required applications. O stan and Iraq since 2005. They are run by an Army program called Tactical Battlefield Visualization.

Facilitating advances in 3-D mapping are new high-definition LiDAR sensors that are able to gather much denser point clouds, For more information, contact TISR Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories which can then be transformed into more detailed and higher resoat www.tisr-kmi.com. lution 3-D maps. “Most LiDAR systems employ a single laser,” said 26 | TISR 2.5

www.TISR-kmi.com

The advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers. KMI cannot be held responsible for discrepancies due to last-minute changes or alterations.

TISR RESOURCE CENTER Advertisers Index

Calendar

Black Diamond Advanced Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 www.bdatech.com Controp Precision Technologies Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.contropusa.com Digital Results Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 www.drgisr.com FLIR Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.flir.com/gs HGH Infrared Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 www.infrared360.com Intevac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 www.intevac.com ISR Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 www.isrsummit.com Millennium Sensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.msensor.com Selex Galileo Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 www.selex-sas.com Syntonics LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 www.syntonicscorp.com UTC Aerospace Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2 www.utcaerospacesystems.com

October 8-11, 2012 GEOINT 2012 Orlando, Fla. www.usgif.org

December 6, 2012 C4ISR Breakfast Crystal City, Va. www.ndia.org/meetings/392B

October 22-24, 2012 AUSA Washington, D.C. www.ausa.org

February 7, 2013 C4ISR Breakfast Crystal City, Va. www.ndia.org/meetings/392C

October 24-25, 2012 Fall Intelligence Symposium Springfield, Va. www.afcea.org

April 17-18, 2013 Spring Intelligence Symposium Washington, D.C. www.afcea.org

November 14-15, 2012 AFCEA North Carolina Chapter Symposium and Exposition Fayetteville, N.C. www.afcea.org

June 6, 2013 Air Force ISR Industry Day Chantilly, Va. www.afcea.org

NextIssue

November 2012 Volume 2, Issue 6

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

Maj. Gen. Robert P. Otto Commander U.S. Air Force ISR Agency Special Section: UAV Training & Services

Features: ISR Integration GPS Big Safari Optionally Piloted Vehicles Tactical Data Links

at the Air Force ISR Agency A pictorial organizational chart that looks at the leadership of the agency and its command elements.

Bonus Distribution: AUSA Aviation Symposium

Insertion Order Deadline: November 2, 2012 Ad Materials Deadline: November 9, 2012 www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR  2.5 | 27

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Tactical ISR Technology

Robert L. Del Boca, Ph.D. President & CEO Selex Galileo Inc. Robert Del Boca, Ph.D., was appointed president and CEO of Selex Galileo Inc. in May 2012, but has served as senior advisor to the company’s board of directors since 2010. Prior to that time, Del Boca held several executive positions at Northrop Grumman, including most recently that of sector vice president and general manager of the Defensive Systems Division.

Prior to his tenure at Northrop Grumman, Del Boca had a long and distinguished career spanning leadership positions at Litton Industries and CLS Laser Systems, which he also co-founded in 1981.

Q: What types of products and services are you offering to military and other government customers?

A: Selex Galileo primarily and traditionally specializes in defense electronics products for airborne application, though we do offer systems into adjacent markets as well. We are recognized industry leaders in the areas of radar, lasers and aircraft survivability solutions. Recently, we have expanded into avionics systems integration, providing technology insertion as well as installation and modification of existing aircraft, giving users upgraded capability at a fraction of the price of a new aircraft program. We’ve also grown our services to include security assistance and training solutions to U.S. special forces and partner nations. This includes contractor owned, contractor operated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services where we offer complete turn-key operations to countries that want to pursue counter-narcotics and counterterrorism missions with help from the United States.

Q: What are some of the most significant programs your company is currently working on with the military?

A: Selex Galileo technologies and products are an essential component on many programs and platforms. Our strong 28 | TISR 2.5

and their mission objectives. It sounds obvious, but I can tell you that you need to consciously steer a company to this approach of developing a solution with the customer, and away from one that tries to ‘tell’ the customer what he wants.

Q: Are you currently developing new products and services relevant to military and government customers that you hope to bring to the market in the future? commitment to infrared countermeasures [IRCM] has helped provide protection to U.S. and allied aircraft for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aircraft flying in those high-threat regions are vulnerable to infrared heat seeking missiles, and IRCM systems are proving every day in theater that they can defeat that missile threat.

Other significant ongoing programs include lasers for the Joint Strike Fighter, surveillance radars on board the United States Coast Guard [USCG] HC-130H fleet, and integrated aircraft survivability equipment for the U.S. Army’s AH-64 Apache helicopter fleet, to name a few. In the case of the USCG contract, we not only provided the radar to increase their wide area surveillance capability, but we also performed the aircraft integration work at our Stennis, Miss., facility.

We also support the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection with surveillance and fire control radar technology to help them meet their drug interdiction and maritime patrol missions.

Q: How are you working to strengthen your product development outcome?

A: Our strategy for product development is what we call the ‘innovative loop.’ This is an ongoing process improvement cycle where we work directly with our customers to inject their thinking into the next iteration of technology development. This approach allows us to match technological innovation directly with customer needs

A: Selex Galileo as a whole invests heavily in research and development efforts annually, so we are committed to innovation.

Most notably, we have made great in-roads in the small, lightweight, AESA radar category, where we are looking to incorporate dismounted moving target indication functionality into our PicoSar radar, the smallest of our AESA radar family.

Other products include our type 163 laser target designator, which is gathering a lot of interest from several key customers. It is a new generation laser designator for semi-active laser-guided weapons using a low beam divergence and a less than 70 mega joules energy output per pulse—all in a very compact, lightweight [2.3 kg] and low power consumption configuration, making it a landmark in size for lasers of this class.

Other interesting developments are in the realm of unmanned aerial systems [UAS]. We recently introduced the newest generation of our unmanned aerial vehicles: the Falco EVO—a truly unique product when measured in terms of its size, payload and loiter time—which saw its successful maiden flight earlier this year. Building on the success of the original Falco UAS, which is deployed with four international customers, we expect to see the customer list grow rapidly.

These are but a few of the initiatives we are currently working to bring to market. Our focus remains on providing our customers with cost-effective, high quality systems that support persistent ISR solutions. O www.TISR-kmi.com

Where you need it. When you need it.

Mission success requires real-time threat assessment and the ability to react quickly. SELEX Galileo’s ground based situational awareness solutions are modular, exible, and rapidly deployable, giving you persistent situational awareness when you need it most.

Delivering decisive battlespace awareness. We build your strength from within.

The Next Generation of Multi-INT PED for

Platforms, Ground Stations & Ops Centers DRG is expanding its deployment of Ageon ISR in support of an even bolder mission – moving multi-INT data from the tactical edge to the global defense and intelligence community. Deployed as a compact 1u appliance or virtual machine, Ageon ISR scales easily from a single site to an enterprise-wide architecture. Strong emphasis on standards and interoperability make Ageon ISR quick to deploy and easy to modify.

Multi-INT Sensor Processing, Exploitation & Dissemination

Real-Time Federation Across the Network

FMV

GMTI

Observations/Tags

Cross-Domain Security Support

WAMI

SIGACTS

Annotations

SIGINT

UGS

Chat Dialog

Intelligence DIB / DCGS Interoperability

Surveillance

Reconnaissance Currently Fielded / Classifi ed Networks

DoD, NATO & MISB Compliant

Airborne Wor ks t a ti on I G round S t at ion s I Op e r at ion s C e n t e r s I I SR Ed g e Solu t i ons

Call or email today to discuss how Ageon ISR can support your mission.

Stephen St. Mary I 617-517-3210 I sstmary@drgISR.com

Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance

Demonstrations and range evaluations available for qualified inquires.

www.drgISR.com