NASA and Rockwell Collins have completed the first phase of flight-testing on a new public-use airborne data link designed to safely and securely connect ground-based pilots to all types of civil unmanned aircraft in the U.S. national airspace system. Continue reading
Category Archives: Data Links & Communications
Rockwell Collins RTK SAASM and Autopilot in Ship-Based Recovery of US Navy RQ-21A UAS
The Rockwell Collins Athena 111m Flight Control System and Real Time Kinematic (RTK) Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) technology solution for secure GPS receivers recently enabled successful shipboard flight tests of the U.S. Navy’s RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS). Continue reading
New Tactical 3DHFDF Fixes High-Frequency Radios in 160 Milliseconds
A compact three dimensional (3D) high frequency (HF) radio direction finder technology developed by a team of communication intelligence (COMINT) experts at Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems group enables law enforcement and military users to effectively intercept, locate and tap HF radio transmissions hitherto performed only by stationary monitoring stations that are typically operated by national intelligence agencies. Continue reading
Welcome to the Age of Big Drone Data
During a rare public talk last week in Washington, Lieutenant General Larry D. James, the US Air Force’s Deputy Chief for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance let on that “sustainment” of the UAS fleet is his next big task. Continue reading
US Army Moves Ahead on Manned-Unmanned Teaming
The US Army is taking a multi-pronged approach to upgrading its rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft fleets, investing in technologies that will not only allow helicopter pilots to monitor feeds from UAS, but also operate the sensors and weapon systems from safe distances. Continue reading
Pentagon Eyes Deals With Satellite Industry to Fill Demand for UAS Communications
A group of Pentagon officials was given three months to come up with a plan to boost the supply of satellite bandwidth that is needed to support the military’s growing fleet of unmanned aircraft systems. Continue reading
Gilat Announces Lightweight Compact Satellite Communications Solution for UAS
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has unveiled its new lightweight integrated airborne satellite communications solution for UAS. Continue reading
US Army Federated Universal Synchronization Engine (FUSE)
The US Army has released an overview of how the Federated Universal Synchronisation Engine (FUSE) is designed to operate. Continue reading