AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR radar system pictured in 2019 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Japan. (Photo: USMC/Lance Cpl Leo Amaro)
Naval Surface Warfare Center experts gain hands-on experience with the AN/TPS-80 in integrated test evaluations.
The US Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division announced on 8 April that it had completed five weeks of integrated test evaluations of the Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system.
Researchers performed interoperability testing with the G/ATOR system, preparing first by verifying the command s infrastructure functionality, including power accessibility, radar data recording abilities and data analysis capabilities.
General Atomics is working on the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme.
DARPA has issued a $22.16 million contract to General Atomics for Track A in the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme.
Work is scheduled for completion by October 2022, the DoD announced on 9 April.
DRACO is a plan for the US to maintain space domain awareness between the Earth and the Moon, using a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system on orbit.
According to the DARPA website: ‘NTP uses a nuclear reactor to heat propellant to extreme temperatures before expelling the hot propellant through a nozzle to produce thrust. Compared to conventional space propulsion technologies, NTP offers a high thrust-to-weight ratio around 10,000 times greater than electric propulsion and two-to-five times greater specific impulse (i.e. propellant efficiency) than chemical propulsion.’
COMBATSS-21 is a modular, scalable and open-architecture combat management system aboard USN Littoral Combat Ships
The latest contract modification for Lockheed includes hardware and provisioned items for the combat management system aboard LCS.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems is providing hardware and provisioned items to support the Littoral Combat Ship Component Based Total Ship System – 21st Century (COMBATSS-21) and associated combat management system elements for the USN.
The company will perform work under the latest $72.18 million contract modification in Jarfalla, Sweden (84%) and Syracuse, New York (16%), for completion by May 2022.
COMBATSS-21 is not only in operation with LCS vessels. In August 2016, Lockheed Martin was awarded a five-year, $79 million contract to equip USN frigates with the open architecture system.
6.8 TVCM composite-cased cartridges. (Photo: True Velocity)
Texas-based companies team up to design and produce solutions for US Army force modernisation programmes.
Texas-based Lonestar Future Weapons on 12 April announced a strategic partnership with composite-cased ammunition manufacturer True Velocity, as part of a bid for the US Army Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) programme.
The US Army aims for NGSW to replace its M4/M16 5.56x45mm rifle and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) with new rifles firing 6.8mm rounds to provide increased range, stopping power and body armour penetration.
General Dynamic Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) is offering its RM277 bullpup design and a longer barrelled variant, both of them with a polymer composite round in partnership with True Velocity.