Industry News

Australia’s defense department has awarded $4.6 million in contracts to three companies and two universities to develop multiple technology platforms for the Australian military. The department said Friday that L3 Technologies‘ Oceania subsidiary aims to create an underwater acoustic sensor for maritime applications under a $2.3 million contract. Agent Oriented Software received a $295,000 contract to study the […] More

Rockwell Collins‘ Australian subsidiary has received a potential $31 million contract to produce eight simulators for a computer-based technology platform designed to help Australian military personnel respond to adversarial targets. Christopher Pyne, Australian minister for defense industry, said in a statement published Wednesday the company will also help operate and maintain the Digital Terminal Control System simulators under […] More

Boeing plans to integrate new stealth functionalities and updated mission systems and avionics into the U.S. Navy’s fleet of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft as part of a program to extend the fighter jets’ service life, TheDrive.com reported Thursday. Mark Sears, director of Super Hornet service life modification division at Boeing, said the company intends to […] More

Advanced Technology Systems Co. has received a potential $64.1 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a mobile surveillance sensor security system for Egypt’s border guard personnel. The Defense Department said Friday ATSC’s STARA Technologies subsidiary will carry out work in Gilbert, Arizona, with a an expected completion date of Aug. 20, 2019. The Air Force will provide […] More

Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based weapons manufacturer Barrett Firearms Manufacturing has received a potential $2.8 million contract to deliver weapon systems for New Zealand’s Defence Force (NZDF). NZDF said in a report published Wednesday that the contractor will deliver 40 M107A1 anti-materiel weapons, 42 Multi-Role Adaptive Design sniper rifles, optics, suppressors and ballistic computer auxiliary equipment. Maj. Gen. Peter […] More

Maj. Gen. Sarah Zabel, U.S. Air Force director of information technology acquisition process development, has said the military branch is interested in using more “other transaction authority” contracts to speed up procurement especially in IT acquisitions, Federal News Radio reported Thursday. OTAs permit the Defense Department and military services to award contracts outside the traditional acquisition process, and […] More

Aerojet Rocketdyne has tested an engine for NASA‘s second exploration mission at the space agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The RS-25 engine, dubbed as E2063, was fired up for 500 seconds in a move to evaluate the system’s capacity to support the EM-2 exploration mission, Aerojet Rocketdyne said Thursday. RS-25 engines will continuously fire […] More

Qualcomm and SenseTime Group have teamed up to develop artificial intelligence and machine learning features for future mobile and internet of things products. The partnership looks to develop and foster the use of on-device AI through vision and camera-based image processing systems designed to deliver advanced heterogeneous computing services, Qualcomm said Thursday. “We look forward […] More

The U.S. Navy and General Dynamics’ NASSCO subsidiary will christen the military branch’s second expeditionary sea base vessel Saturday at a company shipyard in San Diego. Maj. Gen. Eric M. Smith, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, will be the principal speaker at the christening ceremony for the future USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams the Navy said Thursday. The ship, dubbed ESB […] More

The International Organization for Standardization has recertified HumanTouch for maintaining the information technology services contractor’s quality management practices. HumanTouch said Wednesday it obtained ISO 9001:2015 recertification following completion of third-party independent audit process. The certification requires companies to ensure their employees are familiar with quality management systems designed to increase work efficiency HumanTouch CEO Moe Jafari said the company also […] More

Boeing has invested in Near Earth Autonomy to help the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company further develop autonomous platforms for aerial and ground vehicles. Boeing said Thursday it made the investment through its ventures arm HorizonX and partnered with Near Earth Autonomy to explore new unmanned platforms for use in urban mobility and other emerging market applications. […] More

Lockheed Martin has received a contract from a Defense Department consortium to perform technology maturation work on its radar prototype as part of the U.S. Army’s Lower Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor program. Mark Mekker, director of next generation radar systems at Lockheed, said in a statement published Thursday the company will leverage its experience […] More