Airbus Defense and Space has received a contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a satellite bus in support of the Blackjack programme, Airbus announced on 14 January.
The Blackjack programme is an architecture demonstration that aims to demonstrate the military utility of global low-earth orbit constellations and mesh networks of lower size, weight and cost.
DARPA intends to buy commercial satellite buses and pair them with military sensors and payloads. The bus drives each satellite by generating power, controlling attitude, providing propulsion, transmitting spacecraft telemetry and providing general payload accommodation including mounting locations for the military sensors.
Airbus will work with its strategic joint venture partner, OneWeb Satellites, on the Blackjack programme. OneWeb Satellites designs and produces ultra-high performing satellites at high-volumes.
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
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