ATK will carry out work to study innovative surveillance technology for battlefield imagery under a new study contract awarded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The contract will see ATK support DARPA for the Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements (SeeMe) programme.
SeeMe aims to develop enabling technologies to provide reliable surveillance data to the warfighter in the field, using small, low-cost satellites that are launched quickly to support the quick tempo of military operations.
ATK said that its work will focus on transitioning advanced, imagery-processing algorithms used on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to space to take advantage of the resulting higher-power processing to save size, weight and power, as well as cost, on satellites. The company has partnered with Logos Technologies and University of Southern California / Information Sciences Institute for the study contract.
Tom Wilson, space systems division vice president and general manager, ATK, said: ‘This award allows ATK to demonstrate our ability to deliver on every aspect of design, development and integration for low-cost, low-risk flight systems. We have proven ourselves as an industry leader in developing cost-effective spacecraft systems and tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) programmes through the success of the military's TacSat-3 and ORS-1 programmes. Our team is prepared to provide similar innovative solutions to DARPA in its mission to provide large global coverage to warfighters at lower cost.’
The company is also hopeful that its development of the new A100 small satellite product line, aimed at serving the microsat market, could provide a unique capability to transition SeeMe technology to industry, research, and military operational markets.
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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