BAE to develop testbed for space technologies
BAE Systems will develop a space evaluation and analysis testbed under a $12.8 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced on 14 November.
The testbed will help the US military develop, evaluate, integrate and analyse advanced space enterprise C2 tools and capability technologies as part of DARPA's Hallmark programme.
The US military must be able to quickly establish situational awareness and execute operations in space. Within the space domain, many thousands of objects that are moving at extreme velocities must be tracked and managed. This information must be fused with land, air, sea, cyber, defence and intelligence data in order to make critical, time-sensitive decisions to protect space assets while supporting terrestrial missions.
BAE Systems will design and develop a scalable and secure enterprise software architecture that would becomethe backbone of technology development and experimentation. The architecture would facilitate the creation of a testbed facility — the Space Enterprise Analysis Capability (SEAC) — that would support the modelling of current and future space situational awareness and C2 technologies. The SEAC would also enable realistic, scenario-based exercises for testing space C2 technologies against sophisticated emerging threats.
The testbed will support live data feeds from diverse sources and provide strong security and data protection for varying levels of classification, in addition to external interfaces to support air, cyber, land, and sea environments.
Mike Penzo, director of ground resiliency and analytics at BAE Systems, said: ‘Military commanders must have superior space domain awareness in order to quickly assess, plan, and execute operations in this increasingly complex environment.
‘The Hallmark testbed is designed to help the military quickly evaluate and integrate technologies for space C2.’
You may also like
More from Digital Battlespace
-
![AUSA 2024: General Micro Systems adds four new products to the X9 Spider family]()
AUSA 2024: General Micro Systems adds four new products to the X9 Spider family
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.
-
![BAE Systems gets go-ahead for second phase of mission communications programme]()
BAE Systems gets go-ahead for second phase of mission communications programme
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.
-
![Just Released: Space Technology Report]()
Just Released: Space Technology Report
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
-
![Work-from-home warfare: the power of mixed reality]()
Work-from-home warfare: the power of mixed reality
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.
-
![Northrop Grumman receives follow-on contract for CUAS and C-IED systems]()
Northrop Grumman receives follow-on contract for CUAS and C-IED systems
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 AI software selected for UK Strategic Command’s Defence Support]()
Adarga’s Vantage AI software selected for UK Strategic Command’s Defence Support
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.
