General Dynamics Successfully Completes Future Combat Systems Phase I Robotic Convoy Experiment
WESTMINSTER, Md., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Robotic Systems successfully completed Phase I of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) Robotic Convoy Experiment (RCX) at White Sands Missile Range. The unmanned Stryker vehicle reached speeds up to 55 kilometers per hour (34 mph). General Dynamics Robotic Systems is a part of General Dynamics Land Systems (Sterling Heights, Michigan), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics .
As part of the company's Autonomous Navigation System contract with the U.S. Army, the Phase I experiment is designed to test basic robotic convoy functionality and accuracy with obstacle detection and avoidance technology.
The test vehicles were a Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle and Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV).
"We received positive results from our team at White Sands," said Phil Cory, president of General Dynamics Robotic Systems. "The current preparations position us for a successful Phase II experiment in July 2008."
Stryker, LMTV and Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTV) are expected to be used during Phase II testing.
The robotic experiment is being funded under a contract to develop the Autonomous Navigation System for FCS. General Dynamics was awarded the task order because of its technology development on previous robotic convoy experiments and demonstrations.
As part of the company's Autonomous Navigation System contract with the U.S. Army, the Phase I experiment is designed to test basic robotic convoy functionality and accuracy with obstacle detection and avoidance technology.
The test vehicles were a Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle and Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV).
"We received positive results from our team at White Sands," said Phil Cory, president of General Dynamics Robotic Systems. "The current preparations position us for a successful Phase II experiment in July 2008."
Stryker, LMTV and Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTV) are expected to be used during Phase II testing.
The robotic experiment is being funded under a contract to develop the Autonomous Navigation System for FCS. General Dynamics was awarded the task order because of its technology development on previous robotic convoy experiments and demonstrations.
Congress Pulls Plug on Shady Defense Deals
The Army's shady approach to its $200 billion makeover has been such a disaster, Congress has ordered the entire military to stop using the arrangement, forever.
The Army's mammoth Future Combat Systems push is "arguably the most complex" modernization project the Defense Department has ever pursued, according to the Government Accountability Office's Paul Francis.
So complex, in fact, that the Army figured it couldn't pull off FCS by itself. The service just didn't have the know-how to manage something as big, as ambitious as remaking just about everything in its inventory -- tanks, artillery, drones, you name it -- and then building a brand new, absolutel y titanic operating system and set of wireless networks, to tie it all together. Forget a traditional defense contract; the Army needed an industrial partner, instead -- some company that could watch over the zillions of moving parts needed to make FCS work. Eventually, the service settled on Boeing as that partner, or "Lead Systems Integrator," in Pentagonese (cont..)
The Army's mammoth Future Combat Systems push is "arguably the most complex" modernization project the Defense Department has ever pursued, according to the Government Accountability Office's Paul Francis.
So complex, in fact, that the Army figured it couldn't pull off FCS by itself. The service just didn't have the know-how to manage something as big, as ambitious as remaking just about everything in its inventory -- tanks, artillery, drones, you name it -- and then building a brand new, absolutel y titanic operating system and set of wireless networks, to tie it all together. Forget a traditional defense contract; the Army needed an industrial partner, instead -- some company that could watch over the zillions of moving parts needed to make FCS work. Eventually, the service settled on Boeing as that partner, or "Lead Systems Integrator," in Pentagonese (cont..)
Death Ray Replaced By The Voice of God (LRAD update)
December 17, 2007: While U.S. efforts to deploy it's microwave Active Denial System (which transmits a searchlight sized bean of energy when makes people downrange feel like their skin is on fire) continue to be delayed, another non-lethal system, LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) has been quietly deployed to Iraq. And there the story gets a little strange (cont..)
Space: No longer a sanctuary
The US grapples with defending its assets in space in the face of a perceived Chinese threat to extend the battlefield. (cont..)
Broad approach best in emergencies, Chertoff says
Officials need to take the broadest possible approach in planning for emergency response so they can be ready to deal with a crisis regardless of the cause, the Homeland Security Department’s chief said today. “It could be a cyberattack, it could a pandemic flu, it could be a terrorist attack,” said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff at the second annual National Congress on Secure Communities. Officials need to be able to merge all of their response plans so they can be ready for any situation, he said. Chertoff pointed to the National Response Framework released in draft form by DHS in September as guidance for how to respond to different emergency situations. Chertoff also emphasized the role that the private sector — which owns and operates most of the country’s infrastructure — had to play in preparing for and responding to a disaster. (cont..)
SAIC to supply Navy with program management services
“This win enables us to continue [helping to transform] operational needs into effective and affordable chemical and biological capabilities for the U.S. military and our allies,” said Tom Baybrook, senior vice president and business unit manager at SAIC
License Plate Scans Beef Up Mall Security
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