Government Technology

General Atomics‘ electromagnetic systems group has tested its Advanced Arresting Gear system on three types of heavy, propeller-driven aircraft at the Runway Arrested Landing Site in Lakehurst, N.J. The company said Monday the arresting gear was able to perform aircraft recovery on a C2-A Greyhound, an E-2C+ Hawkeye and an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. Rolf Ziesing, vice president […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautics systems business announced it will fly its MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely-piloted aircraft from Grand Folks, N.D. to Gloucestershire, England, marking the first trans-Atlantic flight of a medium-altitude, long-endurance RPA. The company said Monday it will leverage Inmarsat‘s SwiftBroadband satellite to control and configure the functions of the aircraft. After the flight, the RPA will be displayed at the  […] More

The Department of Homeland Security has chosen 13 domestic and foreign companies to build public safety technology platforms for “smart city” use. Selectees will aim to develop in-building sensors, unmanned aerial systems and mobile SmartHubs intended to support responder situational awareness, building security and mission-critical operations, DHS said Monday. The grants stem from a solicitation posted in […] More

General Atomics has completed the first large-scale demonstration of the Guardian remotely piloted aircraft in an effort to demonstrate the platform’s civil and scientific applications. The tests took place in Iki Island, Japan, and showcased the potential of Guardian to support humanitarian, disaster response, environmental monitoring and maritime patrol operations, the company said Thursday. The RPA viewed […] More

The U.S. Army has issued a draft solicitation for industry designs and development plans for the service’s future attack reconnaissance helicopter prototypes scheduled for launch in 2023, Defense News reported Saturday. The Army stated in its solicitation that it is seeking an optionally manned rotorcraft with reduced cognitive workload, increased operational tempo and advanced teaming […] More

Aerojet Rocketdyne has received a $69.8 million modification under the company’s “other transaction” agreement with the U.S. Air Force to produce engines for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The Defense Department said Friday it expects the engine manufacturer to complete work on the AR1 booster engine on Dec. 31, 2019, and the RL10CX upper stage […] More

A Bloomberg Government report has found that 71 percent of federal government funds have been spent on information technology contracts since fiscal 2014 and most of those contracts support cybersecurity, cloud, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other IT modernization efforts. BGOV said Wednesday President Donald Trump’s management agenda that seeks to advance IT modernization initiatives is […] More

General Atomics has conducted lightning simulation tests on a full-scale MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft last month at a company facility in Poway, Calif. The company said Tuesday engineers from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and NTS Pittsfield tested the MQ-9B that was equipped with lightning protection technology. GA-ASI plans to integrate the same technology into its proposed unmanned aerial […] More

Textron‘s Bell subsidiary has conducted the first public demonstration of the V-280 Valor tiltrotor prototype for the U.S. Army’s capability demonstration program, which is expected to be completed in 2019, Defense News reported Wednesday. The aircraft reached 170 knots in the first pass and 175 knots in the second pass of the demonstration while on hover […] More

Raytheon has received a patent from the U.S. government for a system that works to collect real-time distance and speed readings from the laser radar-generated data stream. Joe Marron, a Raytheon optical engineer, invented the technology that received the U.S. patent number 10,000,000, the company said Tuesday. Marron and the company filed a patent application […] More

The Energy Department has selected Hewlett Packard Enterprise to provide a supercomputer for DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration to process simulation and modeling workloads intended for science, energy and national security applications. HPE will deploy the Astra supercomputer at Sandia Labs Laboratories as part of the Vanguard program, the company said Monday. Astra is based on the Arm […] More

Factom has received a Department of Homeland Security grant worth $192,380 to start beta testing of a blockchain technology designed to secure data in connected devices. DHS said Friday the Austin, Texas-based company will evaluate a combination of blockchain and critical infrastructure sensor technologies in an outside location with minimal connectivity under the final phase of the Silicon Valley Innovation […] More