Lockheed Martin delivers situational awareness

Lockheed Martin has successfully delivered a full-function Situational Awareness Data Link (SADL) capability to the US Air Force for developmental flight testing. SADL, part of the A-10C Precision Engagement programme, improves pilot situational awareness by providing critical information about friendly and enemy air and ground assets.

"SADL will help Air Force A-10 pilots further reduce fratricide in the combat environment," said Roger Il Grande, A-10 programme director at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY. "Enhanced situational awareness is a key element of the Precision Engagement programme, helping to transform the legacy A/0A-10 aircraft from an analogue aircraft to the enhanced digital A-10C configuration."

The U.S. Air Force is expected to conduct developmental flight test of the SADL capability through May 2007 at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. SADL is expected to be fielded to operational A-10 units by September 2007.

BAE Systems' infrared seeker for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system helped guide the THAAD interceptor to a successful intercept of an incoming ballistic missile target at a 6 April test firing at the Pacific Missile Range facility.

The target was destroyed in the test, which was conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is the THAAD prime contractor and systems integrator.

The BAE Systems seeker transmits infrared imagery about the targeted warhead to the missile's computer to guide the interceptor to its target. The seeker met all required parameters, paving the way for additional intercept testing to continue through 2009. Upcoming tests planned at the Pacific Missile Range facility will be against increasingly complex targets outside the earth's atmosphere.

The Boeing Company has successfully tested the first Secure Border Initiative (SBI) integrated mobile sensor tower, a key element of the SBInet system's mobile component. The tests validated the tower's infrastructure to ensure it can be deployed while meeting established technical criteria, including the interfaces between power, data, cameras, radar and the tower's security system.

According to Dr. Kirk Evans, SBInet program manager, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), "The tower and its components functioned as expected, and we are confident that the design is repeatable for deployment along the border."

Once operational, the 98-foot high tower will detect and identify entries into the US when they occur, allowing Border Patrol agents to respond effectively and efficiently to the entry and resolve the situation with appropriate law enforcement. The tower houses cameras, radar, wireless data access points, communications and computer equipment, and a tower security system.

Tadiran Batteries, a leading manufacturer of lithium batteries, has just introduced the TLM 1550, a new high voltage/high rate AA-sized lithium battery specifically designed for military and aerospace applications.

Packing 2Wh of energy at 4.0 volts into a AA-size cell, the TLM 1550 is specifically designed for military/aerospace applications requiring high power, long life and extended storage, such as sonobuoys, unattended ground sensors, UAVs, listening devices, mines, weapons sights, tracking devices, night vision, thermal sights, EPIRBs, communications systems, and other remote sensing devices.

Tadiran claims the batteries can last over 20 years under the most challenging of conditions.