Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, part of Northrop Grumman Corporation, has received a $167,7 million contract modification for the Precision Guidance Kit (PGK). The contract modification, award from U.S. Army Contracting Command, provides for the manufacturing and delivery of additional GPS guidance kits designed to reduces the ballistic dispersion of conventional 155mm artillery projectiles – transforming them into near-precision weapons. The work, which is is expected to be complete in May 2024, will be performed in Plymouth, Minnesota. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – As noted by the company, PGK is an example of how leveraging existing weapons systems and transforming […]
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BAE Systems, the weapon’s manufacturer, has reported that it has received a $325.5 million contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for advanced Military Code (M-Code) Global Positioning System (GPS) modules that will provide reliable and secure positioning, navigation, and timing data with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities. The modules will help warfighters conduct operations in contested electronic warfare environments. “Our state-of-the-art GPS technology works with the advanced military M-Code signal to provide reliable information to the warfighters who depend on it,” said Greg Wild, director of Navigation and Sensor Systems at BAE Systems. “This contract will ensure the availability of M-Code module […]
BAE Systems received a $247 million contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center to design and manufacture an advanced military GPS receiver and next-generation semiconductor. The technology will provide positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities to warfighters so they can execute missions in challenging electromagnetic environments. The Military GPS User Equipment Increment 2 Miniature Serial Interface program will provide improved capabilities for size-constrained and power-constrained military GPS applications, including precision-guided munitions and battery-powered handheld devices. The program will focus on the certification of an advanced application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and the development of an ultra-small, low-power GPS […]
The U.S. Space Force has announced that the fourth Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV04) has received Operational Acceptance in record time – the satellite was launched on Nov. 5. The details were given in a 2 December media release, to announce that GPS III SV04 received the U.S. Space Force’s Operational Acceptance approval on Dec. 1- marking yet another significant milestone for the GPS III program, Space and Missile Systems Center and USSF. It is the fourth GPS III satellite delivered into the operational constellation in the past 12 months and the second in the past three […]
Amid a salvo of orbital missions preparing to launch from the American east coast, a SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to launch the fourth GPS III satellite for the United States Space Force. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:43 PM EDT on Friday, October 2 (01:43 UTC on October 3), the opening of a 15 minute window. (Lead photo via Stephen Marr for NSF) The 45th Weather Squadron of the United States Air Force’s 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida predicts a 70% chance of acceptable weather for launch. The forecast deteriorates to a 20% chance of favorable […]
On 6 August, the U.S. Space Force has announced that it has shipped fourth Lockheed Martin-built GPS III Space Vehicle (GPS III SV04) to Cape Canaveral. The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center successfully delivered the fourth Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, July 14. GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 04 was safely transported from the Lockheed Martin facility in Waterton, Colorado to Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida. The satellite was carried aboard a C-17 Globemaster III originating from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – […]
BAE Systems has completed its $1.9 billion purchase of Collins Aerospace’s military Global Positioning System business from Raytheon Technologies Corporation, the company announced July 31. “Today marks the culmination of a tremendous team effort, and we are extremely proud to welcome the Military GPS employees to our company,” said John Watkins, vice president and general manager of Precision Strike & Sensing Solutions at BAE Systems. “Together, we will build on our rich histories of providing superior, innovative capabilities to help protect our U.S. and allied warfighters.” The acquisition follows the merger of defense contracting giants United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon into […]
China said that its BeiDou-3 global satellite navigation system is now fully operational and ready to provide high-precision positioning services across the globe. The system is set to compete with GPS. BeiDou-3 was inaugurated after its final satellite completed in-orbit tests and joined the network earlier this week. This means that China now has its own independent global navigation system, similar to GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and EU’s Galileo. China has been developing BeiDou since the mid-1990s. Its network gradually grew to 35 operational satellites, with the last one launched on June 23. According to Xinhua, the system has already been in […]
The Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation are far from the first to try to upend an independent agency’s proceeding. However, these executive agencies have been far more aggressive than normal in that pursuit in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s April 20 Ligado decision. This dispute significantly compromises the United States’ leadership in global markets — by both undermining domestic initiatives and by undercutting our policy positions internationally. The recent dispute concerning Ligado pits the DoD and DOT on one side, and the Federal Communications Commission, the State Department and Attorney General Bill Barr on the other. This […]
SpaceX is readying their Falcon 9 rocket to launch the third Block III Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, named SV03. Block III is the next generation of GPS satellites, replacing the aging Block II series. This will be SpaceX’s second GPS launch, out of the five they have been awarded so far. SV03 is scheduled to launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:55 PM ET on June 30. SV03 Launch SpaceX previously launched the maiden GPS Block III satellite, SV01, on a Falcon 9 in December 2018. SV01 was the first launch contract that SpaceX won in […]
A high level delegation from the Pentagon visited the offices of the Federal Communications Commission Friday to make an in-person, classified case for why the Defense Department believes the commission’s approval of Ligado Networks spectrum plan will cause major harm to the Global Positioning System, C4ISRNET has learned. The delegation was led by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, the department’s number two official. He was joined by chief information officer Dana Deasy, as well as Lt. Gen. Brad Shwedo, the Joint Staff’s head of C4 and cyber, and Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of U.S. Space Force, plus technical […]
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is cranking up the heat on Ligado Networks with new legislation that would require the company to cover the costs of any Global Positioning System user — government or commercial — that is hurt by the company’s newly approved use of L-Band spectrum, C4ISRNET has learned. A bill from Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., would escalate the potential cost facing Ligado as it moves to set up a system of networks that government agencies and commercial trade groups alike have said could damage GPS reliability inside the United States. It’s the latest […]
BEIJING — Citing technical reasons, China has delayed the launch of the final satellite to complete its Beidou Navigation Satellite System constellation that emulates the U.S. Global Positioning System. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday’s mission aboard a Long March-3 rocket from the southwestern satellite launch base of Xicheng was scrubbed after pre-launch checks discovered “product technical problems.” No details or a new launch date were immediately announced. China’s space program has developed rapidly over the past two decades as the government devotes major resources toward developing independent high-tech capabilities — and even dominating in fields such as 5G data […]
A trio of House Armed Services Committee members are asking for an Inspector General investigation into whether a company that tested Ligado Networks for GPS interference and submitted that information to the Federal Communications Commission has a conflict of interest. At the core of the members’ concerns is Dennis Roberson, the chairman of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council. The TAC is a group of technology experts whose role is to help the FCC “identify important areas of innovation and develop informed technology policies,” per the commission website. Roberson is also the head of Roberson and Associates, a consulting company that, in […]
The Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act contains language attempting to slow the rollout of Ligado network’s use of L-Band spectrum, which defense officials say will harm Global Positioning System capabilities. The bill language, revealed in a summary Thursday, “prohibits the use of DOD funds to comply with the FCC Order on Ligado until the Secretary of Defense submits an estimate of the costs associated with the resulting GPS interference.” It also directs the Secretary of Defense to put the National Academies of Science and Engineering on contract for “an independent technical review of the order to provide additional […]
It’s time for resilient positioning, navigation and timing before America’s strategic weakness becomes our national downfall. Source link
Unlike a May 6 public hearing from the Senate Armed Services Committee, this briefing will feature representatives from the FCC. Source link
By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations: Top officials with the Hillary Clinton campaign re-engaged with the opposition researchers behind the Steele dossier just three weeks after Donald Trump’s inauguration, newly declassified congressional witness transcripts reveal, indicating her campaign’s participation in an ongoing and well-funded effort to undermine the president by casting him as a tool of the Kremlin. Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta testified that he met on Feb. 10, 2017, with Daniel Jones, a former aide to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Glenn Simpson and his partner Peter Fritsch of Fusion GPS. In separate testimony, Clinton’s senior foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan […]
Several groups want the National Academy of Sciences to review testing data at the heart of the question on whether Ligado’s planned use for spectrum will interfere with GPS. Source link
Hillary Campaign Manager Robbie Mook On Saturday The Gateway Pundit reported that thanks to newly released transcripts Hillary Campaign chairman John Podesta admitted during testimony that both the DNC and Hillary Campaign split the cost of the bogus Trump-Russia dossier in 2016 that initially launched the attempted coup against Donald Trump. John Podesta was Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman in 2016.CNN reported in October 2017 that Podesta and then DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz “both denied to congressional Russia investigators that they had any knowledge about an arrangement to pay for opposition research on President Donald Trump, three sources familiar with the […]
A marathon hearing on Wednesday gave DoD officials a chance to lay out three key arguments against Ligado’s plan for L-Band, but the Senate may not be able to provide any relief. Source link