Sep 29, 2011, post by Artur Nowak
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that Washington State University and University of Washington each will receive a five-year, $40 million grant to help develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and chemicals. As a partner in the Washington State University-led Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA), the U.S. Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) will receive $1.1 million to pretreat woody biomass for conversion to aviation fuel.
Full story: www.rdmag.com
Sep 29, 2011, post by Artur Nowak
Windmill International, Inc. announced that it has received a $9 million order for their KA-10 Suitcase Portable Receive Suite (SPRS) for Central Command Special Forces in Afghanistan. The order included KA-10s, training, and product support. Windmill’s KA-10 SPRS is a highly-portable, rugged satellite receiver system developed to support Special Operations forces deployed overseas. The battle-ready KA-10 conveniently brings crucial command center information and data to the in-field warfighter, substantially improving mission success probabilities and saving lives.
The KA-10 can withstand a variety of adverse environmental conditions, including high humidity, blowing sand, rain, and extreme heat/cold. The SPRS has passed all MIL-STD-810F requirements.
The SPRS has Global Broadcast Service (GBS) broadcast reception capability—at up to 45Mb/sec—from UHF Follow-On (UFO) and Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) transponders. The SPRS supports operation with High-Assurance IP Encryption (HAIPE) to support a single security enclave from Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) classification. Satellite acquisition time is approximately 3 minutes due to Windmill’s patented auto-acquisition capability. The SPRS is designed to be battery operated. This truly portable unit weighs just 32 pounds in tactical carry mode. Accessible GBS products include unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) video and imagery; weather, terrain, geospatial and mapping information; Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) imagery; streaming video, web content replication and other large files.
Windmill developed the KA-10 SPRS under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program – and Windmill was recognized with a 2011 Tibbett’s Award from the Small Business Administration for excellence in the SBIR program. Operational field evaluations of the initial KA-10 were conducted under the Defense Acquisition Challenge Program. Windmill is currently developing an even smaller, more specialized version using funding from the Air Force’s Warfighter Rapid Acquisition Program.
About Windmill International: www.windmill-intl.com
Sep 28, 2011, post by Artur Nowak
With a new name and broader focus, the Dayton region’s premiere aerospace technology conference and trade show is gearing up for its 2011 event at the Dayton Convention Center.
TechNet-Aero is the new name for the annual conference produced by the Dayton-Wright Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). It will be a four-day event, held from 17-20 October.
Over 1,500 military, government, and industry members are expected at this year’s event. It will feature innovative demonstrations of emerging technologies, discussions and presentations by senior military, government and industry leadership, training programs, business seminars, a career fair and a roundtable on unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
The conference has signed up prominent keynote speakers, including Air Force Gen. Donald J. Hoffman, Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) Commander, Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger, Air Force Deputy for Acquisition and former Vice Commander of the AFMC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Air Force Lt. Gen. Larry O. Spencer, Joint Staff Director of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment; and Brad Montgomery, a nationally known motivational speaker.
New to the trade show will be the Discovery and Innovation Range, which is sponsored by Dell Inc. The range will provide live technology demonstrations such as micro air vehicles and 3D visualization. Demonstrations are planned from Wright State Research Institute, Air Force Research Lab, and Dell, Inc.
Previously known as InfoTech, TechNet-Aero 2011 signals a closer alignment with Air Force missions at Wright-Patterson, the surrounding aerospace and defense community as well as the State of Ohio’s Aerospace Hub for the Dayton Region.
For more information on TechNet-Aero 2011, go to www.afcea-technetaero.org . For more information about AFCEA’s Dayton-Wright Chapter, go to www.daytonwright.afceachapter.org .
