11 Juli 2012

LCR2020 coastal radar (photo : ITT Exelis)

Exelis and SNC demonstrate Vigilant Stare

ITT Exelis and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will demonstrate its new Vigilant Stare wide-area airborne surveillance (WAAS) system to several USagencies over the next two months, it has been revealed.

The two companies used the Farnborough International Airshow to formally launch the Vigilant Stare system, which is based on technology used on board the US Air Force's (USAF) 'Gorgon Stare' UAVs but is tailored for domestic security agency applications.

Speaking to Shephard at the air show, Sreekanth Danny Rajan, director of emerging/airborne solutions geospatial systems, said the concept behind Vigilant Stare was to provide a commercial-based, persistent WAAS capability through a range of acquisition options – system buy, lease, or data buy.

‘Our feeling is that there is a real gap in the market for this kind of capability. There are customers without the funding or time to build a complete programme but have a requirement for this kind of wide-area surveillance. So we decided to invest our own funds to develop a commercial capability,’ Rajan said.

Initial flight tests in the US on a Twin Otter aircraft have already demonstrated aspects of the capability, including sending sensor data from the aircraft to a handheld device on the ground, and the system is expected to reach an initial operational capability in August.

Aimed at providing coverage of city-sized areas, the nine-camera payload – which is based on the Night Owl system – simultaneously covers three tiers: 4km by 4km full field of regard; multiple sub-views of the full field of view; and best-resolution ‘tactical chip-outs’.

Meanwhile, ITT Exelis used the air show to highlight several developments in other business areas. The company plans to resume production of its AN/ALQ-136 radar jammer to offer the system to international users of the AH-64 Apache and other attack helicopters.

Recognising renewed demand for an RF jammer, the company has entered into discussion with several Apache operators and is confident of signing a contract for a number of systems in 2013.

The company is also pursuing several opportunities for its LCR 20-20 coastal radar, a version of which it is developing for Sweden, and is in advanced discussions with Indonesia, which is looking to sign a contract in the next 12 months.

(Shephard)

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The Gulf state of Kuwait is to test Rafale jets in June before making a final decision on buying the French-made warplanes, the defence minister was quoted as telling MPs on Sunday.
"The defence minister told MPs that the deal is so far in the early stage of offers and making the technical assessment by the ministry," government spokesman Mohammad al-Baseeri told reporters outside parliament.
"These will continue until June when the plane will be tested in Kuwait," Baseeri, also communications minister, said after Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah had talks with parliament's interior and defence committee.
"The defence minister also pledged that the deal will not be signed before completing all constitutional and legal requirements and after the deal passes through the Audit Bureau," Baseeri added.
The meeting came after a number of opposition MPs last week threatened to grill either the prime minister or the defence minister if the multi-billion dollar deal was signed.
The opposition MPs claimed that technical assessment by the Kuwaiti air force has recommended against the deal, saying Rafale was technically inferior to other international aircraft and more expensive.
The chief of staff of the French armed forces, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, who was in Kuwait last week, defended the Rafale as one of the best jets in the world, saying talks over the deal are proceeding in complete transparency.
He said that France has proposed that Kuwait replace its old Mirage jets with the advanced Rafale and the Kuwaiti government asked to study the offer.
Last month, Sheikh Jaber said the Rafale deal remained a priority.
In October, Kuwait and France signed a new defence agreement and discussed details of the Rafale deal.
During a Gulf tour in February 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said discussions had begun with Kuwait on the sale of between 14 and 28 Rafales, which are made by Dassault Aviation.
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