During a previous Advanced Naval Technologies Exercise in 2019, military and civilian participants assessed a number of emerging technologies with a specific focus on command and control, communications, kinetic and non-kinetic fires, unmanned systems and counter intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (C-ISRT) capabilities. (Photo by Matt Lyman/Marine Corps Combat Development & Integration)
WASHINGTON: The US Navy wants industry to show off its best ideas for beyond-line-of-sight communication systems capable of being used on both manned and unmanned platforms.
The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division is seeking white papers for entry into an advanced naval technology exercise to be held at Naval Air Station Patuxent River or Wester Outlying Field in Saint Inigoes, MD. The notice NAWCAD published this week indicates the exact dates and times for each demonstration will be determined through discussions between the service and vendor.
“NAWCAD is seeking hardware and software technologies/systems that are supportable and scalable across various sized and complex air platforms, manned and unmanned,” according to a public notice. “Of particular interest are systems/technologies for unmanned vehicles group 3 and above which are highly dependent on data and communication networks for command and control, vehicle status, data transfer (comms/video), payload, and a multitude of other functions.”
The military characterizes unmanned aircraft into groups ranging from one to five, with group one representing small handheld drones that are easily deployed by one or two people while group five aircraft are comparable to the size of a manned helicopter.
The notice also states the warfare center is primarily interested in addressing networking challenges while operating in contested environments and maintaining low size, weight and power requirements. The service is seeking capabilities that are at least at technology readiness level 4.
A technology readiness level is a general description the military uses to explain how mature a capability is, and by extension, how long will it take before it could potentially be used in real world operations. Level 4 indicates the fundamental components work together when tested in a sterile or laboratory environment.
Applications for NAWCAD’s event are due by April 19.
Advanced Naval Technology Exercises, also called ANTX, are events regularly hosted by the service that aim to collect an assortment of industry technologies all focused on specific subject areas. They are also usually attended by the service’s top leaders, representatives from the Navy’s requirements offices and the program managers charged with delivering capabilities to the fleet.
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