Iridium left out of 14 firms for HoPS DOD payloads

Companies get a crack at half a billion to host DOD payloads in space - Washington Business Journal
The Pentagon announced winners of the much anticipated Hosted Payload Solutions program, which will allow the government to mount payloads — electronics and sensors packages generally — on a commercial company’s spacecraft, so government doesn’t have to manufacture one themselves.

see: Home | Hosted Payload Alliance

No: CR-130-14 July 10, 2014 - CONTRACTS - AIR FORCE

1.      Astrium Services Government, Inc., Rockville, Maryland (FA8814-14-D-0001); 

2.      Harris Corp. Government Communications Systems BusinessUnit, Palm Bay, Florida (FA8814-14-D-0002); 

3.      Space Systems/Loral, LLC, Palo Alto, California (FA8814-14-D-0003); 

4.      Millennium Engineering & Integration Company, Arlington, Virginia (FA8814-14-D-0004); 

5.      Surrey Satellite Technology, Englewood, Colorado (FA8814-14-D-0005); 

6.      Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Virginia (FA8814-14-D-0006); 

7.      The Boeing Co., El Segundo, California (FA8814-14-D-0007); 

8.      Exoterra Resources, Littleton, Colorado (FA8814-14-D-0008); 

9.      Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colorado (FA8814-14-D-0009); 

10.  MergingExcellence and Innovation Tech, Inc., Houston, Texas (FA8814-14-D-0010); 

11.  ViviSat,LLC, Beltsville, Maryland (FA8814-14-D-0011); 

12.  IntelsatGeneral Corp., Bethesda, Maryland (FA8814-14-D-0012); 

13.  SESGovernment Solutions, McLean, Virginia (FA8814-14-D-0013); and 

14.  EutelsatAmerica Corp., Washington, District of Columbia (FA8814-14-D-0014), 

 

have each been awarded a $494,900,000 maximum firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract under the Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) program. 

The purpose of the multiple awarded HoPS IDIQ contract is to provide a rapid and flexible means for the government to acquire commercial hosting capabilities for government payloads. The contract is designed to create a pool of qualified vendors to meet the government's needs for various hosted payload missions.

The HoPS IDIQ scope includes procurement of hosted payload missions and procurement of hosted payload studies. Procurement of hosted payload missions includes a fully-functioning on-orbit hosted payload space and ground system for government-furnished payloads on commercial platforms. In addition to the space and ground systems, the HoPS mission will also include related on-orbit support for data transfer from the hosted payload to the government end-user(s). The HoPS studies include those study activities related to enabling hosted payloads.

This award is the result of a full and open competitive acquisition. The contract has a five-year ordering period from the date of award. Work will be performed predominantly at the contractors' locations mentioned above, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2029. A total of 19 firms were solicited and a total of 14 offers were received. This is not a multiyear contract. Fiscal 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $975,696 are being obligated at time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center Contracting Directorate, El Segundo, California, is the contracting activity.

One company not included in the list of winners is Iridium Communications Inc., a leader in satellite services, thanks to its constellation of satellites that orbit the earth at a low enough elevation to get a full global picture. The company is in the process of launching the replacement of its existing constellation. But as Iridium CEO Matt Desch told me in May, while the government utilizes its network, it wasn’t far enough along in its payload hosting needs to take a ride on the new satellites.

So is Iridium officially left out in the cold on the program? Not necessarily. For one thing, it counts Harris Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp. — both among the contract winners — as partners. That could provide an in on the program. Also, once Iridium is done building the latest constellation of satellites, known as Iridium NEXT, it will move ahead on the world’s first hosted payload platform, Iridium PRIME.

Navy needs to go to the cloud to handle big data | RAND

Data Flood: Helping the Navy Address the Rising Tide of Sensor Information | RAND

In the U.S. Navy, there is a growing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data, which help Navy commanders obtain situational awareness and help Navy vessels perform a host of mission-critical tasks. The amount of data generated by ISR sensors has, however, become overwhelming, and Navy analysts are struggling to keep pace with this data flood. Their challenges include extremely slow download times, workstations cluttered with applications, and stovepiped databases and networks — challenges that are only going to intensify as the Navy fields new and additional sensors in the coming years.

Unmanned ISR Assets reach multi-Petabytes

Indeed, if the Navy does not change the way it collects,  processes, exploits, and disseminates information, it will reach an ISR  "tipping point" — the point at which its analysts are no longer able to  complete a minimum number of exploitation tasks within given time  constraints — as soon as 2016.

More data from BAMS chokes image analysts

The authors explore options for solving the Navy's "big data" challenge, considering changes across four dimensions: people, tools and technology, data and data architectures, and demand and demand
management. They recommend that the Navy pursue a cloud solution — a strategy similar to those adopted by Google, the Intelligence Community, and other large organizations grappling with big  data's challenges and opportunities.

Disorder at the Southern Border

Surge

Is the surge of illegal child immigrants a national security threat? - CBS News

Rate of Illegal Unaccompanied Minors Explodes after DACA

Exploding rate of Unaccompanied Minors jumps from 60 to >200 per day

What Brookings Scholars Are Saying about the Surge of Unaccompanied Children at the U.S. Border

"The fate of 47,000 children, most of them from Central America and the prospect of 43,000 more children crossing the Texan border illegally by the end of 2014 poses a serious challenge to the laws of the United States and our humanitarian values," writes Brookings Fellow Diana Villiers Negroponte in her recent primer on the influx of thousands of Central American children across U.S. borders. We should, she says, pursue policies that "balance our respect for immigration laws and due process with humanitarian values which ensure that the child will be cared for both in the United States and, when appropriate, upon return to the sending country."


Mexico: Law And Disorder
July 10, 2014: In the northeast (Tamaulipas state) police raided a location where 165 people from Cuba, Honduras, and El Salvador were being held captive by people smugglers who were demanding more money to get them into the United States. Such double dealing is common on the border, especially with non-Mexican migrants seeking someone who will get them across the border for a fee. Three of the kidnappers were arrested and the hostages said that one couple and their child had already been killed when they were unable to get anyone to produce more money for them. 

Warning Signs: Mexico is Deliberately Aiding Illegal Aliens

 Cause and Effect

The countries where these unaccompanied minors appear to come from have not suddenly changed, and the pressure to emigrate has been building for some time. DACA basically opened the safety valve on the pressure cooker.

Obama’s Immigration Policy: Identify The Problem And Do Nothing | The Daily Caller

President Obama did get something right about the current immigrations crisis. The root of the problem is not in the United States, it is the miserable social and economic conditions in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. And, true to form, the Obama administration has completely ignored the root problem – that is until it became a political problem.

The statistics tell the tale. Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are the poorest countries in the continental western hemisphere with per capita incomes of less than $8,000 each (at purchasing power parity) according to the World Bank. Honduras’ per capita income is only $4,591. With the exception of Nicaragua, all are much poorer than their neighbors (Mexico has a per capita income of $16,463). Homicide rates are even worse, with Honduras suffering a rate of 90 per 100,000. Guatemala and El Salvador have rates of 40 and 41, more than triple Costa Rica and Nicaragua. By comparison, Mexico has a murder rate of 22 and the United States only 5.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/10/obamas-immigration-policy-identify-the-problem-and-do-nothing/#ixzz37HtDzyDw

The distribution of income in Central America

Latin America has the sad reputation of being one of the most unequal regions in the world. All Latin American countries exhibit levels of income inequality that exceed the average of each of the regions of the world except sub-Saharan Africa, and 10 Latin American countries are among the 15 most unequal in the world (CEPAL 2011; Gasparini and Lustig 2011). The Central American countries reproduce the high levels of inequality in the region. Medina and Galvan (2008) use the statistical technique of optimum stratification to classify Latin American countries into groups according to their Gini index of per capita family income (for around 2005). Costa Rica and El Salvador are located, along with Uruguay, among the countries with the lowest inequality in Latin America. At the other extreme, Guatemala and Honduras are located among the Latin American countries with the highest levels of inequality.

We document changes in income and earnings inequality in the five Central American countries from the early 1990 s to 2009. In the 1990s Costa Rica had the most equal distribution of income in Central America, and one of the most equal distributions of income in Latin America. At the other extreme, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua were among the most unequal countries in Latin America. Inequality in El Salvador was between these extremes. Then, in the first decade of the 21st century inequality in El Salvador and Nicaragua decreased while inequality in Costa Rica , Guatemala and Honduras increased. By 2009 levels of inequality in El Salvador and Nicaragua were similar to those in Costa Rica. In this paper, we examine why income and earning inequality differs between the five Central American countries, and why inequality decreased in El Salvador and Nicaragua but increased in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras .

DACA

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) is a memorandum authored by the Obama administration on June 15, 2012. It was implemented by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. It directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to practice prosecutorial discretion towards some individuals who immigrated to the United States as children and are currently in the country illegally.
A grant of deferred removal action does not confer lawful immigration status, alter an individual’s existing immigration status, or provide a path to citizenship.

Aviation authorities to brief industry this fall on UAV sense-and-avoid technologies

Aviation authorities to brief industry this fall on UAV sense-and-avoid technologies

Representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will meet with industry to discuss UAV sense-and-avoid technologies on 28 and 29 Oct. 2014 at the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
 ...
Committee members particularly are interested in technologies under development in industry that can reduce the cost, size, weight, and power for onboard detection of aircraft that not communicating with air traffic control authorities, such as radar, light detection and ranging (lidar), or other sensor technologies.

Leidos builds Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail ACTUV for DARPA

ACTUV Model

Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel 


Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV)

Here’s How Darpa’s Robot Ship Will Hunt Silent Subs | Danger Room | WIRED

Video - Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) Prototype - Naval Technology

The program has four phases.

• During phase 1, the program refined and validated the system concept and associated performance metrics, completing risk reduction testing to inform program risks associated with
  submarine tracking sensors and maritime autonomy.
• In August 2012, DARPA awarded a contract for phases 2-4. The program plans the following in upcoming phases: 
• Design a vessel (Phase 2); 
• Build a vessel (Phase 3) and 
• test the vessel (Phase 4). 

Operational prototype at-sea testing is expected in mid-2015.


An autonomous unmanned vessel designed to track quiet diesel-electric submarines spanning miles of ocean depths for months at a time with minimal human input is now under construction and is expected to set sail for testing in 2015. Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a national security,  health and engineering solutions company, has begun construction on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) under a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) program for the design, development, and construction of a vessel originally conceived for an anti-submarine warfare mission.


"ACTUV's advanced sensor technology should allow for continuous surveillance which, combined with the vessel architecture and design, is expected to provide autonomous safe navigation supporting Navy missions around the world," said Leidos Group President, John Fratamico.


ACTUV carries other sensors and mission packages designed to allow it to conduct a variety of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and other alternate missions. With situational sensors that can ensure safe navigation, the ACTUV trimaran has electro optics, long range and short range radar.

Read more: http://www.asdnews.com/news-55798/Anti-Submarine_Warfare_Continuous_Trail_Unmanned_Vessel_Under_Construction,_At-Sea_Testing_Expected_by_2015.htm#ixzz36tdeMeXi

Army seeks drastic reductions in the size and power consumption of embedded GPS modules

Army seeks drastic reductions in the size and power consumption of embedded GPS modules
The GB-GRAM is designed for ground use and low performance aircraft where tight integration with an IMU is not needed such as military SUAV's, e.g., RQ-11B Raven UAS navigates using Rockwell Collins GB-GRAM-M GPS receiver - Military Embedded Systems  see also:

What’s Cooking at the Unmanned Aircraft Show in DC? : GPS World provides a list of small GPS units used in UAV.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 24 June 2014. U.S. Army navigation experts are seeking (W56KGY-14--C008) drastic reductions in the size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) of embedded GPS satellite navigation modules for use in future wearable and handheld computing, communications, and navigation devices for infantry soldiers.

1. General. The Mini-GRAM-M is a form factor that provides at least one serial data interface using the standard interface protocol defined in ICD-GPS-153, as well as AN/PSN-11 TOD output, DS-101 (RS-485 mode).
2. Physical. Mini-GRAM-M is not to exceed nominal size 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 inches.
3. Weight. The total weight shall not exceed 50 grams.
4. Input/Output Data. The requirement to provide interfaces is IAW IS-GPS-153D with M-code updates (e.g. MSID).
5. Power. The Mini-GRAM-M shall have a power consumption rate at 900 mW (T) and 500 mW (O).

The Mini-GRAM-M seeks to develop an embeddable GPS module that is about one-fourth the size of today's SSI-GB-GRAM. Army navigation want the next-generation Mini-GRAM-M GPS module to measure no larger than 1.5 by 1.5 by 0.5 inches.

The Mini-GRAM-M GPS module, moreover, must weigh no more than 50 grams, and use no more power than 900 milliwatts in transmission mode, no more than 500 milliwatts in receive mode, and have fewer than 30 pins for I/O. The ultra-small-form-factor Mini GRAM-M GPS module must be compliant to P(Y), M-Code, and C/A (YMCA).
Certifying Military GPS Past, Present & Future - Milt Clary 2007-04-23.pdf
Also see patent Coherent processing using composite codes.

Modernized Military v. Current Civil GPS Signals

The Mini-GRAM-M must be an M-Code GPS receiver that can be embedded into a wearable or handheld device for infantry soldiers, and installed to a circuit card such that it can substitute for an SSI-GB-GRAM in the Type II.

SSI-GB-GRAM Envelope

SSI-GB-GRAM units

Rockwell Collins manufactures Miniature PLGR Engine - Selective Availablity Antispoofing Module; the MPE-S meets the GB-GRAM specification. It can be assumed they will be a primary contender for this. The interface has been customized to provide carrier phase information for precision navigation, as described by Sandia in their SAR radars.

Raytheon has the Miniature Airborne GPS Receiver (MAGR) 2000 and MAGR 2000 SAASM.
The MAGR 2000 design is a GPS Receiver Applications Module (GRAM) based open system architecture that is modular in design and incorporates modern electronics. The MAGR 2000 is a form, fit, and function backward compatible replacement of the MAGR, and provides enhancements including improved acquisition and GPS solution performance, all-in-view GPSsatellite tracking and GPS integrity. MAGR 2000 includes a SAASM upgrade.

Small Commercial units

Commercial units aren't SAASM compliant, or handle Y & M code, but are small and cheap.

Roadcomm also makes a very small unit: Roadcomm - GPS Mini Preview A.pdf.The RoadComm GPS module is a full function, high performance GPS receiver with embedded antenna designed for OEM system applications. The module will track up to twelve satellites at a time while providing one-second navigation information updates. This module utilizes the latest technology and high level circuit integration to achieve superior performance, small dimension and low power

consumption. RoadComm GPS module connects to host system through standard serial port (RS-

232) thus no longer requires expensive and hard to handle RF cable and connectors. The internal

memory backup allow it to retain data such as satellite orbital parameters,last position, data and time. It is still too big.


Ultimate GPS Module - 66 channel w/10 Hz updates [MTK3339 chipset] ID: 790 - $29.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits

10 RF interview questions

10 RF interview questions and answers | RF Questionnaire
See how many you could answer before checking the answers.

1. What is the Return loss and VSWR?
   How are they related, pls. explain?
   
2. What is 1dB compression point and 3rd order intercept point?
   What is the relation between both?
   
3. Why is the isolator placed at the output of the amplifier?
   
4. What is carrier to interference ratio(C/I) and how it is related to SNR?
5. What is G/T of the antenna?
6. Explain difference between RF circulator and isolator.
7. Explain the transmission mode for EM waves in microstrip line.
   Also explain types of microstrip line.
8. What is the difference between harmonics and spurious?
   When these signals are generated in RF circuit?
9. What is image frequency rejection in RF transceiver?
   What is the difference between homodyne and heterodyne architecture in RF Receiver?
10. What is the relation between dBm, dBW and Watt?

ADS launches Radar Constellation Challenge with HisdeSAT

ADS launches Radar Constellation Challenge with HisdeSAT

Airbus Defence and Space, in partnership with HisdeSAT, has announced a Radar Constellation Challenge, in order to encourage the development of innovative application ideas using radar satellite imagery.

The initiative is part of the Earth monitoring Copernicus Masters Competition, which aims to support the development of market-oriented applications based on Earth observation data.

The focus of the challenge is the creative utilization of high-resolution SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data specifically from the upcoming TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X and PAZ constellation.

Travelex Cash Passport

Travelex Cash Passport - London Forum - TripAdvisor
very expensive:

11% markup for Travelex Cash Passport
3% markup for purchases with your credit card
6% markup for $100 worth of foreign cash from an ATM using your debit card
4.5% markup for $200 worth of foreign cash from an ATM using your debit card
4% markup for $300 worth of foreign cash from an ATM using your debit card
$1000 worth of hotel rooms costs you $30 extra with your credit card or $110 extra with the Travelex Cash Passport. Why are you even considering a Cash Passport?
How much will Travelex charge you when you use your Passport loaded with pounds to make a euro purchase in France? Another 11%?

Travel money or pre-paid currency card: which is best? | Money | The Guardian

Prepaid currency cards are, their promoters claim, safer than carrying cash, give holidaymakers better exchange rates and are cheaper than using a debit or credit card abroad. But beware the small-print charges that can soon wipe out any savings the cards may offer.

This week Guardian Money compared the main players in the prepaid card market. They can offer good exchange rates, but we also found some with add-on ATM fees and "inactivity" fees that for many people will make them more expensive than using traditional debit cards.

 How to Avoid Paying Bank Fees While Traveling | Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
 
First, pick a bank in the Global ATM Network. This is a network of large banks that have come together and waived fees and allow for free ATM withdrawals. While they have the highest fees ($5 USD per withdrawal) for banks outside their network, by using partner ATMs you can avoid ATM charges.
Below is a list of major banks in this alliance:

• Bank of America (United States)
• Barclays (England, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and certain countries in Africa)

Using Ground Surveillance Radar and Multiple Sensors for Airport Security

CACI Marketing Video for IMPASS

x

IMPASS Immediate Multi-Sensor perimeter and area surveillance system was a concept for using existing ground surveillance radar and supplemental sensor data to secure the airport surface movement area. I developed and demonstrated the ACME processor to remove weather clutter and multi-path targets from the ASDE-3 radar for the FAA in the late 90's and extended it to the IMPASS system concept while working at CACI.

Building this system to achieve high probability of detection and the extremely low false alarm for an effective security systems requires sophisticated algorithms. This product didn't fit in the company business plan, so development and deployment were left to others. External Security at each airport was managed differently until the TSA took charge.

ASDE-3 Radar

ATL Airport Surface Detection Equipment
(ASDE)

That white dome spinning at the top of most control towers in the US (Atlanta tower is shown in the image to the left) is called Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-3), a primary radar that operates in the Ku band and is normally installed on top of the ATC tower. Through ASDE-3, a nominal one-second update of all traffic on the airport movement area is provided to the controller via display.
The photo to the left shows ASDE-3 radar atop the control tower at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport where ACME was demonstrated.

The ASDE radar does not use MTI, but is very effective for detecting stationary objects on the surface movement area with its narrow pulse and beamwidth. It can  track targets on the airport surface in inclement weather, or any overcast or fog like conditions where pilots and controllers cannot see through conditions. Limitations of ASDE include multipath and target identification but that is improving as software for ASDE evolves.

Government Hearings on Airport Perimeter Security

July 13, 2011
 Government Accountability Office and the Transportation Security Administration officials, the former security director of Tel-Aviv International Airport, and a canine unit inspector of the Amtrak Police Department, and others testified at a hearing on the issues associated with the government’s efforts to ensure that airport perimeters are properly secured from internal and external threats.

Raytheon Efforts - IASS and PIDS

A system called ISSA was eventually developed and deployed by Raytheon at JFK in 2007.

Raytheon’s Integrated Security System for Airports (ISSA) | Homeland Security News Wire
Raytheon Launches New Security System to Protect Airport Perimeters, Sensitive Areas
WASHINGTON, April 24, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company has created an Integrated Airport Security System (ISSA) that makes it easier for airports to ensure the safety of passengers from their arrival at the airport to departure in the aircraft.

PIDS Intrusion detection, tracking and assessment

The PIDS mission is to detect, assess and track intruders attempting to gain access into exterior secure areas, and to aid PANYNJ in determining and dispatching the appropriate response forces to counter intrusions. Threats include landside intrusions at all four airports and waterside intrusions at JFK and LGA.

The PIDS system had a major fail at JFK in August 2012.

Questions about the new airport Perimeter Intrusion Detection System | 7online.com

Security system fails to detect man on runway at NY's Kennedy Airport - CNN.com

Here's The Document That Raytheon Really Doesn't Want You To See - Business Insider 

The Port Authority suffered a serious embarrassment when a $100 million perimeter fence around JFK airport  was breached by a soaking wet swimmer who had just suffered a jet ski breakdown in Jamaica bay.

TSC SPAN

Anne Barry and David Mazel at TSC also developed the radar concept at the same time.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) | Transportation Security Agency (TSA) | laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) | Components content from Electronic Design
Many airports have ground surveillance radars that can scan an entire airport and operate in any weather. But they’re susceptible to nuisance alarms, such as deer. The next step, according to Ann S. Berry and David S. Mazel of Technology Service Corp. (TSC), is SPAN, or the Secure Perimeter Awareness Network. SPAN skips the usual build-it-from-scratch approach and calls for building some systems, testing and deploying them, and then adding systems, allowing security to evolve over a short time but in a way that uses the latest technology. TSC calls this distributed development.
Five systems have been installed at four airports (Seattle-Tacoma, JFK and LaGuardia in New York, and San Francisco). The system uses radar system sensors as the primary radar system for air traffic ground control of airplanes and vehicles. The radar operates in the Ku band (15.7 to 17.7 GHz).

IEEE Xplore Abstract - Ground surveillance radar for perimeter intrusion detection
Airport security is a key issue that is being addressed worldwide by civil aviation agencies to counter the threat of terrorism. Pursuing numerous initiatives appropriate combination of techniques that will yield a realistic and cost-effective solution to this problem. This paper addresses one such solution, using the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-3) radar for perimeter intrusion detection. The ASDE-3 system is now deployed at 34 major US airports as part of the FAA's Runway Incursion Reduction Program. The systems provide rapid, high-resolution imagery of aircraft and vehicular traffic to tower controllers. The ASDE-3 system also has the potential to provide a similar level of surveillance for human targets and this intelligence can be made available to security personnel without interfering with Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations. The conditions under which the ASDE-3 can detect human targets and the regions of a major airport where this detection is possible are fully investigated in this program. The paper presents the results of an analysis performed under FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Research Grant 99-G-042

IEEE Xplore Abstract - The Secure Perimeter Awareness Network (SPAN) at John F. Kennedy International Airport

The secure perimeter awareness network (SPAN) at JFK is an integrated system of networked sensors for intrusion detection, assessment, reporting, and video recording. The system includes our airport security display processor (ASDP) system, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, an ASDP graphical user interface (GUI), and a common operational picture (COP). The ASDP system takes raw radar data from the ASDE-3 ground surveillance radar and monitors the airport property and perimeter for any security breaches. The system detects and tracks objects of interest beyond and at the perimeter, and on the air operations area. If a tracked object, such as a car, a boat (JFK borders Jamaica Bay), or a person, breaches the user-defined perimeter, the ASDP system issues an alarm, displays the intruder's position on the GUI, and slews a camera to the location of the intruder and tracks the intruder. The video is displayed on the COP, an integrated geo-registered, situational awareness display of all sensor data. The COP shows not only the video, but also a layered display and interface for radar data and other sensor inputs. Finally, SPAN records all video for review and possible future prosecution.

IEEE Xplore Abstract - Airport Perimeter Security: Where we've been, Where we are, and Where we're going

Perimeter security at an airport requires disparate sensors to operate in concert to detect intruders; track them; assess threats; coordinate responses; (for example, human responders for investigation, or door and gate closings); gather evidence for law enforcement prosecution; and coordinate responses between law enforcement agencies. At present, no one system accomplishes all these tasks. Our work and development has evolved a system that meets these needs. In this paper we describe that evolution and show where we've been in system development, how that past has shaped our present deployment of systems and how our current work will lead to a complete solution.

x

FAA UAS NUAIR Test Site for Sense and Avoid

NUAIR Alliance | Home
The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) is a regional alliance of private industry, academic institutions and military assets and operations, working together to establish a Federal Aviation Administration-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the Northeast, based in New York and Massachusetts. This site will conduct testing and research in order to begin to safely integrate unmanned vehicles and systems into the National Airspace System.

Fact Sheet – FAA UAS Test Site Program

New York’s Griffiss International Airport.  Griffiss
International plans to work on developing test and evaluation as well as verification and validation processes under FAA safety oversight. The applicant also plans to focus its research on sense and avoid capabilities for UAS and its sites will aid in researching the complexities of integrating UAS into the congested, northeast airspace.

Griffiss/ NUAIR Officials Say FAA Is Doing OK; UAS Test Site Making Significant
Progress Toward First Flight | Northeast Drone News
Chad Lawrence, the highly energetic and affable Deputy Commissioner of Griffiss Airport in Rome, NY attended the two day event, at which approximately 40 to 50 key individuals representing all six test sites met with FAA officials to discuss a wide range of practical considerations related to test-site ramp up.  Lawrence, who could not be a more enthusiastic supporter of the UAS industry, described the meetings as extremely productive, with a highly collaborative spirit among the sites’ representatives.  While details of the meetings were not made public, some of the topics reportedly covered included the process for obtaining Certificates of Authorization (COAs) for test flights, ensuring privacy requirements are met, and how information gathered during test flights will be stored and shared.


Griffiss Airport in Rome selected as national drone test site : News : CNYcentral.com

NUAIR is an alliance of more than 40 private and public entities and academic institutions from across New York and Massachusetts that have partnered to promote Griffiss as an ideal location to conduct testing and research. Officials say NUAIR could generate nearly $700 million in new York and Massachusetts, and more than 4,000 jobs.



Experts explain drone plans at Griffiss
The Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles or UAV will begin testing at Griffiss around April 1. The UAV are going to be used for more of what NUAIR is calling “agricultural” purposes, not for military purposes. Flyterra has already signed on to be the first commercial flyer drones on the base. They will collect wind and weather data, monitor crop growth, and possibly aid mail delivery. It is expected that Flyterra will test their drones for about eight months. Flyterra has been testing drones in airspace around France and Canada since 2012.

DT-18 - UAV for long distances


Delair-Tech UAV will be the first to fly over New York | sUAS News
Only days after Syracuse-based NUAIR won federal designation to operate one of six national test sites for drone aircraft, Delair-Tech is proud to announce that its DT-18 will be the first UAV to fly over New York thanks to its operator and exclusive distributor: FlyTerra LLC.
Delair-Tech manufactures the DT-18 which is the sole civilian UAV to be certified by the French Aviation Authority for Beyond Line of Sight Flight on unlimited distances in France’s civil airspace.


Drones over upstate New York: A look at an FAA test site | Al Jazeera America

‘Stop saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying’: Drone crashes

‘Stop saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying’: Drone crash pilot quotes unveiled - The Washington Post
“This thing’s kind of climbing like a pig. Climb, you pig. . . . Boy, this is going to be tight. . . .  Okay, interesting. We are falling out of the sky.”
Unidentified pilot of a Predator that crashed near Creech Air Force Base in Nevada on May 13, 2013.

When drones fall from the sky | The Washington Post

More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open American skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation.

Since the outbreak of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military drones have malfunctioned in myriad ways, plummeting from the sky because of mechanical breakdowns, human error, bad weather and other reasons, according to more than 50,000 pages of accident investigation reports and other records obtained by The Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

Report: U.S. Military Has Lost More Than 400 UAVs In Accidents | Aero-News Network