The U.S. Army has conducted a live-fire test of space-based sensor technologies designed to facilitate a chain of targeting procedures between ground infrastructure and satellites operated by government and commercial entities, Defense News reported Wednesday.
The demonstration, which took place in Germany in March 2020, is intended to inform the Army’s efforts to deploy a space sensor system that utilizes next-generation concepts like machine learning and electro-optical radars to track beyond-line-of-sight targets.
Willie Nelson, director of the Army’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) cross-functional team, told the publication that the service also wants to leverage on-orbit sensors, artificial intelligence and a Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) platform to provide data for simulations and wargaming activities.
“While this was a technical demonstration, at its core it really was more about how do we operationalize this capability and how do we quickly get this into the field as a capability that soldiers can use,” Nelson noted.
The transportable TITAN system can operate with the Prometheus machine learning algorithm designed to ingest various forms of data from platforms such as synthetic aperture radars (SAR) and EO systems.
Nelson said the Army is also looking into deploying SAR platforms and radio-frequency sensing technologies to support the TITAN architecture.
