Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully demonstrated an open mission systems (OMS) compliant active electronically scanned array (AESA) sensor in recent ground and multiple flight demonstrations, the company reported on Monday. 

OMS is an approach based on open architecture design allowing customers to rapidly add new or improved capabilities, regardless of supplier, at a reduced cost.

“These demonstrations continue to act as pathfinders to enable further OMS opportunities,” said Paul Kalafos, vice president, surveillance and electromagnetic maneuver warfare, Northrop Grumman. 

During the demonstrations, Northrop Grumman leveraged its advanced wideband AESA sensor, and connected it to an OMS-compliant mission computing system supplied by Boeing. The company integrated the sensor with the Boeing mission computing environment to focus on specific targets, and capture and manage data. 

Additionally, Northrop Grumman was able to  communicate the information back to the mission computing system. The successful demonstration marks a key step in continuing the validation and integration of OMS-compliant systems and the ability to successfully transfer relevant active-passive kill chain data.

“Using an agile framework, we can quickly develop and adapt complex, multi-function systems to enable multi-mission nodes at the tactical edge of the battlespace, be it Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), electronic warfare, or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,” added Kalafos. 

Northrop Grumman plans to integrate a combination of OMS/Open Communication Systems sensors and software-defined radios across multiple platforms, networks and nodes to address driving mission needs and ensure multi-domain interoperability.

“Northrop Grumman is a pioneer in developing multi-function sensors,” said Greg Simer, vice president, air dominance and strike, Northrop Grumman. “Through our iterative development and flight demonstrations, we are focused on agile development with OMS-compliant sensors and commercial practices to prove the rapid integration of capabilities across mission sets. The result is faster and more affordable advances in sensor capabilities for U.S. forces and their allies.”       

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

Mike Sydla, division director for information management resources at U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command’s industrial operations division, has said the command is working to implement a “digital first” mindset, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

Sydla told the publication in an interview that NAVSEA has been leveraging other transaction authority agreements and migrating workloads to the cloud. He added that his office is utilizing artificial intelligence and modernizing key applications in addition to purchasing data analytics technologies for employees to improve decision-making.

Such information technology modernization initiatives are meant to help the command better maintain its submarine, carrier and ship assets, said Sydla.

“Where we have focused my team and end users is on what is the output we need,” he said. “If we need a tool that does planning, we looked at the tools that we have and asked, ‘does it do what we need it to do today? And what would be better.’”

“The vision really is, if we do this right, to move away from that traditional IT project manager into what you see in the private sector, a digital product manager.”

The U.S Air Force is modifying its innovation strategy to focus more on breaking down barriers for small businesses that are new to working with government customers, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, military deputy for the office of the assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said at an Air Force Association event that the service branch recently awarded a number of first-time contractors for the Small Business Innovation Research program.

“We’re really trying to expand partnerships with companies and research institutions that don’t normally do work with the government,” he noted.

“If you look at some of our [Small Business Innovation Research] awards, we’re definitely hitting a lot of small businesses that have never received SBIR contracts in the past,” Richardson added.

Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chief of staff at the Air Force, said at a Defense One event that the service intends to utilize its AFVentures innovation unit to meet future program goals.

“What we’re trying to do with AFVentures is create really simple pathways for commercial innovators and private investors to meet warfighter needs and also to meet their own needs,” he said.

The Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released its final audit for the agency’s compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) for fiscal year 2020.

OPM OIG said in the report dated Oct. 30 that OPM has implemented best practices in areas such as risk management, configuration management and data privacy but has not yet implemented FISMA requirements for contingency planning.

According to the report, OPM is working to develop an enterprise risk management strategy as well as baseline configurations for information systems.

The agency is also continuing efforts to establish a strategy for identity, credential and access management in addition to implementing controls for incident response, data protection and data privacy.

However, the OIG noted that OPM is still facing resource constraints at its Office of Privacy and Information Management. OPM also needs to address gaps in security training, according to the report.

In addition, OPM must complete its implementation of continuous information security monitoring to avoid obstacles in conducting security assessments across the agency's information systems, the report states.

The OIG used the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) FISMA IG reporting metrics to assess OPM’s information technology security compliance efforts.

BAE Systems has collaborated with the University of Birmingham to advance sensing technologies, BAE Systems reported on Friday. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the organizations have formed an Advanced Sensing Technologies Consortium, which will unite experts across industry, academia and government. 

“As experts in the defense, aerospace and security sector, we know sophisticated sensing technology is absolutely critical in our ambitions to develop intelligent systems that can survive in a complex and congested battlespace environment.,” Julia Sutcliffe, chief technologist for BAE Systems Air Sector, said. 

The collaborative effort will form part of the Government-funded National Quantum Technologies program to drive four UK-based hubs, including a Sensors and Timing hub led by the University of Birmingham.  “Information provides a critical advantage and comes in many forms that sensors can deliver, from navigational aids to situational awareness,” Sutcliffe added. 

The consortium will accelerate the development and application of advanced sensing technology, as well as develop disruptive technologies that will benefit UK industry. The organizations will work to develop navigation systems that do not rely on GPS and cognitive workload measurement. 

 The navigation systems will expand capabilities for resilient navigation in the shipping or defense industries where vehicles are operating in areas where GPS cannot be accessed. Advancing cognitive workload sensors will add benefits to the medical industry when diagnosing conditions as well as industries with critical human operators.

BAE Systems and the University of Birmingham will also enhance situational awareness sensors to deliver innovative capabilities for urban flight or autonomous vehicles. In addition, the partnership will work to advance target detection to sense buried infrastructure in hydrocarbon exploration, mining, construction, transportation and critical national infrastructure.

“This initiative is aimed at accelerating the pace of exploitation of these developing capabilities, enabling us to take technology from a lab environment and apply it quickly in real-world scenarios,” said Professor Kai Bongs, principle Investigator at the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing, and Director of Innovation within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham. 

 The new agreement builds on BAE Systems’ existing strategic partnership with the University of Birmingham, the UK Quantum Technology Hubs and suppliers of sensor systems in an effort to drive breakthrough technologies into a data-rich world. 

“It has the potential to create enormous economic value and change the way we live. Novel sensor capabilities and digital twinning are enabling disruptive innovation in a faster and cheaper way, creating unprecedented benefit to society and the economy,” Bongs added.