US Technologies to manufacture

thousands of EW circuit card assemblies

for Navy targeting drones

RIDGECREST, Calif., 13 Aug. 2014.Electronics contract manufacturing expert US
Technologies in Fair Lawn, N.J., will build as many as 5,270 circuit card assemblies
over the next five years for the U.S. Navy AN/ULQ-21 airborne electronic warfare (EW)
system under terms of a $13.8 million contract announced Tuesday.
Officials of the The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake Naval
Weapons Station in Ridgecrest, Calif., are asking US Technologies to build AN/ULQ-21
technique control modulator (TCM)circuit card assemblies.
The AN/ULQ-21 countermeasures set is for aerial and surface targets using several
weapons-replaceable assemblies configured for specific mission requirements. The
AN/ULQ-21 is digitally controlled and provides the current threat with an innumerable
combination of electronic counter measures (ECM) techniques.
The AN/ULQ-21 generates 24 ECM modes and innumerable combinations of these
modes for multipurpose use in targets, aircraft internal or external stores, shipboard
applications, laboratory applications, and at land-based instrumentation sites. Its several
interchangeable modules allows for the configuration flexibility for many different
missions.


Navy asks Raytheon to upgrade electronic
subsystems in AIM-9X Block II air-to-air
missile

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 6 Aug. 2014. Air-to-air missile designers at the
Raytheon Co. Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., will make several subsystem
upgrades to theAIM-9X Block II aircraft-launched heat-seeking missile under terms of a
$44 million contract modification announced Tuesday.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station,
Md., are asking Raytheon to replace the control actuation system, inertial measurement
unit, and electronics unit processor in the AIM-9X Block II missile under terms of the
contract. AIM stands for air intercept missile.
The contract modification also calls for Raytheon to improve the AIM-9X Block II's
insensitive munitions performance in hardware and flight software versions 9.4X, 9.15X
and 10.X. The upgrades are intended to extend the weapon's range and address
existing obsolescence issues.
The upgraded missiles will be for the U.S. Air Force and Navy, as well as for the
governments of Turkey, Oman, Belgium, The Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, and
Morocco.
Insensitive munitions, mandated by U.S. law, refer to weapons that only burn, rather
than explode, when subjected to unintentional slow or fast heating, bullets, shrapnel,
shaped charges, or the detonation of another nearby munition. Military officials want to
ensure the AIM-9X Block II does not explode unintentionally due to accidents or combat
damage to safeguard military personnel and equipment from weapons-related
accidents.

U.S. spending on unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) to reach $15 billion by
2020, market researcher says

BOSTON, 24 July 2014. The U.S. market for unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) will triple
in size over the next five years, and should grow from $5 billion in 2013 to $15 billion in
2020, predict analysts at market researcher Information Gatekeepers Inc. (IGI) in
Boston.
The IGI study entitled 2014 UAV Market Research Study takes a look at the total UAV
market from large military UAVs to do-it-yourself (DIY) UAVs for amateurs, company
officials say.
The study includes the following major market sectors including the U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD), civil, commercial, small UAVs, amateur and hobby UAVs, and radio-
controlled UAVs.
Major commercial applications are agriculture, real estate, filmmaking, oil and pipeline,
electric utility, and specialized package delivery.
There will be a significant growth in 2015 after the FAA decision on UAV access to the
National Airspace System, IGI analysts add. The report includes market research on
UAV subsystem, components, and other companies unfamiliar with the UAV market.