NASHUA, N.H., 20 Feb. 2012. Airbus and Cassidian, two key EADS group companies and major players in the airframer and avionics technologies industry that aim to strengthen their authority within the European and global aerospace and avionics market, are participating in Avionics Europe, the premier conference and exhibition dedicated to the commercial and defense avionics industry, held in Munich, Germany, on 21 and 22 March 2012. Under the theme “Common Sky: Operating in One Air Space,” the Avionics Europe 2012 conference will focus on the current and future cockpit avionics and technologies for commercial, civil, and military aircraft and design approaches to grow air traffic in the most safe and efficient ways possible.

WASHINGTON, 20 Feb. 2012. The U.S. Air Force's plan to upgrade the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy cargo jet with new avionics and new engines is among the top defense systems upgrades and technology-insertion priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) 2013 budget request submitted to Congress last week. The Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy project is part of the $14.44 billion that DOD officials plan to spend for systems upgrades and technology insertion next year, according to DOD budget documents.

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 19 Feb. 2012. U.S. Navy aircraft specialists needed several sizes of advanced multi-purpose displays for the avionics systems of the Navy Lot 35 F/A-18F jet fighter-bomber and EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft. They found their solution from the Honeywell Inc. Defense & Space Electronic Systems segment in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Electronic warfare and electro-optics-related countermeasures are shaping up to be among the few real growth areas of the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget, which the Obama Administration submitted to Congress this week. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend $4.95 billion next year for electro-optic and electronic warfare work, which represents growth of 7.6 percent over the $4.6 billion DOD has budgeted for electronic warfare and electro-optics countermeasures this year.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are planning serious cuts in military lasers and directed-energy weapons work next year, with the Pentagon's proposed spending for lasers and directed-energy weapons of $244.28 million. Although it might seem lime a substantial amount, proposed fiscal 2013 spending is down 33.23 percent from current-year levels of $365.88 million, and down 44.7 percent from 2011 levels of $441.48 million.

MONROVIA, Calif., 16 Feb. 2012. AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) won a $4,167,777 order from the U.S. Air Force for operational Switchblade loitering munition systems and services, engineering services, and operator training. AeroVironment will work with munition subcontractor ATK (NYSE:ATK) to produce and deliver the systems. 

WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 16 Feb. 2012. U.S. Air Force and Navy combat aircraft pilots needed helmet-mounted night vision cueing and display systems for fighter pilots operating high-performance aircraft at night. They found their solution from Vision Systems International LLC in San Jose, Calif. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center (ASC) activity at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded Vision Systems a $19.8 million contract Tuesday for night vision cueing and display standard field night vision devices for the Air Force and Navy.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Feb. 16, 2012. The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Bell Helicopter - Textron [NYSE: TXT], announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has taken delivery of the first MV-22 Osprey produced with the new Block C suite of design upgrades.

HIAWATHA, Iowa, 15 Feb. 2012. Crystal Group Inc in Hiawatha, Iowa, is introducing the RE0412 rugged embedded computer for airborne and ground-mobile applications in which performance, ruggedness, and reliability are imperative. The RE0412 features an Intel mini-ITX board, i3 (Desktop) CPU, DC power inputs from 18 to 36 volts DC, one fan for air-over-components cooling with 8000-hour mean time between failures, and conformal coating options for humidity protection.

MONTREAL, Quebec, 15 Feb. 2012. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics engineers are using the Presagis VAPS XT-178, a DO-178B Level A human machine interface (HMI) tool from Presagis, to develop embedded graphics displays for the Special Mission Processor (SMP) under the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) MC-130J Increment 3 program. Presagis VAPS XT-178 will run on the MC-130J Variant and offer a path to compliance under the new DO-178C guidance. 

CHARLOTTE, N.C., 15 Feb. 2012. Goodrich Corp. (NYSE:GR), a member of the industry team building the Sikorsky Aircraft S-97 Raider next-generation helicopter scheduled for U.S. military evaluation in 2014, will deliver high-speed flexible couplings, an advanced tail propulser drive shaft system, a SmartProbe air data system, and a lightweight, efficient LED lighting system. These avionics systems and components will be developed and produced by Goodrich teams in Rome, N.Y., Burnsville, Minn., and Oldsmar, Fla.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., 15 Feb. 2012. Real-Time Innovations (RTI) in Sunnyvale, Calif., is introducing the RTI Connext family of software-engineering tools to connect real-time software applications across an enterprise. RTI Connext is a service-oriented architecture (SOA) tool designed to help provide enterprise-wide integration to improve efficiency, responsiveness, and real-time business intelligence, RTI officials say.

WASHINGTON, 14 Feb. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend at least $5.78 billion to buy and develop unmanned vehicles and unmanned vehicle payloads next year, according to data in the Pentagon's budget documents released this week. This figure is down 13.14 percent from the same levels of spending this year, and is down 16.9 percent from unmanned vehicles procurement and research in 2011.

THE MIL & AERO VIDEO BLOG, 14 Feb. 2012. The Pentagon's proposed 2013 budget may not be the best news for military platforms like new plans, ships, and tanks, but among the brightest opportunities for aerospace and defense electronics suppliers involves military systems upgrades and technology insertion, with several new contracts and solicitations issued recently, reports John Keller this week in the Mil & Aero Video Blog.

ARLINGTON, Va., 12 Feb. 2012. Military electro-optics scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will brief industry on a project to develop fundamentally new avionics and vetronics electro-optic sensors for target identification and tracking from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 23 Feb. 2012 at a corporate site in Arlington, Va. The DARPA industry-day briefings are for the Military Imaging and Surveillance Technology - Long Range (MIST-LR) program (DARPA-BAA-12-22).

ANNAPOLIS, Md., 12 Feb. 2012. Radio communications experts at ARINC Inc. in Annapolis, Md., are using supercomputers to help systems integrators design and analyze the performance of complex antennas. Complex Antenna Engineering and Analyses. The ARINC Advanced Systems Engineering and Integration Division has installed a Linux-based supercomputer to support engineering analyses for ARINC’s external customers. The company’s previous supercomputer also remains available.

EGLIN AFB, Fla., 12 Feb. 2012. The BF-7, an F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) jet, arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., following a 90-minute ferry flight piloted by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. The addition of the BF-7 makes Eglin AFB the home of the largest F-35 fleet in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

EDWARDS AFB, Calif., 11 Feb. 2012. The Integrated Test Force Team at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) received and installed the first properly packed parachute head box assembly for the ejection seat onboard the AF-1, an F-35 Lightning II aircraft. AF-1 resumed flying after the F-35 head box assembly, from Martin Baker Aircraft Corp., was installed.

MIDDLETON, Wis., 10 Feb. 2012. Extreme Engineering Solutions Inc. (X-ES) is introducing the XPand4201 sub-half ATR forced-air-cooled embedded computing enclosure for conduction-cooled modules in military embedded systems and similar applications like command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; avionics; helicopters; fixed-wing aircraft; and unmanned vehicles.