Fifth-generation wireless technology, or 5G, is poised to emerge in a big way into the defense market. While the buzz surrounding the 5G technology standard has been growing in the general public in recent years, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been trailing behind commercial entities on adopting 5G due in part to both the slower pace of the DoD’s acquisition process and the hard-to-keep-up-with pace of consumer-technology refresh. However, officials at several defense communications companies agree that it’s just a matter of time before 5G-enabled military solutions are deployed and forever change the way in which the armed forces communicate.

ARLINGTON, Va. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched an initiative called the Quantum-Inspired Classical Computing (QuICC) program, which seeks to leverage lessons learned from benchmarking quantum algorithms to develop QI [quantum-inspired] solvers for a range of complex U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) problems and demonstrate the feasibility of reducing the required computational energy by at least two orders of magnitude over existing techniques.

FREMONT Calif.  Penguin Computing (a division of SMART Global Holdings) has won two contracts totaling $68 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) to supply its TrueHPC supercomputing platform, plus managed services and high-performance storage, to the Navy and Air Force Research Laboratory DSRC [DoD Supercomputing Resource Center] sites.

VIENNA, Va. Cybersecurity and communications firm Trace Systems won a single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract worth $600 million to provide the United States Air Forces Central Command (USAFCENT) deployed missions in the continental U.S. and Southwest Asia with communications and information technology systems, integration, installation, and operations and maintenance support. 

The Department of Defense has released the official budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, and it’s a big one. Among its hundreds of pages and multiple chapters, those interested can find information and statistics regarding where defense spending and funding may be headed come next year. However, looking through all of the dense material can be an arduous process, so Military Embedded Systems will help filter it a little. In the second episode of On the Radar, Emma Helfrich and John McHale discuss the first three of six total highlights pulled from the Innovation and Modernization chapter of the FY 2022 budget request and explain how they may influence the trajectory of military electronics. Topics covered include funding for science and technology research, advanced capability enablers, and space-based systems. With an overall goal of maintaining technological superiority over adversaries, Helfrich and McHale chat about how the DoD is preparing to innovate.
 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Sensors placed in space that are able to track and detect advanced cruise missiles -- particularly hypersonic missiles -- should be a priority for the U.S. Department of Defense, stated Gen John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an August 11 speech at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium held in Hunstville, Alabama. 

The Texas A&M University – founded in 1876 in Brazos County, Texas, to concentrate on the teaching of agriculture and mechanical arts (the “A” and “M” in the university’s name) – continues its push for innovation with recent program launches in tandem with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).