NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND -- PATUXENT RIVER, Md. The U.S. Navy recently installed the world’s first unmanned air warfare center (UAWC) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) aircraft carrier, where air vehicle pilots (AVPs) will control future MQ-25 Stingray airborne operations.

MCKINNEY, Texas. Raytheon reports that it won two strategic Mentor-Protégé Agreement initiatives from the Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs aimed at supporting the development of operational artificial intelligence (AI) for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) platforms and programs.

SAN DIEGO. Cubic Defense reports that it signed a contract modification with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to provide engineering support services for a demonstration in Guam, Valiant Shield ‘24; Valiant Shield is a biennial U.S. warfighting training exercise that takes place around Guam with participation from the Navy, Army, and Air Force that focuses on integration of joint training among U.S. and partner-nation forces in relation to current operational plans. 

SEA-AIR-SPACE 2024--NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. The U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) started off the 2024 Sea-Air-Space Expo by holding panel discussions on manned/unmanned and weapons-systems advancements, additive-manufacturing success stories, and opportunities for small businesses to collaborate with NAVAIR to aid the warfighter. 

FALLS CHURCH, Va. BAE Systems received a contract from the U.S. Navy to continue supporting the service's Mobile Deployable Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (MDC5ISR) programs.

The U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) was an early adopter and supporter of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard and is at the forefront of open architecture development and leveraging modular open systems approach strategies (MOSA) in Navy avionics applications. During the MOSA Summit & Expo I sat down with Capt. Jarrod Hair, U.S. Navy, PMA-209 Program Manager, where we covered how NAVAIR leverages MOSA initiatives like FACE, the challenges with data rights, and how the defense community – government and industry – is embracing MOSA. Along those lines, at the NAVAIR booth at the expo, Capt. Hair hosted keynote speaker Hon. Nickolas Guertin, where he led an interactive discussion elaborating on current MOSA efforts in his role as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. Guertin is a White House nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition.

Edited excerpts of the interview are below.

MELBOURNE, Fla. L3Harris Technologies won a U.S. Navy contract worth $80 million for the next phase of its electronic warfare (EW) modernization project for the F/A-18 fleet.