Armada’s monthly round-up of all the latest electronic warfare news in the product, programme and operational domains.
Taming the Scorpion
Allen-Vanguard announced in late July it had donated training versions of the company’s Scorpion backpack Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) system to the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC). The IPSTC is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The systems will be used by the IPSTC to help train United Nations and African Union forces supporting peacekeeping operations, said an Allen-Vanguard press release. The company told Armada in a written statement it donated two Scorpion ESMs. Specifically, these ESMs will be used by the centre’s Humanitarian Peace Support School. The statement continued these several countries which are trained at the IPSTC and which support AU and UN operations, already use Scorpion. In addition to providing the system, instructors at the centre have received Scorpion ESM training.
MAPS Moves Forward
Collins Aerospace is continuing delivery of the company’s MAPS Gen.2 navigation system to the US Army. The company told Armada via a written statement that the MAPS Gen.2 system, which is equipping army land vehicles, “provides significantly more anti-jam and anti-spoof capabilities” compared to the earlier MAPS Gen.1 equipment. Both MAPS versions are intended to reduce the effects of electronic attack against global navigation satellite system Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) signals. MAPS Gen.2 comprises Collins Aerospace’s NavHub-100 navigation system and MSAS-100 multi-sensor antenna system. The apparatus uses the company’s NavFusion technology “which fuses data from multiple sensors, along with M-code Global Positioning System signals with advanced anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technology.” The statement added that MAPS Gen.2 can be integrated with Collins Aerospace’s AN/PRC-162 backpack/vehicular radio. The AN/PRC-162 is a multiband system covering frequencies of 30 megahertz to 1.850 gigahertz/GHz, extendable to 2.5GHz. The company continued that MAPS Gen.2 “brings the highest level of protection against the most severe and evolving PNT threats to support multi-domain operations and mitigate the evolving electronic threats that operators are facing today and will face in the future.”
New Comtech Products
Comtech has released its new BME69189-100 solid state power amplifier module. A company press release announcing the news said the new product overs a six gigahertz/GHz to 18GHz waveband. The BME69189-100 produces 100 watts of output power. It uses Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology and has a compact and lightweight configuration, according to the press release. The document continued that the BME69189-100 employs a rugged and reliable design. Comtech told Armada via a written statement that the “BME69189-100 is a wideband solid-state amplifier utilising GaN technology that is well suited for the electronic countermeasures market because of the wide frequency range and high output power.”
by Dr. Thomas Withington
