The venerable MIL-STD-1553B bus has survived remarkably well even as other more advanced solutions gained wide acceptance in the last few years. However, the fact remains that its maximum data rate of 1 Mb/s is orders of magnitude too slow for today’s data-intensive systems, so logic dictates that it will soon fade away. That may be a logical assumption, but it’s likely to prove wrong, for several reasons.

General Robotics
Beit Nehemia, Israel
+972 (0) 77 512 1020
www.glrobotics.com

General Robotics, a company that specializes in developing, manufacturing and marketing advanced robotic systems for defense and Homeland Security, manufactures an ultralight remote weapon station with anti-drone capabilities called the Pitbull. The Pitbull provides a solution for detecting and tracking all types of drones during flight, enabling their neutralization and downing.

Bird Aerosystems
Herzliya, Israel
+972 9 9725700
www.birdaero.com

Plasan Sasa
Kibbutz Sasa, Israel
+972-4-680-9000
www.plasan.com

Plasan Sasa and BIRD Aerosystems have teamed up to offer a SandCat armored intervention vehicle equipped with BIRD’s advanced mission management system (MSIS).

FLIR Systems
Wilsonville, OR
503-498-3547
www.flir.com/blackhornet.com

FLIR Systems, Inc. was recently awarded a $2.6 million contract from the United States Army to deliver FLIR Black Hornet^® Personal Reconnaissance Systems (PRS). The units delivered under this contract will support squad-level surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in the Army’s first batch order for the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program.

In August 2017, Qantas Airlines laid down the challenge to both Boeing and Airbus to offer an aircraft that can cross one of aviation's “last frontiers.” That “last frontier” was an aircraft capable of flying an economical passenger load non-stop for over 20 hours. This would allow Qantas to offer direct service from Sydney to London or New York. Weight reduction through the use of thermoplastics and other technologies would be the key to any chance of success in this endeavor.

As satellites and astronauts travel further out in space, the more communication challenges they face. NASA launched the InSight Mission on May 5, 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. InSight was designed to collect data on Mars quakes and the processes that shaped the rocky planet to help us better understand how it formed. Getting the information back to the scientists here on Earth required a variety of antennas on the spacecraft.

Drone aircraft and their uses have been evolving quickly, supported by a great deal of ongoing research. One area of increasing interest is the decoy drone, designed to mimic the radar and heat signature of an actual aircraft. These drones are intended to confuse or mislead anti-aircraft defense systems. If operating as designed, one or more drones are launched from an actual aircraft as it enters airspace monitored by anti-aircraft systems. The system picks up the signature of the drones and attacks them while the actual aircraft can be hidden with the swarm of drones.