US Army seeks market research for radios to integrate with augmented reality

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army wants to know if there are additional radio vendors that can compete on an integration effort involving the service’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS.

According to a request for information posted last week, the Army’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical is seeking single-channel data radios that can “support and integrate” with IVAS. The IVAS program, led by the Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, provides soldiers with artificial intelligence-enhanced goggles that assist with navigation, targeting, and advanced night and thermal vision.

The current vendors are Silvus and Domo Tactical Communications. The RFI states that the Army will need about 100,000 radios, with procurement starting in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 and delivered to soldiers beginning in June 2022. Paul Mehney, communications director for PEO C3T, said there will be multiple awards.

“We believe that the technology has matured in the commercial space and we believe that there’s additional vendors that can compete. We’ve also, through the soldier touchpoints, learned about how these radios are going to be potentially used and in what configuration they’ll be used,” Mehney told C4ISRNET.

“Initially these radios were intended only to be at the squad level to form a squad network. Now we believe that we can bring that up to the platoon level because the waveforms and the radios themselves have matured in the commercial sector to allow us to bring more nodes into the network, and we may even take a look at bringing them up to the company level as well.”

https://www.defensenews.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/10/01/us-army-seeks-market-research-for-radios-to-integrate-with-augmented-reality/

Double the firepower: MQ-9 tests flying with eight Hellfire missiles

The Air Force last month conducted the first flight of an MQ-9A Reaper that had been configured to carry eight AGM-114 Hellfire missiles — twice the number the drone normally carries.

The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada conducted the flight test on Sept. 10, the Air Force said in a Wednesday release.

A software upgrade expected to be rolled out to MQ-9s by the end of the calendar year made the expanded Hellfire capacity possible, the Air Force said. In the past, Reapers could carry no more than four Hellfires, two on the outboard station of each wing.

But with the upgrade, stations that were previously used for fuel tanks or 500-pound bombs can be used for Hellfires.

Master Sgt. Melvin French, the program’s test system configuration manager, said in the release that the hardware and launchers that now can be used to carry Hellfires are the same as the original stations used.

“Aside from the extra hardware required to be on-hand, no other changes are required to support this new capability and added lethality,” French said in the release. "The Reaper retains its flexibility to fly 500-pound bombs on any of these stations, instead of the AGM‑114s, when mission requirements dictate.”

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2020/10/01/double-the-firepower-mq-9-tests-flying-with-eight-hellfire-missiles/

U.S. repatriates captured Americans in Syria criminally charged with supporting ISIS

The U.S. repatriated four Americans charged with supporting ISIS in September, the last of a group of American ISIS supporters who were being held by U.S. allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The move brings the total number of U.S. citizens charged with terror-related offenses for their support of ISIS and repatriated from Iraq and Syria to the U.S. to 10, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

American authorities lauded their success in regaining custody of the supporters as a warning to those who may attempt to travel and join ISIS.

"The United States continues to lead by example by working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to repatriate American citizens accused of supporting ISIS," said Amb. Nathan Sales, State Department coordinator for counterterrorism. "We call on other nations, particularly in Western Europe, to take responsibility for their citizens."

The recently repatriated men include Emraan Ali and his son, Jihad Ali, who traveled with their family to Syria in March 2015 to join ISIS, according to the DOJ. The two surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a largely Kurdish militia, in March 2019, during the last sustained ISIS battles to maintain territory in Syria.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-repatriates-captured-americans-syria-criminally-charged-supporting-isis-n1241701

Hillary Clinton developing new drama, 'The Woman's Hour,' for CW

Hillary Clinton has her eyes on the small screen once again.

The former first lady and secretary of state is developing a new anthology drama for CW, "The Woman's Hour." The prospective first season is based on Elaine Weiss' best-selling 2018 nonfiction book "The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote," and will focus on the fight to ratify the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote and was signed into law in 1920.

"Each season of 'The Woman's Hour' will celebrate those who changed history and have strong contemporary reverberations, appealing to today’s rising tide of young, politically active audiences," a press release states.

Clinton and Weiss will executive produce along with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and the show will be overseen by writer/producer Angelina Burnett ("Halt and Catch Fire").

"Rights for the book were optioned by Amblin Television in 2018, after Clinton brought the project to long-time supporter and Amblin Chairman Steven Spielberg," the release says. "Clinton first discovered the book after Weiss made it her mission to get the novel to the former Secretary of State, after realizing the striking parallels between the women’s suffrage movement and the 2016 presidential election between Clinton and Donald Trump."

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/10/01/hillary-clinton-the-womans-hour-cw/5882319002/

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Jewish congressional reps rip Trump over Proud Boys 'stand by' comment

Three Jewish congressional members representing South Florida on Thursday ripped what one called President Trump's "dog whistle" to the Proud Boys and extremists during this week's presidential debate.

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat from West Palm Beach, said Trump's nod to the Proud Boys — telling them to "stand back and stand by" — was a clear cut move to intimidate voters.

"There's no question the president is an instigator, no question," said Frankel. "Part of what he is trying to do is not just maybe instigate groups like the Proud Boys, but he is really trying to put fear into the hearts of voters … It's a dog whistle, 'Watch out. Don't go to vote because there's going to be something bad that's going to happen to you.'

Frankel said she had complete confidence that local elections and police officials would not allow militant groups to barge into elections offices or otherwise impede voters or vote counting

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jewish-congressional-reps-rip-trump-over-proud-boys-stand-by-comment/ar-BB19C4GK

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