The US Air Force is trialing the use of open-source technology that could allow it to upgrade its electronic warfare/electromagnetic systems as easily as installing a new app on a smartphone.
The service’s new Angry Kitten electronic attack combat pod showcased the capability for rapid reprogramming between flights in recent tests, receiving upgrades overnight.
This combat pod, an updated version of the Georgia Tech Research Institute Angry Kitten pod, simulates enemy electronic attack signals during Air Force test and training missions.
Given the success of the pod in training and demonstrated ability to be reprogrammed, Air Combat Command recommended four pods be converted into combat pods to provide attack capabilities against enemy radio frequency threat systems, instead of simulating them.
The experiment aimed to show how this new government-owned architecture could be used to better counter threat systems that use software-defined radars to quickly change their radio frequency signature to make it more difficult for US aircraft to identify and attack them.
Historically, Air Force electronic warfare systems were designed to have tightly coupled software and hardware, which were effective, but also took considerable time and funding to update. The Angry Kitten architecture provides greater flexibility to update or reprogram the system as the electronic warfare environment changes.
Similar to a smartphone and digital app store, today’s electronic warfare/electromagnetic systems need to be quickly updated or loaded with new software to defeat complex emitters and constantly changing electromagnetic systems threats, Keith Kirk, the experiment program manager, said.
https://defbrief.com/2022/08/02/us-air- ... n-flights/
Publicado: Mié Jul 13, 2022 7:59 pm