Aerospace and Defense Review : News

Drones' increasing availability and quickly rising capabilities offer critical problems to mankind as a whole. A relentless super-robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger tracks and attempts to kill human targets in the iconic Terminator films. In the 1980s, it was pure science fiction. Killer robots tracking down targets have not only become a reality, but are now being sold and deployed on the battlefield. These robots aren't cyborgs like in the movies, but rather killer drones that operate autonomously .The new Turkish-made Kargu-2 quadcopter drone can supposedly follow and kill human targets automatically using face recognition and artificial intelligence—a significant technological advancement over drone fleets that require remote control by human operators. Drones' increasing availability and quickly rising capabilities offer critical problems to mankind as a whole. First, unless people agree to put a stop to their development and distribution, autonomous killer drones like the Kargu-2 will soon be affordable and operable by anyone—from rogue states to petty criminal gangs and individual psychopaths.Second, swarms of killer drones may render ineffective the defenses against terrorist threats established by technologically capable governments due to their sheer numbers. Third, by introducing a new asymmetry into conflict, autonomous killer drones risk upsetting the balance of power that otherwise sustains the peace in various regions. The growing availability of low-cost drones is an open invitation for one power or another to turn stable regions into battlegrounds. The appearance and quick proliferation of robot-like killer drones is unsurprising. Consumer technology has long outpaced military adoption of new technologies. Because a drone is just a smartphone with rotors, today's affordable consumer drones are primarily a result of smartphone technology's quick progress. They are effectively freeing up access to the third dimension and opening up new business opportunities: Drones can already deliver groceries and medical supplies directly to one's door.However, endowing drones with human-like cognitive abilities—for example, by combining rapidly improving facial recognition with artificial intelligence—will make powerful targeted weapons available to tin-pot despots, terrorists, and rampaging teenagers at a fraction of the cost of the fancy drones flown by the US military.And, unless we take active actions to stop such advancements now, instructions for converting cheap off-the-shelf drones into automatic murderers will be released on the Internet in the near future. See Also:  Top 10 Contact Center Technology Consulting/Service Companies ...Read more

Bringing the series to a close, Thales, a primary air traffic management system that governs 40 percent of the world's airspace and a global technology leader with operations in more than 68 countries, is raising money alongside Altos Ventures. Airspace Link, North America's Largest supplier of solutions that enable the FAA, state, and local governments to efficiently manage the safe incorporation of drones into their communities, has raised $10 Million in a Series A round of financing from Altos Ventures. Altos Ventures, situated in the Bay Area, is an early-stage investor with a global focus on consumer and enterprise firms founded in 1996. Altos currently handles over 10 billion dollars in administrative assets across more than 100 enterprises.  "We're excited to partner with the Airspace Link team to help them build the digital infrastructure for safe drone flights domestically and around the globe," said Dillon Krasnigor from Altos Ventures. "We were impressed with the Airspace team's deep domain expertise and their vision of how unmanned drones will be used over the next decade and beyond. We believe the company will be a key player in making mass unmanned drone flights a reality." "Airspace Link acts like the Google Maps (Waze) for drones, but the roads, rules and regulations are not in place yet." Bringing the series to a close, Thales, a primary air traffic management system that governs 40 percent of the world's airspace and a global technology leader with operations in more than 68 countries, is raising money alongside Altos Ventures. Thales is the world's ninth-largest defense contractor, with revenues of 18.5 billion euros (EUR) in 2020. "As Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) usage continues to grow, for safe, low altitude operations around communities, airspace management must combine both air and ground insights," said Todd Donovan, Thales Vice President, Airspace Mobility Solutions Americas. "Our deep knowledge of airspace management and Airspace Link's expertise in geospatial intelligence are the perfect combination to address this complex challenge." Indicator Ventures, 2048 Enterprises, Ludlow Ventures, Matchstick Ventures, Techstars, and Dan Gilbert's Detroit Venture Partners were all investors in Airspace Link before this 2021 fundraising (DVP). "Airspace Link acts like the Google Maps (Waze) for drones, but the roads, rules and regulations are not in place yet," CEO Michael Helander said. The Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability platform from Airspace Link is an FAA-approved transportation planning tool for integrating drones into the national airspace and our communities. State government transportation groups use the platform to plan, create, administer, and engage the drone community. This month, Airspace Link participated in Ohio's first multi-modal transportation demonstration involving ground and autonomous air vehicles. The mission that VyrtX, a logistics software vendor, led, and JobsOhio, involved delivering blood tubes, vessels, and tissues via a small drone system that met up with a massive autonomous helicopter at KOSU airport. Which then transported the first 3-D printed kidney on a perfusion device to KMRT airport in Marysville, Ohio. The AirHub solution from Airspace Link provided the digital infrastructure to assure the operation's safety by simplifying permission for the on-airport portion of UAS operation and calculating the safest route for the lengthier leg of the transfer to KMRT. Airspace Link's digital infrastructure technologies are being integrated into other innovative UAS systems around the United States to allow the UAS sector to scale securely. Along with founding members Ana Healander and Daniel Bradshaw, Michael Helander has grown the Detroit-based team to 20 full-time employees in the last year and has established partnerships across over forty government agencies and municipalities across the United States to implement Airspace Link's AirHub drone infrastructure platform. "Our core purpose is to safely integrate drones into the national airspace and our communities at scale," said Helander. "We thank Altos Ventures and Thales for joining our vision of paving the way for the drone economy with shared, neutral and affordable UAS infrastructure." ...Read more

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a potential mission services value of $18.9 million and a maximum potential IDIQ value of $2.6 million. The one-year basic performance term begins on August 1, and is followed by four one-year option periods, which can be exercised at NASA's discretion . NASA has awarded the Center Administrative Support Services (CASS) II contract to CeleraPro LLC of Reston, Virginia, to offer administrative support services at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a potential mission services value of $18.9 million and a maximum potential IDIQ value of $2.6 million. The one-year basic performance term begins on August 1, and is followed by four one-year option periods, which can be exercised at NASA's discretion. CeleraPro will be responsible for providing a wide range of professional administrative support, including clerical services, administrative services, and records maintenance services, to the Office of Human Resources at Marshall and Michoud under the Historically Underutilized Business Zone set-aside contract. ...Read more