Factory acceptance testing of the Air Force’s Distributed Common Ground System version 10.2 has been completed, clearing the way for installation of the hardware and software at Beale AFB, Calif., the first planned site, lead contractor Raytheon announced May 23. The test’s successful completion brings the Air Force’s DCGS sites “closer to a network-centric reality, where each site is able to share intelligence information in near real-time,” said Anthony DiFurio, director of multi-intelligence systems for Raytheon’s intelligence and information Systems. DCGS is a worldwide distributed architecture that enables collaborative intelligence operations and production of intelligence products.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.