Raytheon has received a $2.5 million Phase One contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop new technologies to improve the effectiveness of infantry squads.

The project is part of DARPA's Squad X Core Technologies program, which aims to speed the development of lightweight technologies to give infantry warfighters greater situational awareness and adaptability to mission environments.

Raytheon says the research will explore how infantry squads can better adjust to urban and complex environments.

"Raytheon's experience as the systems integrator for DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support program, which offered distributed coordination between air and ground forces, will provide an ideal starting point to help squads effectively perform manned and unmanned teaming," Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president Tom Bussing said in a statement.

Raytheon adds the new technologies will collaborate with embedded unmanned air and ground systems. SXCT aims to give infantry squad members real-time awareness of "their own and teammates' locations to less than 20 feet" in GPS-denied environments.

Vehicles for Australian military undergo testing
Canberra, Australia (UPI) Jan 21, 2016 - QinetiQ Australia has started second-stage fatigue testing of the Hawkei protected vehicle ordered by the Australian military.

The eight-week testing program of the Thales Australia vehicle is being conducted on behalf of the Australian Department of Defense and involves attaching a Hawkei production-level chassis to a 5 x 8m test rig for a series of tests to validate the predicted life of the structure.

"During the tests, we push the Hawkei to its absolute limits," said QinetiQ Australia's General Manager Land and Maritime George McGuire. "We artificially recreate the various stresses the Hawkei might be under in the field by placing a combination of loads on the chassis, which are activated by computer-operated hydraulics powered by 100 liters (about 26.4 gallons) of oil per minute.

"It is a very significant undertaking that requires a depth of technical expertise and practical implementation experience."

The Australian government in 2015 signed a contract worth more than $800 million with Thales Australia for 1,100 vehicles and more than 1,000 trailers for the Australian Army. Production is scheduled to begin from mid-2017.

QinetiQ Australia is a consulting and engineering services company.