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The AUVSI unmanned systems show seems to grow each year and reached about 6500 attendees and 600 exhibitors this year in Orlando, FL. While the show has traditionally been dominated by military unmanned vehicles, this year marked a significant growth in companies and organizations offering unmanned vehicles for civilian use. With the wind down of US operations in the Middle East, the demand for unmanned military vehicles has been greatly reduced. The US currently does not allow for commercial use of UAS but the FAA plans to develop guidelines in 2015 or 2016. The FAA is choosing 6 test sites that will evaluate technologies to determine the best use cases and rules that need to be implemented. Most of the growth in UAS is expected to come from civilian applications such as public safety, agriculture, search & rescue and wildlife management.

Saabhas extended its surface radar portfolio, with the introduction of five all-new complementary Giraffe radars for land and sea.

Airbus Defence and Space has delivered full operational capabilities for X-band satellite communications to four UK Royal Navy Mine Counter Measure Vessels operating in the Arabian Gulf.

Advantech Wireless Inc., a privately-held Canadian corporation and manufacturer of satellite, RF equipment and microwave systems announced the release of the new 2300-G Series 60W to 125W Ku-Band GaN technology based SSPA/BUC designed to withstand extreme temperature range from -55oC to +70oC ( -67F to +158 F).

API Technologies Corp., a leading provider of high performance RF/microwave, power, and security solutions for critical and high-reliability applications, announced  the receipt of a strategic development order for a multi-channel microwave front end system. This integrated microwave assembly (IMA) will be used in a next generation radar warning receiver targeted for use in major Department of Defense military aircraft platforms.

Advantech Wireless Inc., a privately-held Canadian corporation and manufacturer of satellite, RF equipment and microwave systems announced that it has successfully completed the delivery of the New SapphireBlu^TM Series 6.6kW X-Band Rackmount UltraLinear^TM GaN SSPA/BUC, the ultimate solution for wide bandwidth, ultra high power satellite teleport uplinks.

Developments in March included Freescale’s continued expansion of its defense product portfolio and Raytheon’s demonstration of GaN-on-Diamond device technology. Major contract activity included South Korea’s stated intent to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35s and Northrop Grumman Global Hawks while both Airbus and Boeing look set to benefit from a $23 billion Qatar re-equipment plan. Activity across the radar, EW, communications and weapons systems categories included contracts for ground penetrating radar, interoperability testing of radios with the MUOS satellite communications network and Anglo-French collaboration on the development and production of a joint Anglo/French light anti-ship missile.

In preparation for ship-board flights this spring, the Northrop Grumman Corp.-built MQ-8C Fire Scout will be tested for its ability to operate safely in the intense electromagnetic environment aboard U.S. Navy ships.

Exelis has received a contract valued at more than $91 million from the U.S. Navy to begin full rate production on Lot 11 of the ALQ-214 electronic self-protection system for F/A-18C/D Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft.

Selex ES has successfully carried out multiple end-to-end tests of its BriteCloud Expendable Active Decoy, which is a self-contained Digital RF Memory jammer for fast jet aircraft, providing an off-board capability to decoy RF-guided missiles and fire control radars.