DARPA, AFRL Select Rockwell Collins for QNT: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Lab have awarded Rockwell Collins the second phase of the Quint Networking Technology program, valued at $19 million. Defense officials expect the QNT program to develop a robust and affordable mini networked data link technology for precision strike against time-critical mobile targets. It could be used on a variety of weapons, including tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, and by ground troops.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…