Day: October 13, 2021

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GA-ASI Completes European Maritime Demos

Five-Week Flight Series Featuring SeaGuardian® Includes Multiple Industry Firsts

Featured Image for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

Featured Image for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) completed a series of flight demonstrations that featured a company-owned MQ-9B SeaGuardian® Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) in partnership with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The demonstration series began Aug. 25 and ended with the completion of the UK’s Exercise Joint Warrior on Sept. 30.

“The support of the RAF was key to the success of our demonstrations,” said GA-ASI Vice President of International Strategic Development Robert Schoeffling. “Our partnership allowed us to achieve a number of industry firsts as we showcased our innovative RPA to senior military officials from 16 countries.”

The flights showcased the many operational capabilities of the MQ-9B, including the platform’s advanced maritime Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Detect and Avoid System (DAAS), industry-leading endurance and interoperability with NATO partners. During Joint Warrior, a demonstration of Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) took place using the SeaGuardian and an RAF P-8, showing SeaGuardian’s ability to compliment and support Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) tasking, which included tracking, monitoring and reporting of sonobuoys.

The demonstrations were initially based out of RAF Waddington before moving to RAF Lossiemouth to support Joint Warrior. While based at RAF Waddington, one flight saw SeaGuardian fly to Leeuwarden Air Base, taking the RPA into Netherlands airspace and proving a seamless transition between national air traffic regions, while testing airspace operational procedures. This multi-day demonstration, which took place Sept. 1-2, displayed SeaGuardian’s maritime surveillance capabilities in support of international allies. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has ordered four MQ-9A RPA and the first is expected to be delivered to Leeuwarden later this year. SeaGuardian returned to RAF Waddington at the conclusion of the event.

That important event was followed by the UK’s first Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)-approved point-to-point domestic flight of an unmanned aircraft using the UK’s airways structure, when SeaGuardian flew from Lincolnshire, England, to Moray, Scotland, on Sept. 12. The flight was controlled by NATS, the UK’s civilian Air Navigation Service Provider.

“The MQ-9B is the first RPA to be allowed to fly so extensively in UK-controlled airspace,” said Mark Watson, Head of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) Service Integration for NATS. “This moves us a long way towards same-day notification for ‘file and fly’ privileges as an Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC)-capable platform.”

A large set of airworthiness artifacts have been reviewed by the UK Civil Airworthiness Authority, which has approved MQ-9B for operations in unsegregated, uncontrolled airspace for the first time based on the suite of airspace deconfliction technologies and extensive documentation provided in the Safety Case.

SeaGuardian is the maritime version of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian®. As the launch customer, RAF has ordered 16 aircraft in their configuration, which they have named the Protector RG Mk1 RPA systems. The Protector is a derivative of the SkyGuardian, featuring an array of customer modifications.

“The coordination between GA-ASI and our RAF team was exciting to see,” said RAF Group Captain Shaun Gee, Director Air ISTAR Programmes (RPAS and TacISR), and SRO Shadow Programme. “It was great to see first-hand the game-changing capabilities of the RPA we’ve ordered for Protector. The ability of the aircraft to integrate into European airspace is key for the RAF as well as our international allies.”

The flights culminated with the RPA’s participation in the UK-led Joint Warrior exercise, which showcased how the MQ-9B’s maritime capabilities can be integrated with other air, maritime and land assets. An international audience observed the RPA’s maritime capability which includes a multi-mode surface-search radar with Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging mode, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver, Electronic Support Measures (ESM) along with the standard High-Definition, Full-Motion Video sensor equipped with optical and infrared cameras. As a result of a visit from leadership from the UK Border Force during which they observed the capabilities of the system, a Military Aid to Civil Authorities (MACA) demonstration flight was performed over the English Channel.

In support of the European Maritime Demonstrations, GA-ASI partnered with SES, the leading provider of global satellite communications (SATCOM) services operating the world’s only multi-orbit constellation of satellites in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and offering a unique combination of global coverage and high performance. For the demos, GA-ASI leveraged SES’s GEO connectivity in Ku-band as well as X-band reachback provided via the GovSat-1 satellite. GovSat-1, which is exclusively dedicated for government use and offers secure multi-mission capabilities, is operated as a public-private joint venture between the Government of Luxembourg and SES. The SATCOM service enabled the MQ-9 to operate securely with a high-capacity datalink, allowing real-time transmission of sensor data from the aircraft and operations center using a SATCOM link, including with data rates up to 70 Mbps in secure reachback.

“With our global satellite connectivity services, SES has been supporting the critical needs of GA-ASI and their government customers for almost two decades, and we’re delighted to take part in this demonstration effort as part of our long-standing relationship with General Atomics,” said Will Tong, Vice President of Strategic Government Initiatives and Head of the Aero ISR market at SES Networks. “As our customer needs evolve and require increasingly secure, flexible and high-performance services for real-time data exchange and reachback, we are happy to leverage our existing capabilities and to further innovate with the next-generation high-throughput systems like O3b mPOWER, enabling network sovereignty and cloud-scale applications that governments are looking for.”

About GA-ASI

General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than seven million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com, @GenAtomics_ASI on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Avenger, Lynx, Predator, SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

CONTACT:
GA-ASI Media Relations
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
+1 (858) 524-8101
ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com

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UNFPA provides telehealth equipment for continued life saving reproductive health services during COVID-19 in Laos

On Oct 12, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) handed over telehealth equipment to the Ministry of Health (MoH) for the provision of essential Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) service to women and girls.

The package contains mobile phones, thermometers, blood pressure scuff, saturometer, information, education, and communication (IEC) materials.

The material will be distributed to health providers in six provinces, such as Vientiane, Savannakhet, Borikhamxay, Khammuan, Champassak, and Saravan.

Minister of Health Bounfeng Phoummalaysith said “We are facing an emergency and tragedy that happens to pregnant women at the quarantine centres. With UNFPA support, we aim to implement as many services as possible to prevent maternal deaths. The telehealth approach is innovative service delivery. We tried last year in Luang Prabang, during the lockdown, women could consult the midwives through phone calls and get advice. It worked very well so we said: why not apply it with women at isolation facilities.”

UNFPA Country Representative for Lao PDR Mariam A. Khan said, “telehealth will ensure that women and girls receive RMNCAH services even in quarantine and isolation. The medical equipment is crucial for health providers to provide timely and effective services remotely. While there are 26 Covid related deaths in the Lao PDR over two years, from January to October 2021, already 73 maternal deaths have been recorded in the Lao PDR! UNFPA will make every effort to support the government to ensure that women and girls have access to life saving healthcare in a manner that minimises COVID transmission.”

As the provinces have received an influx of returning migrant workers, there is an increased need for RMNCAH services for the female migrant workers at the quarantine and isolation facilities.

In response to such demands, UNFPA provided telehealth training to 42 healthcare providers from those provinces in August. In addition, to further support telehealth implementation, the healthcare providers will receive the medical devices and IEC materials to facilitate their work.

Telehealth was first introduced and piloted in Luang Prabang in 2020.

The pilot saw positive results and has been further expanded to include the six provinces. This innovative approach serves as a new platform for maintaining the essential RMNCAH services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in remote areas, where access to healthcare remains a challenge.

Through telehealth, health providers connect with women and provide immediate assistance, advice, and referral pathways to ensure pregnant women, mothers, and their babies receive care timely and stay safe.

Source: Lao News Agency

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Laos receives 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China

Laos on Oct 13 received 1 million additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China with the handover taking place at the Wattay International Airport in Vientiane between Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong and Deputy Prime Minister Kikeo Khaikhamphithoun.

“Today, the government and people of Laos are very happy and pleased to receive more doses of Covid-19 vaccine,” said Mr Kikeo. “The Government and people of Laos highly valued and would like to express sincere gratitude for such pure, honest, priceless, prompt and constant assistance from the Party, government and people of China.”

Source: Lao News Agency

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Laos reports 566 new Covid-9 cases, two new deaths

Laos has confirmed 566 new Covid-9 cases and two new deaths attributed to Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, according to the National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The deaths included an unemployed woman, 45, in Nonsomboun, Sikhottabong district, Vientiane, who had suffered from kidney failure and received first dose of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

The second death was identified as an 80-years-old man, villager of Pakhed, Naxaythong district, Vientiane. He was unvaccinated against Covid-19 and had been suffering from uncontrolled status epilepticus for years.

Of the new confirmed cases, 557 were classified as local infections and nine as imported cases.

With the latest infections, the total of confirmed Covid-19 cases has reached 29,964 including 6,922 active cases and 35 deaths.

“Some 6,427 people were tested for Covid-19 and 324 patients were discharged from hospital yesterday,” Deputy Director General of the National Centre for Laboratory and Epidemiology, Ministry of Health, Dr Buaphan Khamphaphongphan told a press conference today.

The local infections were reported in Vientiane 246, Luang Prabang 186, Vientiane (province) 49, Savannakhet 27, Bokeo 16, Champassak 15, Khammuan six, Luang Namtha five, Xaysomboun three, Borikhamxay and Saravan two each.

The imported cases included four each in Savannakhet and Khammuan and one in Luang Prabang.

Source: Lao News Agency

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WHO Honors Henrietta Lacks, Woman Whose Cells Served Science

The chief of the World Health Organization on Wednesday honored the late Henrietta Lacks, an American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge during the 1950s and ended up providing the foundation for vast scientific breakthroughs, including research about the coronavirus.

The recognition from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came more than a decade after the publication of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot’s book about the discrimination in health care faced by Black Americans, the life-saving innovations made possible by Lacks’ cells and her family’s legal fight over their unauthorized use.

“What happened to Henrietta was wrong,” Tedros said during a special ceremony at WHO Geneva headquarters before handing the Director-General’s Award for Henrietta Lacks to her 87-year-old son Lawrence Lacks as several of her other descendants looked on.

Reproduced infinitely ever since, HeLa cells have become a cornerstone of modern medicine, including the development of the polio vaccine, genetic mapping and even COVID-19 vaccines.

Tedros noted that Lacks lived at a time when racial discrimination was legal in the United States and that it remains widespread, even if no longer legal in most countries.

“Henrietta Lacks was exploited. She is one of many women of color whose bodies have been misused by science,” he said. “She placed her trust in the health system so she could receive treatment. But the system took something from her without her knowledge or consent.”

“The medical technologies that were developed from this injustice have been used to perpetuate further injustice because they have not been shared equitably around the world,” Tedros added.

The HeLa cell line — a name derived from the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’ first and last names — was a scientific breakthrough. Tedros said the cells were “foundational” in the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, which can eliminate the cancer that took her life.

As of last year, WHO said, less than 25% of the world’s low-income countries and fewer than 30% of lower-middle-income countries had access to HPV vaccines through national immunization programs, compared to over 85% of high-income countries.

“Many people have benefited from those cells. Fortunes have been made. Science has advanced. Nobel Prizes have been won, and most importantly, many lives have been saved,” Tedros said. “No doubt Henrietta would have been pleased that her suffering has saved others. But the end doesn’t justify the means.”

WHO said more than 50 million metric tons of HeLa cells have been distributed around the world and used in more than 75,000 studies.

Last week, Lacks’ estate sued a U.S. biotechnology company, accusing it of selling cells that doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took from her without her knowledge or consent as part of “a racially unjust medical system.”

“We stand in solidarity with marginalized patients and communities all over the world who are not consulted, engaged or empowered in their own care,” Tedros said.

“We are firm that in medicine and in science, Black lives matter,” he added. “Henrietta Lacks’ life mattered — and still matters. Today is also an opportunity to recognize those women of color who have made incredible but often unseen contributions to medical science.”

Source: Voice of America

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J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Gets Better Boost From Moderna, Pfizer in Study

People who got Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as a first shot had a stronger immune response when they boosted it with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, a study by the National Institutes of Health showed Wednesday.

The study, which is preliminary and hasn’t been peer reviewed, is the latest challenge to J&J’s efforts to use its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster in the United States.

The study, which included more than 450 adults who received initial shots from Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, showed that “mixing and matching” booster shots of different types is safe in adults. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are based on messenger RNA, while J&J’s uses viral vector technology.

The finding comes as an advisory group to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to meet later this week to discuss the merits of a booster shot for Moderna and J&J vaccines.

FDA officials on Wednesday said J&J’s regulatory submission for its booster raised red flags such as small sample sizes and data based on tests that had not been validated.

U.S. health officials have been under pressure to offer advice on booster doses of the J&J and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines since the White House announced in August that it planned to roll out boosters, beginning last month, for most adults.

The NIH study contrasted the safety and immune responses of volunteers who were boosted with the same shot used in their initial vaccination with those of volunteers who received a different type of shot as a booster.

Mixing and matching doses for a booster produced side effects like those seen in primary inoculations and raised no significant safety concerns, the study said.

The study of the three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States showed that using different types of shots as boosters generally appeared to produce a comparable or higher antibody response than using the same type.

The trial took place in 10 U.S. cities and used a total of nine combinations of initial shots and boosters.

Mixing booster doses “may offer immunological advantages to optimize the breadth and longevity of protection achieved with currently available vaccines,” researchers wrote in the study.

Source: Voice of America