{"id":199319,"date":"2015-08-13T13:41:19","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T16:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=199319"},"modified":"2015-11-02T13:28:06","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:28:06","slug":"innovation-in-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/innovation-in-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation in defense"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"From

L\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/a> From left to right, R&D team members Henrique Mohallem, Arist\u00f3teles Carvalho, Marta Suarez and Cesar Buonomo along with Mectron Director, Wagner SilvaL\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Since 2014, JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter jets, jointly developed by China and Pakistan, and the French-made Dassault Mirage III and IV of the Pakistan Air Force have been equipped to fly with an intelligent weapon: the MAR-1 anti-radiation missile.\u00a0 The aircraft-launched missile is used against anti-air defense and targets ground radar, which is critical in identifying hostile aircraft positions.\u00a0 Considered a sophisticated weapon, the MAR-1 was designed and developed by the Brazilian company Mectron, one of only four companies in the world that have mastered the technology to manufacture the weapon\u00a0 \u2013 the other three are Raytheon and Alliant Techsystems in the U.S. and Zvesdat in Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the only Brazilian company capable of designing missiles.\u00a0 Development of the MAR-1 represented a huge challenge to the domestic arms industry and it was met with the multidisciplinary intellectual capital we have here at Mectron,\u201d says 57-year-old aeronautical engineer Wagner Campos do Amaral Silva, company director as well as one of its founders.\u00a0 \u201cThe missile will also be installed in Brazilian Air Force (FAB) AMX fighters, recently overhauled and updated by Embraer.\u201d\u00a0 The MAR-1 project dates back to 1998, when Mectron first began to develop the weapon for FAB.\u00a0 Ten years later, it signed an export agreement with Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The company is headquartered in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos, Brazil\u2019s aerospace industry hub, and operates in the defense, aviation and space markets, developing and manufacturing high technology products for both military and civilian applications.\u00a0 Established in the early 1990s by five engineering graduates of the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), the company was bought out in 2011 by Odebrecht Defesa e Tecnologia (ODT), the arm of the Odebrecht organization that is devoted to developing technological solutions for the Brazilian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Company<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mectrom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
R&D Center<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos, SP<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N\u00ba of Employees<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
405<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Key products<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Key products
\nIntelligent weaponry, radar, communications systems and satellite equipment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Qualified team<\/strong>
\nWith annual sales of R$124.7 million in 2014, Mectron has a well-established research and development (R&D) department.\u00a0 In 2014 year, 52% of company revenues, equivalent to R$65.5 million, were directed towards R&D and innovation.\u00a0 That does not include the subsidies received under Brazilian Innovation Agency (FINEP) projects, totaling R$6.2 million.\u00a0 To design and build equipment such as intelligent weapons, radar, communications and avionics systems, the company calls on a specialized corps of collaborators.\u00a0 Of its 405 employees, nearly 300 \u2013 178 of them engineers \u2013 are assigned to the R&D department.\u00a0 Approximately 70% of employees hold university degrees, 22% of which are graduate degrees.\u00a0 <\/strong>Computer Engineer Henrique Mohallem Paiva, 36, is part of this group.\u00a0 After earning his bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and PhD at ITA, he completed a postdoc at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy graduate studies were devoted to signal processing and automatic control systems.\u00a0 I continue to study and publish scientific articles as both a CNPq [National Council for Scientific and Technological Development] research productivity fellow and an ITA researcher.\u00a0 The academic knowledge I have acquired is directly applicable to my activities as an engineer because I work in an industry that requires a solid theoretical background,\u201d Mohallem says.\u00a0 A Mectron employee since 2010, he works on the MAR-1 project, and is responsible for computer simulation of the missile and its sub-systems as well as for design of automatic control systems.<\/p>\n

Engineer Marta Cristina Suarez Garcia, 28, is also part of the MAR-1 Program.\u00a0 She coordinates certification of the actuator, which is the sub-system responsible for independent deflection of the aerodynamic surfaces used to control missile flight maneuvers.\u00a0 With an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the S\u00e3o Paulo School of Engineering (FESP) and a master\u2019s degree from the Poytechnic School of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (Poli-USP), she began her work as a trainee at Mectron in 2012.\u00a0 \u201cI originally worked in industrial engineering, implementing improvements in production and manufacturing processes.\u00a0 Then I was invited to join the MAR-1 team,\u201d Garcia says.<\/p>\n

\"Assembly

L\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span>Assembly of missile mechatronic subsystemL\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Intelligent weapons<\/strong>
\nEstimated at R$500 million, MAR-1 is the largest but not the only project under development in the laboratories of Mectron.\u00a0 The department of intelligent weaponry, the company\u2019s largest department, is building two additional air-to-air missiles (launched from one aircraft to destroy another): the MAA-1B and A-Darter models.\u00a0 The former is an updated version of the Piranha missile Mectron manufactured in the 1990s.\u00a0 \u201cThe Piranha project began at FAB in the 1970s, but suffered from inadequate funding, embargoes on imported components and the demise of private companies that were unable to survive the industry crisis in the 1980s.\u00a0 It was up to us to complete its development, modernize it and obtain certification and accreditation of the systems for use on the F-5 and F-5M fighters, as well as the lots ordered by FAB,\u201d Wagner Silva recalls.<\/p>\n

The A-Darter is currently under joint development by South Africa\u2019s Denel Dynamics and Brazil\u2019s Opto Eletr\u00f4nica and Avibras companies.\u00a0 The missile features multiple infrared sensors for thermal imaging of air space, which increases the missile\u2019s capacity to detect and track targets.\u00a0 Now in the manufacturing stage, the A-Darter will equip the state-of-the-art multifunctional Gripen NG jets FAB acquired from the Swedish company, Saab, in 2013.<\/p>\n

\"Missile

L\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span>Missile electronic boardL\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Like FAB, the Brazilian Navy is an important client of Mectron.\u00a0 For the naval force, the company is developing an anti-ship missile known as MAN-SUP, as well as a heavyweight torpedo known in the defense industry as TPNer.\u00a0 Made in partnership with the German company Atlas Elektronik, the TPNer is used by submarines against squadrons.\u00a0 \u201cOur strength lies in systems engineering.\u00a0 We have developed and produced the weapon\u2019s embedded electronics, which include on-board computer systems, sensors and command actuators,\u201d Wagner Silva explains.\u00a0 The TPNer manufacturing time frame is eight years.\u00a0 None of the budgets for of any of these projects are available to the public.<\/p>\n

The goal of MAN-SUP is development of a national anti-ship missile to be launched from one vessel against another, for open-sea combat, explains Cesar Augusto Buonomo, 40, an aeronautical engineer and technical coordinator of the program at Mectron.\u00a0 With a master\u2019s degree in aerodynamics, he explains that it is up to his team to develop the sub-system for missile guidance, navigation and control.\u00a0 Several of the technologies used, such as altimeter radar for measuring the distance from the missile to the ocean surface, the system that activates the control aerodynamic surfaces for the conduct of maneuvers and the computers to perform trajectory calculations, are solutions being developed by Mectron researchers.\u00a0 Other Brazilian defense companies, including Avibras and Omnisys, are responsible for developing the remaining sub-systems.<\/p>\n

\"072-075_<\/a>Revitalized missiles<\/strong>
\nElectronics engineer, Arist\u00f3teles de Sousa Carvalho, 56, heads up the MAN-SUP program radiofrequency department where he oversees a team of four.\u00a0 \u201cThe knowledge I acquired during graduate school at the University of Sheffield in England was key in facing the challenges of developing the MAN-SUP radiofrequency sub-systems,\u201d he says.\u00a0 The program, scheduled to be completed in 2017, is expected to give the Brazilian Navy autonomy with regard to this weapon.\u00a0 In the meantime, the Navy has revitalized its old French-made Exocet missiles, and the Air Force has decided to purchase Harpoon missiles from Boeing.<\/p>\n

In addition to cutting-edge missiles and torpedoes, Mectron engineers and technicians are also involved in developing a data-link communication system called Link BR-2 for military use.\u00a0 Designed for FAB, the system will integrate and conduct real-time processing of information exchanges between aircraft and command and control centers with encrypted data, voice and images.\u00a0 Estimated at R$250 million the project is in its final stages of development.<\/p>\n

Mectron\u2019s activities also extend to the space industry.\u00a0 The company was a member of the consortium responsible for construction of the CBERS-4, the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 4, successfully launched in December 2014 from the Taiwan Launch Center in China.\u00a0 Company researchers were charged with the design and manufacture of the Digital Data Recorder (DDR), the equipment that stores the land images captured by the satellite cameras.\u00a0 The CBERS-4 is equipped with four high-definition cameras designed to collect images of Brazilian territory, especially the Amazon Region, aiding in the fight against illegal deforestation and burning.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Mectron are involved in developing a Multi-Mission Platform (MMP) for Brazilian Space Program low altitude satellites.\u00a0 The MMP is a basic framework for use in building different types of satellites and the company is manufacturing two MMP sub-systems: the power supply that features solar panels and their servo-positioners, batteries and conditioning and distribution units; and the system for tracking, telemetry and telecommand, which includes transponders and antennas.<\/p>\n

\"Simulated

L\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span>Simulated operation of the data link communication system for military useL\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

On a site measuring 37,000 m\u00b2 next to Embraer and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Mectron facilities include a cleanroom for assembling critical components, electronics, avionic, radiofrequency and communication systems laboratories in addition to mechanical assembly, mechatronic integration and environmental testing areas.\u00a0 In 2007, the company registered its only patent, related to the development of a broadband antenna for the MAR-1 missile.\u00a0 \u201cIn the defense market, it\u2019s not practical to work with patent filings,\u201d Silva says.<\/p>\n

A recurring problem faced by other companies in the defense industry has also affected Mectron.\u00a0 \u201cWe came up with the idea to purchase an antenna from a North American supplier, but the U.S. Department of Defense prevented us from closing the deal because it considers antennas to be critical components and it would not authorize Brazil to have access to this technology,\u201d Wagner recalls.\u00a0 \u201cWe found a way out by having our own staff develop the component.\u00a0 That\u2019s just one example of the myriad situations we face on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mectron develops technological solutions for military and space industries ","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1567,169],"tags":[243],"coauthors":[116],"class_list":["post-199319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corporate-research-en","category-technology","tag-innovation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199319"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=199319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}