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08 Dec 20. Google Cloud to Provide New Cloud Technology to Help Transform Future Pilot Training with Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Air Force.
New cloud technology provides a scalable platform for pilot flight simulation and learning management. Google Cloud today announced an agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the U.S. Air Force to help modernize initial flight training for Air Force pilots globally through the use of cloud technology.
Through the Joint Immersive Training System (JITS), the U.S. Air Force has committed to increasing readiness of its pilots. By using commercial, off-the-shelf equipment, virtual reality headsets, joystick, throttle and rudder pedal controls, and video gaming chairs—the Air Force will be able to build its own immersive training devices (ITDs) that can be deployed more efficiently and at scale. Under the agreement announced today, the 19th Air Force will host its ITDs on Google Cloud, helping to scale the project to thousands of users in multiple locations, whether inside the classroom, living quarters, or while traveling. This dramatically increases access to training anytime, and anywhere.
In addition, the software used to manage each student’s training curriculum can vary widely from one aircraft to another. By adopting Google Cloud for this prototype, DIU will be able to provide a consistent interface for the Air Force’s learning management system, as well as a single location for storing and managing pilot training data.
“Adopting Google Cloud provides a consistent and secure user experience for student pilots regardless of where they undergo their training,” said Mike Daniels, vice president, Global Public Sector, Google Cloud. “And with Google Workspace, we’ll also enable collaboration and remote learning with the best instructors who may be located in another state or at another Air Force Base.”
Google Cloud’s Apigee empowers DIU and the Air Force to build a massively extensible system that can adapt to evolving requirements by allowing additional features to be added to the training platform. By standardizing the API layer, approved vendors in the JITS ecosystem can plug into the open architecture to provide services and data-based insights for a nearly limitless range of applications. In turn, the data those applications produce, can be used by other application owners to produce an ever-richer set of insights.
Google Cloud is also providing professional services to help the Air Force and DIU to adapt new technologies and implement them in a secure way. Other Google Cloud products being deployed as part of the agreement include Apigee, Google Cloud’s API Management Platform for managing APIs between ITDs, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for orchestrating microservices, and Google Workspace to facilitate productivity and collaboration. (Source: PR Newswire)
09 Dec 20. Royal Navy Completes LRG(X). Update on Littoral Response Group (Experimentation) (LRG(X)). The assault ship HMS Albion has sailed back home to Devonport having led Littoral Response Group (Experimentation) (LRG(X)) on a series of exercises which will help shape the Royal Navy and Royal Marines of tomorrow.
Working together with HMS Dragon and RFA Lyme Bay, the task group has focused on developing the tactics and technology which will drive the Future Navy and Royal Marine’s Future Commando Force.
They tested new equipment, such as drones, which could be used for resupplying equipment to commandos on the ground, miniature aerial helicopters for surveillance and underwater autonomous sonars to help map beaches for landings.
In all 40 experimental concepts have been tested in nine major exercises, largely focused around Cyprus in October and November.
In addition to experimentation, the task group worked with NATO allies and regional partners to promote stability and security in the Mediterranean.
The ships, helicopters and Royal Marines trained alongside forces from Cyprus, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine.
Albion and Lyme Bay, which is home in Portland next week, also took part in NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian, where they investigated over 200 cargo vessels, tankers and container ships, operating on a vital commercial transit route between Asia, Africa and Europe.
“The Littoral Response Group task group has paved the way for the Future Navy and Future Commando Force,” said Commander Jason Eacock Albion’s Executive Officer.
“This deployment has focused on testing new ideas, concepts and kit to help us constantly adapt in a changing world. Additionally, we have also completed vital work in the Mediterranean, North Africa and Black Sea Regions alongside our NATO and regional allies to support regional security and stability.
“I am extremely proud of what has been achieved from our sailors and Royal Marines during this three-month deployment, especially with the added pressures and complications from Covid. We now look forward to reuniting with our family and friends for the Christmas holidays, and we thank them for supporting us during our time away.”
LRG(X) was the first time away for many of the ship’s company; the youngest sailor onboard HMS Albion, Able Seaman Tom Curry said: “This is my first deployment since joining the Royal Navy. Due to the pandemic, we were unable to leave the ship – but this meant that we embraced life onboard.
“To see how we are shaping the future for both the Royal Navy and Royal Marines has been really exciting.”
Although the LRG(X) deployment has finished, the beginnings of what they have achieved has just started. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines will continue to develop and learn from the deployment and prepare for future testing in the New Year. (Source: Warfare.Today)
08 Dec 20. Ultra-Low Cost Simulation Program Augments Pilot Training. A simulation program that can be installed on ordinary computers and laptops — the Joint Immersive Training System, or JTS — is currently being used to support pilot training.
Traditionally, pilot flight instruction involves a combination of simulators and actual flying, said Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Frahm, a program manager for the Defense Innovation Unit.
However, a shortage of pilots throughout the Defense Department has limited the number of flight instructors who can give one-on-one training, he said. Also, it is cost prohibitive to build more simulators because each one costs about as much as an actual aircraft.
While JTS isn’t meant to replace simulators or real-time flight training, it promises to augment existing systems and accelerate the pace of training, significantly reducing the cost to train new pilots, Frahm said.
The software powering JTS uses a combination of virtual reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning and commercial off-the-shelf items, he said. Controls similar to joysticks are plugged into the system using ordinary USB connections.
Students can take the laptops home and train on them at their own pace or use them at work. A variant of JTS that is more sophisticated features a specialized gaming chair and realistic flight controls that mimic a cockpit, he said.
The AI-powered software enables students to practice flying on their own without an instructor present. However, JTS can also be used with an instructor who is virtually present, and that instructor could monitor a number of students simultaneously, potentially saving flight instructor man-hours.
“What we’re trying to do is change the instruction from a teacher-centered model to more of a learner-centered training model,” he said.
DIU aided the Air Force’s effort to produce JTS by partnering with industry, he said. “We partnered with four different companies. Each brought a component of the broader technology that we needed to create this device and the surrounding ecosystem that will support it.”
Vertex Inc. built the software and the hardware, which includes the specialized gaming chair, he said.
Google is providing cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity. These computers are streaming a huge array of data that will be processed by a number of applications residing in the cloud, he said.
CAE Inc. is building a learning management system that will monitor the competencies that the students learn using the devices and will manage the overall training process, he said
Discovery Machine Inc. is building an AI-based structure that will supplement the human instructors and monitor and coach students as they perform aerial maneuvers, he said.
Over the next year, DIU will deploy about 50 devices to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, he said. The devices will be used to train students on the T-6 and T-38 aircraft.
“Our team will collect detailed feedback from everyday instructors and students to understand how the system performs for them,” he said. “We’ll incorporate that feedback into at least three redesigns of the hardware and countless revisions of the software. In the end, we want a system that will be flexible, adaptable, scalable and speeds the rate of competency attainment within our pilot force.”
When JTS is up and running in the next year, the goal is to eventually expand the platform to provide training for all types of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, to include remotely piloted aircraft, he said.
JTS draws upon the lessons learned by its predecessor, the Air Force’s Pilot Training Next Program, or PTN, said Air Force Lt. Col. Steve C. “Tiger” Briones, 19th Air Force A5 deputy director for Innovation and Technology and program manager for Pilot Training Transformation.
PTN was first established in 2018 in Austin, Texas, and moved to Randolph Air Force Base in late 2019, Briones said.
Three classes of PTN graduates are currently flying in units throughout the Air Force, Navy and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and navy, Briones mentioned.
Briones stated that students and instructors have been impressed by PTN and he thinks that the new JTS devices will advance their aviation skills much more quickly than those who don’t use them. (Source: US DoD)
07 Dec 20. USAF B-52 trains with Nato allies. The US Air Force (USAF) B-52 aircraft has joined Nato allies in the High North and the Mediterranean region in a bid to display reach and alliance co-operation. The US Air Force (USAF) B-52 aircraft has joined Nato allies in the High North and the Mediterranean region in a bid to display reach and alliance co-operation. The Norwegian F-16s escorted the USAF Bomber Task Force mission in the north over the Barents Sea. At the same time, they were joined by the Greek F-16s and aided by a Turkish KC-135 Stratotanker.
In a statement, Allied Air Command said: “This gave a real demonstration of the Alliance’s transatlantic link underlining US commitment for security in the region.”
“The latest mission is one of a series of similar missions that have been carried out during 2020.
“These missions strengthen the alliance’s capability to operate more effectively and demonstrate its ability to respond to threats while ensuring stability and security across the Euro-Atlantic area.”
The US Bomber Task Force was deployed to Europe from the continental US in order to carry out theatre integration and flight training.
Such missions are claimed to provide opportunities for integration of the US with Nato Allies and other partners. After the mission was completed, the aircraft and crew returned to North Dakota in the US.
In October, USAF deployed an F-15 fighter detachment to secure the skies over Iceland.
F-15C/D Eagles assigned to the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew to Keflavik Air Base in Iceland.
In September, USAF deployed six F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft to Graf Ignatievo Air Base to conduct Nato air patrols over Bulgaria. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
05 Dec 20. WESSEX STORM – An Air Assault Battlegroup from the Anglo-French CJEF (Combined Joint Expeditionary Force) has been exercising on Salisbury Plain. December 2020: British, French and American paratroopers have given a powerful demonstration of how they can go side-by-side into battle by air.
Some 20 helicopters carried the 1,300-strong 2 PARA Battlegroup into action today (Fri 4 Dec) on Exercise WESSEX STORM. Mounting at Keevil airfield on Salisbury Plain, troops, vehicles and stores were lifted by Royal Air Force Chinook and Puma support helicopters, protected by the sensors and weapons of Army Air Corps Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and Apache attack helicopters. The multinational force was dropped off to assault Imber village, capturing it to use as a base for further missions on the windswept training area.
The training is about confirming the 2 PARA Battlegroup’s skills and readiness to serve as the lead infantry unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British Army’s global response force. Some 150 troops from the French 2e Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes and a 40-strong platoon from the US Army’s 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment are taking part. Their involvement is about growing understanding of each other’s capabilities and tactics, meaning our airborne forces are better prepared to operate together on future operations.
Today’s mission – the largest British-led air assault since Operation MOSHTARAK in Afghanistan in February 2010 – comes as the six-week long manoeuvres (2 Nov-12 Dec) reach their validation phase. The Battlegroup is being challenged to beat back the invasion of an ally by a hostile neighbour, fighting both conventional military units and militia-type forces. Before launching the air assault, troops had parachuted in to capture Keevil, with additional personnel, stores and vehicles delivered by RAF and French Armee de l’Air A400M transport aircraft.
The 2 PARA Battlegroup is built around the paratroopers of Colchester-based 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, supported by signallers, engineers, artillery, medics and logistics specialists from 16 Air Assault Brigade. It is training to be ready to deploy at short notice on operations around the world. (Source: joint-forces.com)
05 Dec 20. An Air Assault Battlegroup from the Anglo-French CJEF (Combined Joint Expeditionary Force) has been exercising on Salisbury Plain. British, French and American paratroopers have given a powerful demonstration of how they can go side-by-side into battle by air.
Some 20 helicopters carried the 1,300-strong 2 PARA Battlegroup into action today (Fri 4 Dec) on Exercise WESSEX STORM. Mounting at Keevil airfield on Salisbury Plain, troops, vehicles and stores were lifted by Royal Air Force Chinook and Puma support helicopters, protected by the sensors and weapons of Army Air Corps Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and Apache attack helicopters. The multinational force was dropped off to assault Imber village, capturing it to use as a base for further missions on the windswept training area.
The training is about confirming the 2 PARA Battlegroup’s skills and readiness to serve as the lead infantry unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British Army’s global response force. Some 150 troops from the French 2e Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes and a 40-strong platoon from the US Army’s 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment are taking part. Their involvement is about growing understanding of each other’s capabilities and tactics, meaning our airborne forces are better prepared to operate together on future operations.
Today’s mission – the largest British-led air assault since Operation MOSHTARAK in Afghanistan in February 2010 – comes as the six-week long manoeuvres (2 Nov-12 Dec) reach their validation phase. The Battlegroup is being challenged to beat back the invasion of an ally by a hostile neighbour, fighting both conventional military units and militia-type forces. Before launching the air assault, troops had parachuted in to capture Keevil, with additional personnel, stores and vehicles delivered by RAF and French Armee de l’Air A400M transport aircraft.
The 2 PARA Battlegroup is built around the paratroopers of Colchester-based 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, supported by signallers, engineers, artillery, medics and logistics specialists from 16 Air Assault Brigade. It is training to be ready to deploy at short notice on operations around the world. (Source: joint-forces.com)
03 Dec 20. Brazilian Army acquires simulators for Guarani VBTP. Simulators will enable drivers to train in virtual scenarios, replicating with high reliability the cabin of the Guarani VBTP.
The Brazilian Army has acquired four new simulators for the 6×6 Guarani VBTP-MR, as it intensifies efforts to improve training.
Simulators will enable drivers to train in virtual scenarios, replicating with high reliability the cabin of the Guarani VBTP.
The army has signed a contract on 17 November with the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIRJAN in Portuguese) that will develop the simulators through the SENAI Institute of Technology.
In addition, the agreement includes technical/logistical support as well as training the staff who will operate and maintain the driver simulators.
Technology transfer is also included, so that technical data in the project will be fully available to the Brazilian Army to enable future customisation and updates.
An official spokesperson for the Brazilian Army told Shephard that the main reason for purchasing simulators is avoiding the wear and tear of the vehicles due to the handling by untrained military personnel.
It was added that the branch has plans to procure shooter and driver simulators under the Guarani programme, which has been defined and conducted by the Simulation Division of the Land Operations Command (COTER).
The spokesperson could not disclose details on the cost of the new systems, their delivery also the military units that will operate these simulators.
Currently, the army has a fleet of more than 400 Guarani vehicles. The service will operate 1,260 platforms by 2041 under a contract awarded to Iveco in 2016.
Based on a ballistic steel monocoque hull design, the VBTP offers performance and protection levels that are designed to fully meet the demands of current and future operations, according to Shephard Defence Insight.
Its driveline and engineering are intended to be simple and robust, with the aim of allowing ease of support and flexibility in employment.
The VBTP is armed with a 30mm/40mm Mk44 Bushmaster automatic cannon and a .50 calibre machine gun mounted on a REMAX RWS or armoured turret.
This vehicle can transport 11 people, including the driver and a sniper. It has passive night vision equipment for the driver, commander and sniper, which allows the marksman to operate in low light conditions. (Source: Shephard)
03 Dec 20. Serco successfully secures HMAS Watson training services rebid. Serco has been awarded a contract to continue providing high-quality simulator-based maritime warfare training and training support services on behalf of the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Watson, Sydney.
Through the operation and maintenance of the Navy’s Bridge Simulators, Serco has been training young Maritime Warfare Officers in ship operations, bridge operations and navigation in a simulated war fighting environment since 2012. Serco has also been providing maintenance and engineering design services to the Training Authority Maritime Warfare at Watson since 2003.
The new two-and-a-half-year contract, won by Serco after a competitive tender process, also has three, one-year extension options, which if exercised will take the contract through until 2026. The value of the contract is $48.2m.
Serco Defence managing director Clint Thomas, AM, CSC, said Serco’s proven track record of delivering these high-quality services for more than eight years has resulted in a strong partnership with Navy.
“We have a deep understanding of Navy’s training requirements, program challenges and future training developments, and our solutions are designed to deliver the best possible outcomes and prepare Navy personnel for the demanding scenarios they will face in their careers,” Thomas said.
Maritime Warfare Officer Course (MWOC) training is a 20-week simulator component. During this phase, officers are taught complex navigation, bridge management and mariner skills. Using a bridge simulator, the specialist trainers assess officers’ actions and reactions in high-pressure emergency, tactical and warfare situations.
The simulator enables total manipulation of maritime conditions at any time of the day or night, providing an ultrarealistic training environment. Successful completion of the MWOC results in officers being awarded their Bridge Warfare Certificate. This qualification allows them to perform one of the most sought-after roles in the Australian Defence Force – Officer of the Watch on a Navy warship.
“This new contract demonstrates the confidence Navy has in Serco to deliver significant innovation and continuous improvements to the training provided, that ultimately allows the Australian Defence Force’s Maritime Community to fight and win at sea,” Mr Thomas added.
Serco Defence HMAS Watson training team members are all former service men and women who have served with the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy or the Royal Navy.
Their collective experience and enthusiasm for delivering premier training, mentoring and support to MWOC students, and forward-leaning innovation ensures Maritime Warfare Officers graduate with the mission critical skills needed for a successful career at sea.
Serco Asia Pacific has been operating for more than 30 years across Australia with a proven record delivering the most demanding, complex and sensitive solutions for government clients. (Source: Defence Connect)
23 Nov 20. Allied interoperability on display with global F-35 exercises. The Royal Australian Air Force and US Air Force have successfully participated in Exercise Lightning Spear at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, from 12 to 28 October, expanding the interoperability of the common platform.
The exercise was an important continuation training for No. 3 Squadron personnel in line with their ongoing focus of the integration of people and systems for the F-35A.
Officer Commanding No. 81 Wing Group Captain John Haly said the exercise demonstrated crucial capability of the growing Lightning force in Australia.
GPCAPT Haly said, “Working with the United States Air Force provides important military-to-military engagement opportunities for Air Force to build on our shared understanding of a platform we both operate. Our Air Force team has used this exercise to further develop their skills as world-class air and ground crew.”
The team then conducted Exercise Lightning Ferry to bring an additional nine Lightning aircraft back to Australia.
The aircraft travelled from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, to RAAF Base Williamtown via Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, sustained by Air Force’s KC-30A multi-role tanker transports.
GPCAPT Haly said the support provided to Air Combat Group by Air Force’s Air Mobility Group and Combat Support Group contributed to Exercise Lightning Ferry’s success.
“The ferry allowed us to demonstrate our ability to deploy a significant fighter capability halfway across the world in a short period of time,” he said.
With these new additions, Air Force now has 30 F-35A Lightning II aircraft in Australia of the planned 72-strong fleet.
All Air Force personnel involved in Exercises Lightning Spear and Lightning Ferry followed strict isolation and quarantine protocols, in line with national and state requirements.
“Our maintenance, logistics, administration, operations, electrician and air load personnel work together to make our force truly expeditionary,” GPCAPT Haly added.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is billed as a catalyst for the fifth-generation revolution, changing the face and capability of the Royal Australian Air Force and the wider Australian Defence Force.
For the RAAF, the F-35A’s combination of full-spectrum low-observable stealth coatings and materials, advanced radar-dispersing shaping, network-centric sensor and communications suites – combined with a lethal strike capability – means the aircraft will be the ultimate force multiplying, air-combat platform.
The F-35A – the variant chosen by the RAAF – will have with a projected life of 30 years in service.
Ten nations are currently flying F-35s, including the US, UK, Italy, Norway, Israel and Japan. The first of Australia’s F-35A aircraft are now based on home soil after a period of training and development at Luke AFB in Arizona, plus an epic Pacific Ocean crossing In December 2018.
Over the coming years, Australia will purchase 72 of the advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft as part of the $17bn AIR 6000 Phase 2A/B program – which is aimed at replacing the ageing F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets that have been in service with the RAAF since 1985. (Source: Defence Connect)
04 Dec 20. U.S., Australia Sign Agreement to Develop Virtual Training Range. As part of the Defense Department’s efforts to sharpen lethality, reform business practices and strengthen partnerships in cyberspace, the U.S. and Australia have launched the first agreement to continuously develop a virtual cyber training range.
Both nations signed the Cyber Training Capabilities Project Arrangement on Nov. 3. The bilateral, international agreement enables U.S. Cyber Command to incorporate Australian Defense Force feedback into Cybercom’s simulated training domain, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment.
The PCTE is a cyber training platform for real-world defensive missions across boundaries and networks. Its shared use and development will constantly evolve it and sharpen readiness in cyber tactics, techniques and procedures.
“This project arrangement is a milestone for U.S.-Australian cooperation. It is the first cyber-only arrangement established between the U.S. Army and an allied nation, which highlights the value of Australia’s partnership in the simulated training domain,” Elizabeth Wilson, the U.S. signatory and deputy assistant secretary of the Army for defense exports and cooperation, said.
“To counter known and potential adversarial threats, the Army has recalibrated our strategic thinking; we’ve made smart decisions to refocus our efforts to invest in the new, emerging and smart technologies that will strengthen our ability to fight and win our nation’s wars,” she added.
Previously, U.S. and allied cyber forces developed cyber training ranges for specific scenarios that would be used once, a process that could take months. The PCTE offers a collaborative training environment, enabling cyber forces around the world to develop and reuse already existing content to train at individual and group levels anytime.
“Australia and the U.S. have a strong history of working together to develop our cyber capabilities and train our people to fight and win in cyberspace,” Australian Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Thompson, the Australian signatory and head of information warfare for the ADF, said. “This arrangement will be an important part of the ADF’s training program, and we look forward to the mutual benefits it will bring.”
Partnerships in cyberspace are key to generating and sharing insights of threat actors, enabling mutual defense against cyberattacks and conducting the operational training necessary to hold adversaries accountable in cyberspace. Such training platforms enable lethal cyber mission forces in defense of U.S. and allied interests.
“Agreements like this one are crucial to the efficiency of our joint modernization,” Wilson said. “They lay the framework for our mutual growth, allowing us to become stronger and more interoperable as allies.”
The Army has the lead in developing PCTE and worked with the program executive office for simulation, training and instrumentation on this cooperative cyber project with Australia. The PEO STRI is responsible to deliver and improve PCTE on behalf of the Joint Services. Currently, PCTE’s primary user is Cybercom and the services’ cyber components.
“PCTE continues to showcase training opportunities for our cyber equities, and, as we evolve this capability, we look forward to the ongoing progression and engagements with our partners,” Navy Rear Adm. Christopher Bartz, director of exercises and training for Cybercom, said. “Our recent Cyber Flag events in June and September of 2020 were prime examples of Five Eyes partner training and collaboration.”
PCTE is one component of the U.S. military’s Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture, an overarching framework that helps guide capability development across all services for a functional, adaptive system of systems.
About PCTE
The PCTE training platform delivered its first production version in February 2020 and is designed as a distributed, secure, reconfigurable environment where numerous independent cyber operations training activities may occur simultaneously.
These environments include virtual emulations of live networks that allow cyber operators the ability to practice their skills and operations in a closed environment.
A key aspect of PCTE, which provides the earliest access to capabilities, is the incorporation of an iterative development process. This process allows for the continued development and improvement of PCTE while it is in use by cyber warriors.
Cyber mission forces first identified the need for a shared, iterative virtual cyber range during exercise Cyber Flag 2015 and have since galvanized an expedited effort to define the requirement and find technical solutions. Leveraging agile acquisition and rapid prototyping, cyber mission operators actively test and provide feedback during development, enabling PCTE to meet their operational needs.
The long-term goal for PCTE is to provide the DOD cyberspace workforce the capability to build and conduct full-spectrum, combined and joint cyberspace training, exercises, certification and mission rehearsal in a training environment. The training environment requirements, driven by training objectives and user-defined specifications, must emulate a realistic operational environment that provides scope, scalability and fidelity.
The CTC PA is an example of how the cyber mission forces of the U.S. and Australia work together and showcases success in the Armaments Cooperation. The project arrangement, valued at $215.19m over six years, provides the flexibility to develop cyber training capabilities for the future. (Source: US DoD)
03 Dec 20. Pentagon seeks to improve training opportunities in Japan. The Pentagon is looking for ways to better utilise existing training opportunities in Japan to improve deterrence in the region, according to a key officer.
Lieutenant General Kevin Schneider, US Forces Japan commander and chief of 5th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Yokota Air Base, Japan, said on 1 December that most of the United States’ high-end training for ground and air forces stationed in Japan take place outside the nation. This is because the Pentagon does not have the training ranges, air space, and freedom of manoeuvre or flexibility that Lt Gen Schneider wants for US forces to maintain their highest level of readiness.
Lt Gen Schneider said that US Air Force (USAF) and Japan Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) must train at Red Flag in Nevada to perform high-end training such as all-altitude and all-spectrum. This includes electronic warfare (EW) and using live munitions.
“I believe it chips away at our deterrent value if we are having to take the show on the road and go somewhere else to train,” Lt Gen Schneider said during an Air Force Association (AFA) event. “I think there is a lot we can do with reveal and conceal if we are able to do that here in Japan all the time, or to a greater extent than we do right now.” (Source: Jane’s)
02 Dec 20. LM CH-53K King Stallion Devices Ready for Training. U.S. Marines are now preparing to fly, maintain and sustain the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter, which will enable them to safely complete longer-range missions in harsher environments compared to the current fleet of aircraft. The suite of training devices from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) were recently declared Ready for Training at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
“These training devices will prepare aircrew and maintainers for the full suite of capabilities of the CH-53K in a safe and cost-effective manner,” said Tom Gordon, Lockheed Martin, vice president of Training and Simulation Solutions. “Crews can rehearse for operational deployment, ensuring the U.S. Marines are ready to successfully complete their missions.”
The Containerized Flight Training Device (CFTD) is a portable full-mission flight simulator that will allow flight crews to train on the full scope of Marine Corps heavy lift missions, including external lift operations.
The CFTD replicates the functionality, flight characteristics, mission profiles and unmatched capabilities of the CH-53K helicopter. The device can replicate the various environmental conditions that the aircraft is likely to fly in as well as a multitude of mission profiles in the operation of a true heavy lift helicopter.
The Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer (HEMT) and Composite Maintenance Trainer (CMT) are both purpose-built for the King Stallion’s maintenance training.
The HEMT is a computer-based lab that familiarizes the mechanic with maintenance tasks they perform, including tools, functions and checks. By virtually depicting the inside and outside of the aircraft and providing feedback, maintainers can learn many of the maintenance functions utilizing the HEMT prior to working on the aircraft.
The CMT is a full-scale mock-up of the aircraft and is the final step of familiarizing the maintainer with the aircraft. The device allows students to interact with the physical controls of the aircraft to learn to remove and install hardware and perform functional checks. An instructor operating system assigns tasks and monitors progress for focused feedback.
“The training devices will ensure a flawless entry into service for the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter,” said Bill Falk, Sikorsky CH-53K program director. “We are proud to build this 21st century helicopter giving mission flexibility to the U.S. Marine Corps.”
King Stallion Production Marches On
The CH-53K program has five aircraft on the final assembly line in Connecticut and over two dozen in various stages of production. In October, the U.S. Navy awarded Sikorsky a contract to build six more heavy lift helicopters. The program will deliver the first low rate initial production aircraft in September 2021.
CH-53K Proving Capabilities
The CH-53K is also nearing the conclusion of the developmental flight test events to support Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) in 2021 and first deployment in 2023-2024.
The CH-53K has flown more than 2,100 flight hours validating the aircraft’s performance, including testing on a ship and in both hot and cold environments. This year, the aircraft completed air-to-air refueling with a 27,000-lb. external load demonstrating its ability to enable heavy-lift transport from sea to shore.
The CH-53K, which can lift 36,000 pounds, is the most powerful heavy lift helicopter ever built in the United States. The King Stallion’s technologically advanced design will meet the future warfighting requirements for decades to come, enabling missions like humanitarian aid, troop and equipment transport, casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), support of special operations forces, and Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP). (Source: ASD Network)
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About InVeris Training Solutions
InVeris Training Solutions combines an agile approach with an unmatched expertise in training technology to design and deliver customized, cutting-edge, first-rate training solutions that keep military, law enforcement, private and commercial range clients safe, prepared and ready to serve – Because Seconds Matter™. With a portfolio of technology-enabled training solutions, and a team of more than 400 employees driven to innovate, InVeris Training Solutions is the global leader in integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training solutions. With its legacy companies, FATS® and Caswell, InVeris Training Solutions has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual systems globally during its 90-year history. The Company is headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia and partners with clients in the US and around the world from facilities on five continents.
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