Sponsored by Meggitt Training Systems
https://meggitttrainingsystems.com/
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19 Dec 19. Meggitt Training Systems to Demonstrate Live-Fire and Virtual Solutions at 2020 SHOT Show. Meggitt Training Systems (booths #12267 and 6602) will display its full range of live-fire and virtual training products in multiple locations at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) and Conference at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 21-24, 2020. Fielding more than 13,600 ranges worldwide since 1926, Meggitt is the industry leader in turnkey shooting range design, equipment and installation for law enforcement and commercial ranges. It is also the undisputed leader in virtual training systems chosen by the world’s most demanding military and law enforcement customers.
“Meggitt Training Systems’ expanding product portfolio leverages an unparalleled combination of in-house military and law enforcement expertise with global customer feedback,” said Andrea Czop, vice president of strategy, sales and marketing for Meggitt Training Systems. “As live-fire and virtual training evolve and increasingly overlap, I encourage SHOT Show attendees to talk to us at our booths, on the range and after our Law Enforcement Education Program presentation.”
Meggitt’s live-fire solutions on display at booth 12267 will include:
- The XWT GEN4 wireless target carrier builds on the industry’s first wireless, 360º turning system. The XWT GEN4 uses a lithium ion battery with a positive locking connection and ergonomic placement. This technology provides a 50% increase in battery watt hours. The new docking system improves contact design for faster, more reliable charging; that means more time using the XWT GEN4 and less time charging it. Programmable distraction lighting now integrates red, blue and white LEDs with four times the brightness of previous models. The chassis features a new side cover design for wheel overhead protection and prevention of brass drivetrain damage. Anti-static wheels eliminate grounding tinsel and reduce electrostatic discharge.
- The XWT ProImage® projected target system revolutionizes image and video targets for indoor shooting ranges. An industry first, the system is a compact video projector and camera system that attaches to Meggitt’s XWT target carrier and can move downrange to any distance on the track. Wirelessly connected to a 10” lane control unit mounted to the shooting stall, the system projects interactive games, digital videos and images that a shooter can upload onto white paper or cardboard targets. The onboard camera provides a streaming, close-up view of the target for instantaneous feedback, including bullet hole tracking displayed on a tablet. The XWT ProImage is a simple addition to any XWT GEN3 or GEN4 carrier, uses lithium batteries, and with the XWT, it docks and charges while in operation.
- Multi-Function Stationary Infantry Target (MF-SIT) offers a fixed target head configuration that can respond to hits or a pre-programmed scenario, ensuring that the trainees do not anticipate target actions. This provides a realistic environment for urban operations and specialized training. The MF-SIT system is operated through radio frequency, hardwire or Ethernet controls that enable great flexibility in range design and usage.
- The LOMAH (location of miss and hit) system adds shot scoring by measuring the precise time of a bullet’s supersonic shock wave passing over a ballistically protected microphone sensor array. Triangulation of sound waves for hit location makes Meggitt’s offering unique in this market, determining the bullet’s location and presenting a graphical image on the shooter’s firing point computer. The bullet’s measured location provides the shooter the information needed to accurately display shot grouping and zeroing of weapons more effectively, resulting in improved marksmanship skills. LOMAH can be installed easily via a retrofit kit or on new, LOMAH-capable Meggitt targets such as the MF-SIT.
The company also will have models on display of the GranTrap™ rubber bullet trap, LE5000 escalator steel bullet trap, SHOTT™ House tactical environment and the RoadRange™ mobile indoor range.
In booth 6602, part of the Law Enforcement Pavilion, Meggitt Training Systems will exhibit the FATS® 100P portable virtual training system. The simulator features advanced functionality for both instructor and trainee, delivering weapon handling and shot placement analytics, marksmanship automatic coaching tools, video-based judgmental training for escalation and de-escalation, and enhanced graphic capabilities, all in a compact package. Portable and light, the FATS 100P comes in two rugged hand-carry cases the size of a large range bag that allow easy transportation, set-up and operation by one person, ideal for departments sharing resources or conducting public affairs for citizen groups. Up to six weapon simulators, including wireless BlueFire® ones on display, can be run simultaneously.
In addition to Meggitt’s exhibit hall presence, the company will participate in the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP). Company representative Heath Shaw will present “Staying on Target: How to Outfit your Shooting Range for Maximum Safety and Efficiency” on Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 10:45-11:45 am in Marcello Room 4504, part of the Sands Expo. Shaw will share industry insight on live-fire range development and operation trends, including indoor range equipment, such as target carriers, baffles and bullet traps. Outdoor ranges will also be featured, with emphasis on sound abatement and rubber bullet traps to meet stringent EPA regulations. The company will discuss increasing requirements from law enforcement agencies for ranges that can accommodate dynamic, tactical training on the move. Show attendees can register for this LEEP session at https://shotshow.org/leep/. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
19 Dec 19. RAAF pilots undergo F-35 multi-ship simulated training. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has put in place a system to allow F-35 pilots to engage in multi-ship training missions using simulation technology. A total of four full mission simulators have been established at the integrated training centre at the RAAF base in Williamtown to support realistic training needs of the pilots.
Australian F-35A pilots are undergoing multi-ship training at the integrated centre, with the programme expected to train five pilots and 100 maintainer students by next month.
The training presents complex scenarios and prepares pilots for future operations.
RAAF seeks to establish a sovereign training capability before the F-35A achieves initial operating capability status in December next year.
F-35 Integrated Training Centre officer in charge Squadron Leader Amanda Norris said: “The simulation of four F-35As being flown together trains pilots to lead and fight as a four-ship formation.
“This four-ship capability is a key component of our training system. It enables four-ship qualified pilots to instruct and qualify others. This instruction and the mission complexity that can be generated is incredibly realistic. Pilots are able to experience scenarios that can be difficult to simulate outside of an actual warlike environment.
“Using a combination of their sensors and formation tactics, the multi-ship is able to train four pilots simultaneously in these roles, allowing for the very real human performance in the simulated environment.”
The full mission simulators also allow maintainers to improve engine ground operator training skills.
Next year, the RAAF intends to focus on improving training and making it more relevant, Norris added.
In April last year, the RAAF Base Williamtown received equipment for the F-35 training centre. It included a weapons load trainer and an ejection systems maintenance trainer.
Earlier this month, the airforce received seven additional F-35A fighter jets from the US. The Australian Government authorised the purchase of the last 24 aircraft in the programme to buy 72 F-35s.(Source: airforce-technology.com)
16 Dec 19. UK eyes Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator contract in 2021. The future Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator (D-JFI) for UK joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) and artillery fire support teams (FSTs) is on track for a main gate business case approval in September 2020, officials have said. The D-JFI equipment suite encompasses communications, computing, and target acquisition aids intended to supersede the in-service FireStorm ensemble, which was originally acquired (from then Rockwell Collins) in 2007 in response to an urgent operational requirement for service in Afghanistan.
The D-JFI requirement has been set at 350+ systems, Lieutenant Colonel Martin Smith, SO1 Joint Effects (Integrate), Support Directorate, Army HQ, said during a briefing at the 2019 Omega Close Air Support (CAS) conference in November. This makes it a Category B acquisition project (those with a value between GBP100m and GBP400m, not needing direct ministerial and Treasury approval).
Initial gate business case approval was granted by the Defence Equipment and Support Investment Board in December 2016, since when the prospective prime contractor list is understood to have been reduced to three: Collins Aerospace (soon to be part of Raytheon), Elbit Systems, and General Dynamics. Tender evaluation is expected to be approved “shortly”, according to the Lt Col Smith.
The official programme schedule calls for a contract award not later than 25 January 2021, in time for system deliveries to begin in the second quarter of calendar year 2023, and initial operational capability (IOC) to be achieved 12 months later. Completion of fielding and full operational capability is set for 2027.
Meanwhile, it is expected that some of the new military off-the-shelf (MOTS) target-acquisition equipment items, such as the laser target designators, laser target markers, and infrared pointers funded under D-JFI, will be required to be delivered in advance of IOC for operation in conjunction with the current ensemble, said Lt Col Smith. (Source: Jane’s)
16 Dec 19. NH90 NTH Sea Lion: Rheinmetall’s Asterion simulator lets crews train even before delivery of the first helicopter. Thanks to advanced simulation technology from Rheinmetall, ground personnel of the German Navy’s new NH90 NTH Sea Lion helicopter are already able to start training. Back in mid-June of this year, Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH handed over the Functional Cockpit, an integral part of the Maintenance and Repair Trainer for the NH90 Naval Transport Helicopter (NTH). Rheinmetall developed the Functional Cockpit based on the Group’s inhouse Asterion product line. Enabling complete ground crew training, the Functional Cockpit is built into a full-size replica of the NH90 NTH Sea Lion transport helicopter. Thanks to early delivery of the training system, ground crews were able to begin preparing for their new tasks even before the arrival of the first original helicopter, which has since taken place. Apart from its mission of training ground personnel who in future will be responsible for maintaining and repairing the new helicopter, the Functional Cockpit can also be used for instructing pilots. Particularly to begin with, this will be a major advantage, as availability of the original helicopters for training purposes will necessarily be limited. The Functional Cockpit for the NH90 NTH dispatched to Nordholz Naval Airbase was the second delivery of training systems for NH90 ground personnel. Asterion-based ground crew training systems were already in operation in Fassberg, a German Army Aviation Corps base in Lower Saxony. Here, Germany Army ground personnel undergo training in operational and maintenance procedures for the NH90 TTH in three exact replica cockpits.
13 Dec 19. MASS, has supported UK MOD staff and their French counterparts to successfully complete Exercise GRIFFIN BLAZE / BLAST which rehearsed the strategic and operational levels of command for the Anglo-French Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF).
In November 2010, the Lancaster House Treaties were signed by the UK and France to represent a significant strengthening in the defence and security relationship between the two countries. CJEF is the flagship project within the agreement and consists of forces operating side by side while responding to a wide range of scenarios.
Exercise GRIFFIN BLAZE was a MOD level strategic planning event that produced orders issued to the combined CJEF Operational HQ which formed in Northwood for an operational planning event, Exercise GRIFFIN BLAST. The exercise was a demonstration of the close working partnership created between the military staffs of France and the United Kingdom over the past 10 years as our two countries work towards completion of Full Operating Capability (FOC) for the CJEF in June 2020.
While there have been many CJEF exercises at operational and tactical levels over the years, this is an example of an exercise at the Political/Military strategic level. The seriousness and reality of the exercise is key to ensure the Force can be ready for complex and tough decisions in the real world. As a result, new and different disciplines were exploited by the Exercise planning team, including policy, legal advice and logistics, to achieve the training objectives.
This was the first cross governmental departmental exercise involving UK MOD and their French equivalents conducted by CJEF simulating involvement from the Cabinet Offices and OGDs, and MASS constructed the complex scenario. In constructing the scenario and facilitating the exercise as a whole, MASS provided intelligence support, observers, enabled the Real-Life Support and provided UK and French former senior military and civilian policy makers to replicate the functions of their respective governments.
Colonel Ratcliffe, Assistant Head Joint Force Training, stated “Once again MASS has supported Joint Warfare’s exercise delivery in a new and complex area of training by creating a realistic and challenging scenario and bringing this to life through the experts that they were able to bring to bear. We look forward to continuing our positive partnering relationship with MASS in the future.”
MASS Managing Director Chris Stanley commented, “Exercises like Griffin Blaze/Blast are paramount to the UK-French relationship and build on the important milestones created by the Lancaster Treaty over the last 10 years. I am incredibly proud of the MASS team playing an integral part in supporting the CJEF exercises and we will continue to support them in the future.”
13 Dec 19. Australian troops return home from Task Group Taji Rotation 9. Australian troops from the ninth rotation of Task Group Taji have returned home following their six-month deployment to Iraq. Around 250 armed forces personnel from the Australian Army and the New Zealand Defence Force arrived in Brisbane on 12 December. The Australian contingent included troops from the army’s 2nd / 14th Light Horse Regiment and the wider 7th Brigade.
Australia Defence Minister Linda Reynolds congratulated the forces for their contribution to the task group.
Reynolds said: “Christmas is a time to reflect on the significant contribution our ADF personnel have made throughout the year on operations in support of regional and global stability and security.
“I thank the men and women of Task Group Taji Rotation 9 for their service and the personal sacrifices they have made while being away from family and friends for extended periods of time.”
Nearly 2,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) and civilian members will continue to serve in support of 17 active operations away from home during this Christmas.
Task Group Taji Rotation 9 assumed responsibility from Task Group Taji 8 at the Taji Military Complex in June.
Troops were deployed to continue the work done by Task Group Taji Rotation 8 to support the Iraqi School of Infantry.
The Task Group Taji mission involves training activities to help build the capability and capacity of Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
Last month, the Australian Government revealed plans to reduce Task Group Taji deployment to Iraq by half and sent ADF troops for the tenth rotation.
In a significant milestone for the Task Group Taji train-advise-assist mission, the Iraqi Army School of Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer II (SINCOII) achieved full operating capability last month. (Source: army-technology.com)
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Meggitt Training Systems, makers of FATS® and Caswell technologies, a division of Meggitt PLC, is the leading supplier of integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training systems. Meggitt Training Systems continues to grow its capabilities based on the legacy of these two industry leaders.
Over 13,600 Meggitt live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual systems are fielded internationally, providing judgmental, situational awareness and marksmanship training to the armed forces, law enforcement and security organizations. Meggitt Training Systems employs more than 400 people at its headquarters in Atlanta and at facilities in Orlando, Canada, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, UAE, Australia and Singapore. It can deploy service personnel anywhere in the world for instructor training, system installation and maintenance. Learn more at https://meggitttrainingsystems.com/.
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