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07 Oct 20. Meggitt Training Systems Announces Company Name Change to InVeris Training Solutions. Meggitt Training Systems (the “Company”), the global leader in integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training solutions for military and law enforcement clients, today announced its new name, InVeris Training Solutions, effective immediately. “InVeris” connotes insight and truth. The rebranding reflects the Company’s pride in standing behind the bravest, best-trained men and women around the world and to providing comprehensive training solutions that prepare them to act at a moment’s notice to protect the communities and countries they serve. The Company remains headquartered in Suwanee, GA and partners with clients in the US and around the world from facilities on five continents.
“Over the past few months, we have undertaken a very thorough and thoughtful exercise to more closely align our name and brand with our values in service of safety,” said Andrea Czop, Vice President of Strategy, Sales and Marketing. “InVeris means trust and integrity – values that are core to our clients and that we live every day. Our clients give their all, and we’re honored and proud to serve those who keep us safe with excellence. Because we know that when our clients are prepared, and their people are safe, we all stay safe.”
As part of the rebranding, InVeris Training Solutions has also introduced a new logo, corporate colors, and website, InVerisTraining.com. The Company retains its ownership of its legacy brands, FATS® and Caswell technologies, the industry pioneers in the virtual and live fire training arenas, respectively.
Czop continued: “As we enter a new phase of growth in US and international markets, our commitment to our employees, clients, and partners remains our top priority. We’ve always backed our clients with quality products, proven innovations and dedicated support. We’ll continue to do that as we move ahead.”
InVeris Training Solutions combines an agile approach with an unmatched expertise in training technology to design and deliver customized, cutting-edge training solutions that keep military, law enforcement, and private and commercial range clients safe, prepared and ready to serve – Because Seconds Matter™. The Company has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual training systems globally in its 90-year history, and it is the Simulation Training Program of Record for Domestic and International military forces. The Company’s advanced training solutions prepare clients in more than 55 countries to safely protect the communities they serve.
More information can be found at InVerisTraining.com
07 Oct 20. Meggitt Training Systems changes name to InVeris Training Solutions. The live-fire and virtual weapons training company Meggitt Training Systems is rebranding to InVeris Training Solutions, the company announced Wednesday. The Suwanee, Ga., firm, is shedding the name of its former parent company, Meggitt Plc., which sold the former subsidiary to private investment firm Pine Island Capital Partners LLC for $146m in July. The new name is meant to connote trust and integrity, the company said.
Pine Island’s partners include former former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy.
Partner Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola executive, serves as interim CEO for InVeris, and Chambliss ― a partner at Pine Island ― is non-executive chairman for InVeris.
Chambliss, now with Washington law firm DLA Piper, represented Georgia as a Republican and served on the armed services and intelligence committees before retiring from Congress nearly six years ago. He became aware of the company now known as InVeris while serving in Congress and said it was a natural fit for Pine Island because of his partners’ backgrounds in the defense space.
“We clearly understood at the time of the purchase back on July 1 that we were buying a company that is the gold standard when it comes to providing training for the United States military as well as to international clients in the same arena,” Chambliss said.
“Going forward, we think that clearly we have the opportunity, number one, to provide the resources to what is now known as InVeris to expand from a technology standpoint the products that we have been making for years, and to further develop and bring those products into the 21st Century.”
The company, which employs roughly 450 people, will retain its ownership of its legacy brands, FATS (a line of virtual systems) and Caswell technologies.
The company continues to work on the U.S. Army’s Engagement Skills Trainer II contract and Squad Advanced Marksmanship-Trainer program, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps’ Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer, according to Vice President of Strategy, Sales and Marketing Andrea Czop. It’s also fielded derivatives of those systems to the Navy and Air Force.
The company has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual training systems globally in its 90-year history. It also has clients in more than 55 countries―including programs of record in Canada, Australia and the U.K. for more than 25 years.
Foreign sales are key to its growth plans, company executives say.
“We continue to be very active with all those international customers, and we’re growing,” said Czop. “There are a lot of opportunities for us right now, and the focus is our international strategy.” (Source: Defense News)
07 Oct 20. First Joint Exercise To Test All-Domain Capabilities: Valiant Shield 2020. The exercise also served as the Air Force’s third “On Ramp” demo for its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), demonstrating a new software for battlefield situational awareness.
Key portions of the new American way of war, All Domain Warfare, were tested for the first time during the recent Valiant Shield exercise in the Pacific.
The exercise also served as the Air Force’s third “On Ramp” demo for its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) and afforded “the first opportunity to integrate and experiment with the technology in an overseas Combatant Command operational exercise,” a spokesperson for Pacific Air Forces told Breaking D yesterday. “Additionally, VS20 is the first in a series of exercises that will quickly translate new concepts, such as ABMS, key to the war-winning effectiveness of the Joint Force.”
Besides incorporating ABMS, Valiant Shield 2020 also gave let the Army begin to validate its Multi Domain Task Force concept.
“The ability to rapidly surge combat-ready forces using Army watercraft across the theater is critical to projecting forces at a moment’s notice to support regional alliances and reinforce the existing security architecture,” Army Col. Theodore White said in a Sept. 28 press release from Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). “Participating in joint exercises like Valiant Shield allow Army watercraft to integrate with the joint force to meet the Theater Joint Force Land Component Commander’s intent.”
The Marine 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company also provided” real-time guidance support for a live-fire sea-based TLAM strike on a ground target,” the release says.
Valiant Shield 20 was a substantial exercise, involving more than 11,000 soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen. The main scenario involved the sinking of the decommissioned Navy frigate USS Curts (FFG 38), otherwise known as a SINKEX, on Sept. 19.
“The SINKEX included air-launching ordnance from fixed and rotary wing squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, embarked aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), surface launched missiles from cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and Shiloh (CG 67), as well as various supporting Navy and U.S. Air Force aircraft,” the INDOPACOM release said.
While Valiant Shield is typically run out of Guam, COVID-19 restrictions this year meant it was scaled back and moved to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Likewise, ABMS On Ramp 3 had to be redesigned, the PACAF spokesperson said.
For example, the ABMS demo was not able to include the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie drone to link directly to 5th generation fighters and “execute connectivity at the ‘edge’ through manned and unmanned teaming” as originally planned, the PACAF spokesperson said.
“The original design of ABMS OnRamp #3 was to incorporate and equip the [Multi-Domain Operations Center, MDOC] with new capabilities to receive relevant data from forward sensors, Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) assets, and other experimental software to accelerate decision-making processes in contested environments at the tactical edge. When COVID travel restrictions emerged, only software was provided to the MDOC design. This software was leveraged alongside legacy systems,” the PACAF spokesperson said.
The MDOC, the spokesperson explained, “is a small, joint team in a forward location designed to synchronize Joint functions (e.g. ISR, fires, sustainment, movement/maneuver)” including in a contested or denied environment.
Among the Air Force assets involved were C-130Js, EC-130, E-3s, F-16s, F-22s, KC-10s, and KC-135s.
As Breaking D readers know, Air Force acquisition czar Will Roper had hopes that the third ABMS demo would demonstrate the Valkyrie’s ability to connect to a piloted aircraft and perform traditional “wingman” functions. He also was hoping that the Valkyrie could again carry the ABMS gatewayONE to allow F-35s and F-22s to communicate machine-to-machine.
The ABMS demo was able to show off the new C2IMERA software (pronounced ‘chimera,’ and developed by Leidos) to demonstrate how data from myriad sensors can be integrated to provide battlefield situational awareness to commanders at both the mock ‘headquarters’ bases and and the small Forward Operating Bases (FOB)s. Its success proved out “a new capability to command and control Agile Combat Employment (ACE)” and support the evolving strategy for “Logistics Under Attack.”
ACE is the Air Force effort to disperse operations from a few large bases to include staging posts such as civilian airfields or remote locations with few amenities.
Figuring out how to ensure the availability of supplies in a high-end fight with Russia and China is not only a high priority for the Air Force as it retools for Joint All Domain Operations, it also is a key piece of the military’s evolving Joint Warfighting Concept — with the Army tapped by as the lead service for fleshing out how traditional approaches to logistics trains can be re-thought. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
07 Oct 20. Latvia installs new SPIKE missiles team trainer for SPIKE LR2 and SPIKE SR. Latvian National Armed Forces have completed the installation of a new state-of-the-art Team Trainer for SPIKE Missiles. The new system will train Latvian forces to use Rafael Advanced Defense System’s SPIKE LR2 and SR missiles, procured from EuroSpike (a joint venture between Rafael, Diehl Defence, and Rheinmetall Electronics).
SPIKE LR2 is a 5th generation missile with an engagement range of 5.5km, and SPIKE SR is a company-level fire-and-forget light missile for 2km.
The STT (SPIKE Team Trainer), was installed at the end of August 2020 by teams from Rafael and EuroSpike.
The STT provides the SPIKE LR2 and SPIKE SR gunners, squad and section commanders, fully-simulated battlefield training, improving both gunnery and command and control proficiency levels, leading the gunner through all stages of the firing sequence from VIS or IR surveillance of a simulated image up to target impact.
The STT can simulate real-time battle management challenges, such as command and control of multiple launchers, training in synergy between observation and fire positions and it trains the gunners and commanders in handling different scenarios. The STT uniquely-simulates different environmental scenarios on a real terrain database, with varying visibility conditions, simulating the different seasons of the year, and it can be developed and adjusted based on the customer’s specific request, such as real threat analysis, fighting doctrine and expected enemy course-of-action.
The training SPIKE platoons go through a full cycle of mission planning, mission execution and detailed debriefing after action according to the data collected during the scenario, which is fully documented (including video, audio and & radio recordings), allowing optimal post-mission debriefing.
The SPIKE SR is a light shoulder-launched disposable fire-and-forget missile, effective up to 2km. Weighing only 10 kg, and with a dual seeker, the SPIKE SR allows the maneuvering infantry to acquire and engage fast-moving targets at short range, thanks to its advanced tracker.
The SPIKE LR2 is a fifth-generation multipurpose missile. Featuring improved engagement ranges of up to 5.5 km, SPIKE LR2 weighs only 13 kg, possesses enhanced lethality, advanced target tracking capabilities, and a new network-enabled third-party target allocation enhancement with an embedded inertial measurement unit (IMU) assembly.
Mr. Gal Papier, head of marketing at Rafael’s Precision Tactical Weapon Systems directorate: “The Latvian SPIKE Team Trainer (STT) is an advanced training facility which enables training of three different SPIKE variants – the SPIKE LR (Long Range), the 5th generation SPIKE LR2 and the SPIKE SR. The installed training facility will allow the Latvian Army to both qualify and sustain a high level of current and future generation SPIKE gunners and commanders, enabling them advanced and significant antitank capabilities.”
06 Oct 20. Philippine Army commissions two R44 Raven lightweight training helicopters. The Philippine Army (PA) announced on 6 October that it has inducted into service two recently donated Robinson R44 Raven light training helicopters. The PA said via its Facebook page that the four-seat rotorcraft entered service with the Aviation ‘Hiraya’ Regiment in a ceremony held at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija Province, that was presided over by PA Commander Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana.
The helicopters will be used “for the training of the incoming rotary[-wing] pilot students of the regiment”, noted the PA, adding that Lt Gen Sobejana also attended the closing ceremony of an aviation qualification course.
Some of the 16 graduates from the class will undergo rotary-wing aircraft training at Fort Magsaysay while the rest will be deployed to the Special Mission Aviation Company in the Visayas and Mindanao, said the army.
“The Philippine Army envisions to meet this demand for rapid-response ground forces, supported by aviation capabilities. And, at the heart of this capability are the army aviators. These pilots help the Force effectively respond to security requirements,” said the commander during the ceremony. (Source: Jane’s)
05 Oct 20.Russian Navy’s Admiral Makarov conducts air defence training. Air defence (AD) crews on the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) frigate Admiral Makarov have carried out training to repel the mock enemy air attack.
Air defence (AD) crews on the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) frigate Admiral Makarov have carried out training to repel the mock enemy air attack.
The exercise is carried out by the frigate as a part of the permanent group of ships that are allocated to the Mediterranean Sea.
During the exercise, the mock enemy aircraft relayed information regarding the location of the frigate and headed for an airstrike using guided missiles on the target.
The weapons control system of the ship electronically simulated the mock enemy with the specified characteristics.
The crew of the combat information post identified and classified the target, and the approaching ‘plane’ was then destroyed by the air defence crews before it entered the target range.
The enemy target was destroyed by electronic launches of anti-aircraft missiles, which prevented it from striking the ship.
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation stated that the training was carried out “according to the plan for performing special tasks by the navy group in the far sea zone”.
The Indian Navy reportedly took part in exercises with Russia on 4-5 September.
In July, the Russian Navy took delivery of a new generation of hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), these weapons are undergoing the final phase of testing.
During the same month, the Russian Navy accepted its newest Admiral Gorshkov-class of Project 22350 frigate, Admiral Kasatonov. The new frigates feature stealth capabilities and carry high-precision weapons. They are being built by Severnaya Verf (United Shipbuilding Corporation). (Source: naval-technology.com)
05 Oct 20. Royal Malaysian Air Force operates Rheinmetall’s A400M cargo hold simulator. Rheinmetall and Airbus Defense & Space continue their successful cooperation in training systems for the A400M transport aircraft. The new turnkey A400M Cargo Hold Part Task Trainer (CPTT) for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has been used for training since February 2020.
The A400M CPTT, an A400M Cargo Hold Trainer with controls that are exactly reproduced in the original scale, is used to provide realistic training for the Load Masters and Ground Personnel in accordance with the requirements of the RMAF. The CPTT can be used to train the mission-specific configurable conversion of the Cargo Hold, the preparation of the load, loading and unloading, procedures during the flight and on the ground, and the cooperation of the air crews. The system is suitable for initial as well as advanced as well as repetition and deployment training. Even complex scenarios and emergency situations can be practiced safely since no original aircraft is required.
The new Cargo Hold Part Task Trainer complements the existing simulation and training systems of the A400M Training Center at the Kuala Lumpur site (Malaysia). The targeted expansion of Rheinmetall’s comprehensive cargo product line by the CPTT enables the entire spectrum of cargo training resources to be adapted for other platforms.
In addition to the CPTT, Rheinmetall has delivered further training equipment such as the Airbus Load Master Work Station Trainer (LMWST) as well as the Airbus Cargo Hold Trainer Enhanced (CHT-E) to various A400M user nations.
The CHT-E can be classified one level higher than the CPTT. In almost every detail, it is the exact replica of the loading space, including all operating elements, control stations, electronics and equipment true to the original. With this all training contents can be trained for which a real flight is not necessary. The CHT-E was delivered to the ITC of Airbus in Seville, the Royal Air Force in Brize Norton, the German Air Force in Wunstorf and the French Paratroopers (Army) in Toulouse.
A LMWST is in use at Airbus’ International Training Center (ITC) in Seville, the A400M French National Training Center in Orléans and the Royal Air Force National Training Center in Brize Norton.
06 Oct 20. RAF Coningsby hosts U.S. Air Force jet fighters. The skies around RAF Coningsby reverberated to a different sound this week when the station hosted U.S. Air Force jet fighters as part of a three-day exercise. Through the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept the USAF is testing new ways of deploying its aircraft during potential crises. Aimed at increasing flexibility and improving combat effectiveness, the Mission Assurance Exercise saw a number of F-15E Strike Eagles from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk operated from Coningsby alongside based RAF Typhoons.
“ACE means fighting on the move, with small units and small footprints,” said USAF Colonel Jason Camilletti, Commander of the 48th Fighter Wing. “Exercising elements of ACE enables U.S. forces in Europe to operate from locations with varying levels of capacity and support, ensuring Airmen and aircrews are postured to deliver lethal combat power across the spectrum of military operations.”
“I am delighted to welcome our colleagues from the United States Air Force to RAF Coningsby. Our two air forces share a long and distinguished history of co-operation, achievement, and joint sacrifice. For example, in World War Two US airman Lieutenant Carl Joseph Van-Horn sadly died flying from Coningsby on D-Day in 1944.
“The Typhoon squadrons based here train weekly with our colleagues from RAF Lakenheath over the North Sea, deepening our understanding of how our respective forces operate; honing the skills required to operate in coalitions around the world. Hosting the Strike Eagles here is part of that ongoing process that further strengthens the already close ties between our stations.” Group Captain Matt Peterson, Station Commander, RAF Coningsby.
02 Oct 20. US Army validates Multi-Domain Task Force in key Pacific exercise. For the first time, US Army leaders have successfully validated the service’s Multi-Domain Task Force as part of joint, large-scale wargames in a major theatre of operation.
Task Force officials participated in the latest iteration of US Pacific Command’s Valiant Shield military exercises, a 12-day training event involving US armed forces participating in a series of sea-, air-, and land-based combat drills. As part of that effort, members of the army’s task force helped co-ordinate deployment of army vessels, in support of air- and land-based units executing several combat scenarios during the exercise, which ended on 25 September.
“The ability to rapidly surge combat-ready forces using Army watercraft across the theatre is critical to projecting forces at a moment’s notice to support regional alliances and reinforce the existing security architecture,” said Army Colonel Theodore White, deputy commanding officer of the 8th Theatre Sustainment Command. “Participating in joint exercises like Valiant Shield allow Army watercraft to integrate with the joint force,” via the task force as part of the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) concept championed by army and Pentagon leaders, he said in a 29 September statement.
The task force element validated during Valiant Shield was the first of its kind, stood up under Army Pacific Command in 2017. The pilot programme featured the 17th Field Artillery Brigade as its core element, supported by operational detachments from the Intelligence, Information, Cyber, Electronic Warfare (EW) and Space (I2CEWS) units created in January 2019. (Source: Jane’s)
25 Sep 20. India’s DRDO unveils new high-speed target drone. Abhyas is indigenously designed and developed by the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE). India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test flown the Abhyas, or High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT), drone on 22 September, the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) announced on the same day.
The test, which involved two of ABHYAS demonstrator vehicles, was conducted from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.
According to the PIB, Abhyas is indigenously designed and developed by the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).
Abhyas adopts a missile-like form factor and features a shoulder-mounted main wing. It is capable of fully autonomous flight and used to evaluate the performance of missile systems.
The target drone is launched using a pair of underslung 68 mm rocket boosters before engaging a small gas turbine engine for propulsion. It features a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial navigation system (INS) for navigation, while guidance and control is managed by a flight control computer.
PIB stated that the target drone met the user’s performance requirements, including a top speed of Mach 0.5, endurance of 30 minutes, operating altitude of 5 km, and a 2G turn capability.
The Indian armed forces earlier fielded the reusable Lakshya and Lakshya-2 high‐speed aerial targets which have designed to present a realistic threat for training fighter pilots in air‐to‐air combat and simulate a variety of missile threats, although the latter is an improved model that can mimic the flight profiles of low-level cruise missiles that often skim the surface at 15 to 25 m above sea level.
The Lakshya target drone family has also been used to tow targets for ground-based air defence gunnery and missile live-fire training.
Abhyas is not designed to be recovered following a training mission, unlike Lakshya. It is believed that up to 225 of these new target drones will be acquired. (Source: AMR)
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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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