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March 31, 2021 | International, Naval

Flight Control Technology Set to Dive Underwater for Submarine Mobility - Seapower

ROCHESTER, U.K. — BAE Systems is taking decades of flight controls expertise underwater on-board the United Kingdom’s next-generation submarine, Dreadnought. This innovative approach involves adapting controls that are usually used in fly-by-wire aircraft and applying them in a marine environment,...

https://seapowermagazine.org/flight-control-technology-set-to-dive-underwater-for-submarine-mobility

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  • 5 takeaways: Top US Navy officer releases updated strategy document

    December 19, 2018 | International, Naval

    5 takeaways: Top US Navy officer releases updated strategy document

    By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy's top officer released an updated version of his strategy document Monday, an expanded version heavy on goals for specific programs that extend beyond his tenure as chief of naval operations. Almost twice the length of the first edition, Adm. John Richardson's Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority version 2.0 expands on some of the concepts laid out in 2016, and functions as a to-do list for both the fleet and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations staff. Here are five takeaways: 1) Adversaries Design 2.0 is still aimed squarely at competing with China and Russia. “China and Russia seek to redefine the norms of the entire international system on terms more favorable to themselves,” the document reads, and goes on to say that the U.S. “competitive advantage has shrunk and, in some areas, is gone all together.” The U.S. Navy must be agile to keep pace with technology and the tactics of adversaries, the document outlines. To do so it must compete in “gray zone” areas as well as when the shooting starts – to compete with China and Russia in scenarios short of war as well as in direct combat, Richardson writes. “Our adversaries can operate at different levels of intensity in different domains and the same time,” the document reads. 2) To-do list The middle of the document greatly expands on the CNO's “lines of effort,” or areas of focus. Under “Strengthening Naval Power,” CNO lists a number of strategic goals – including standing up the new Norfolk-based 2nd Fleet, which will control ships, submarines and aircraft based out of Norfolk; developing new concepts of operations that focus on fighting as a more spread-out force able to cover more territory through networking sensors; and continuing to apply the lessons learned from the two fatal guided-missile destroyer accidents in 2017. The document outlines award date goals for contracts to major programs, from the future frigate (2020) and Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle (2023). It identifies the requirement for the replacement to the F/A-18 Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler by the end of 2019 – a program known as Next Generation Air Dominance – to field by 2030. Other initiatives include integrating more artificial intelligence and machine learning into warfare systems, as well as 3D printing for replacement parts. The document also establishes goals for personnel including making it easier for sailors to choose and negotiate orders and access their records on their smart phones. 3) New stuff The document calls for a new three-star command inside OPNAV that is linked to a related effort to transform the Naval War College in Rhode Island and the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey, California. Naval War College, combined with Naval Warfare Development Command, will support Development Group East, which will workshop and develop new concepts based on the new technologies entering the fleet. On the West Coast, Development Group West will be supported by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command the Post-Graduate School and will serve as a “center of excellence” for capabilities development. The three-star inside OPNAV will be the coordinator for these new constructs, tasked with overseeing the Navy's “education, experimentation, exercise, and analytic efforts.” The document also calls for the development and fielding of an offensive hypersonic weapon by 2025, a move to counter China and Russia's moves with similar systems. It also references a new “large-scale exercise” planned for 2020, although details are sparse. 4) Logistics The new design puts an emphasis on what has become a glaring shortfall of the U.S. military, its logistics. “We will aim to act as early as possible to de-escalate any crisis on our terms and be ready for the next move,” the document reads. “This will require we sustain the fight with the logistics capabilities needed to refuel, rearm, resupply and, repair our operational forces” Later the document calls for the Navy to “posture logistics capability ashore and at sea in ways that allow the fleet to operate globally, at a pace that can be sustained over time.” 5) Takeaway While the document is detailed, the overall tone shift of Richardson's design from documents released a decade ago is stark, according to James Holmes, a strategy professor at the Naval War College. “The change of tone from the 2007 Maritime Strategy, our first strategy since the 1980s, is stunning,” Holmes said in an email. “The 2007 strategy was a document for a world that might turn competitive or might remain cooperative. The name China appeared nowhere, let alone as a potential foe, while there were a fair number of gauzy generalities and platitudes in there. “You could track the shift in tone from 2007 through the 2015 ‘refresh' of the Maritime Strategy through Design 1.0 in 2016 to this document. Doing so tells you the world has changed around us and we are trying to change with it – or catch up where we've fallen behind.” As for the detailed pieces of the document, they function as a good list of priorities, said Bryan McGrath, a former destroyer skipper turned consultant who worked on the last Maritime Strategy. “This is a solid statement of command intent,” McGrath said. “It is essentially a worklist for his subordinates to guide and prioritize their efforts. It seems to me that any interest to an audience broader than the Navy flag community would be in understanding CNO's priorities.” Military Times reporter Geoff Ziezulewicz contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/12/17/top-us-navy-officer-releases-updated-strategy-document-five-takeaways/

  • AITC Awarded U.S. Army Contract for Medical Simulation and Training Support at NATO Allied Centre for Medical Excellence (ACME) HQ Facility

    June 26, 2019 | International, Other Defence

    AITC Awarded U.S. Army Contract for Medical Simulation and Training Support at NATO Allied Centre for Medical Excellence (ACME) HQ Facility

    WINTER SPRINGS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), Joint Project Manager for Medical Modeling and Simulation (JPM MMS) has awarded Advanced IT Concepts (AITC) with a contract to support the relocation and outfitting of the ACME Training Facility at NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ), Mons, Belgium. AITC is a certified 8(a) small business systems integration and information technology (IT) firm that provides solutions and services, such as training and simulation support to the federal government and public sector markets. The ACME Training Facility will be enhancing their training capability by expanding their physical footprint and providing simulation that tightly replicates the different battlefield environments and medical evacuation platforms, in which medical training could be performed. AITC will procure, install, integrate and operate the Medical Training Command and Control (MT-C2) system software, leveraged as Government Owned Training Software (GOTS), with Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) hardware, defined in the MT-C2 Technical Data Package (TDP) as designed for the Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs). AITC teamed with Design Interactive (DI) to provide an optional C130 medical simulator at the ACME Training Facility since DI specializes in building adaptive training systems and user interfaces. Additionally, DI and AITC have an existing partnership at the Transport Medical Training Laboratory (TMTL) in San Antonio, Texas, where they developed the helicopter medical simulation and AITC is operating and maintaining the training systems. “AITC's experience at TMTL and delivery of IT solutions, system support and training operations provides the experience and collaboration capabilities necessary to deliver an innovative and adaptable solution to facilitate an effective medical training operations environment for the NATO Allied Center for Medical Excellence,” says Gabe Ruiz, CEO and President of AITC. “We are pleased and humbled to have been selected by PEO STRI for this effort.” “AITC will deliver a high level of infrastructure management, system test and implementation, logistics and instructor training support to enhance the ACME Training Facility at the NATO ACME Special Operations Headquarters, in Mons, Belgium,” says David Balleweg, AITC's Director of Sales and Marketing. About Advanced IT Concepts (AITC): AITC is an 8a minority and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business founded by former military information technology (IT) professionals. AITC assists government and private sector customers through systems design, engineering, test, integration and implementation of innovative solutions that draw upon information technology solutions in network, security, training, collaboration, communications, logistics and infrastructure, as well as program and project management, deployment, operations and maintenance services. Visit www.aitcinc.com or contact Christa Santos at christa.santos@aitcinc.com for more information. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190625005702/en

  • US Marines test radars, networks for expeditionary base operations

    January 4, 2024 | International, C4ISR

    US Marines test radars, networks for expeditionary base operations

    The 31st MEU continued the Marine Corps' push to experiment with expeditionary advanced base operations during its two deployments in 2023.

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