Last American soldier to leave Afghanistan to command US Army Europe

On the same subject

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  August 15, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Japanese F-35s to make inaugural deployment to Australia

  This is the first visiting forces agreement Japan has struck with any country outside the United States.

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  August 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  USAF initiative Agility Prime demonstrates eVTOL advances

  The US Air Force's (USAF) initiative Agility Prime has demonstrated the developments in the electric vertical take-off and landing flight (eVTOL). Conducted at Camp Mabry in Texas, US, the first Agility Prime ORB flight demonstration was witnessed by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Air Force chief of staff general Charles Brown Jr, and Air Force chief master sergeant JoAnne Bass. The leaders were joined by Texas National Guard hosts and AFWERX personnel. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract recipient LIFT Aircraft demonstrated the flight. The company is one of the first small companies selected as participants for the Agility Prime ‘Air Race to Certification'. LIFT Aircraft has developed Hexa eVTOL to offer a fully autonomous people transport. Under the Agile programme, it will refine and accelerate the progress of Hexa by expanding its flight envelope. During the demonstration, LIFT CEO Matthew Chasen navigated Hexa over the Camp Mabry parade ground. Agility Prime lead and AFWERX director colonel Nathan Diller said: “We now have over fifteen of the leading aircraft manufacturers in the world applying to partner with Agility Prime, with many of them already on contract. “This flight today marks the first of many demonstrations and near-term flight tests designed to reduce the technical risk and prepare for Agility Prime fielding in 2023.” Agility Prime is a non-traditional programme seeking to speed-up the potential commercial market for advanced air mobility vehicles. These vehicles, or ORBs, could be used for specific operations such as medical evacuation, firefighting, civil and military disaster relief, search and rescue, and humanitarian relief. During the launch of the programme in April, Barrett said: “Agility Prime is a programme with a vision of world impact. “The thought of an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, a flying car, might seem straight out of a Hollywood movie, but by partnering today with stakeholders across industries and agencies, we can set up the US for this aerospace phenomenon.” Last month, AFWERX innovation programme prepared to host the first virtual TeamUp event with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/usaf-initiative-agility-prime-demonstrates-evtol-advances/

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  June 11, 2018 | International, Land

  Marines want a better way do force-on-force tactical shooting training

  After decades of using laser-type devices for shooting simulations and force-on-force tactical warfighting, the Marine Corps is asking for a new way to do fake shooting. A recent request for information is asking the commercial industry to bring ideas to the Corps that would help it make simulated shooting more realistic for up to a battalion-size force and improve current systems. Some versions of those systems have been in operation since Nintendo's Duck Hunt video game was considered high-tech shooting and laser tag advertisements dominated Saturday morning cartoons. This won't hit every Marine Corps installation but many will have it. Based on the RFI, the systems would be employed “to provide turnkey instrumented exercises with After Action Review (AAR) at 29 Palms, Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, MCB Hawaii, MCB Okinawa or MCB Quantico within 3 weeks of notice, as well as support additional exercises upon request at Camp Fuji, Japan, Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Center, MCB Yuma, and specified reserve locations.” And the Marines are not doing this alone. They will be leveraging the Army's Live Training Engagement Component software. That's a tactical training framework so that simulations can be on the same standards and work jointly with other services and potentially foreign partners. One of the key cross functional teams that the Army formed last year included simulated training environment work. The goal is to incorporate better simulations for training at all levels, beginning in the design and procurement of future weapons and other equipment systems. The Corps wants a system that would be able to simulate all weapons and vehicles typically seen in a battalion, which would include at least: M4/M16; M9 or sidearm, the M27 Infantry Automatic Weapon; hand grenades; rocket propelled grenades; Light Anti-Tank Weapon; 60mm mortars; 81mm mortars; Claymore antipersonnel mine; Mk-19 grenade launcher; Russian machine gun; AK-47 variants; M41 TOW; Javelin missile and the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle. It would distinguish between a hit, wound or miss and record information for after-action reviews. Marine Corps Times first reported news of this initiative last year following an interview with then-program manager for Training Systems at Marine Corps Systems Command, Col. Walt Yates. At the time, Yates described some of the shortfalls of using lasers when gauging accuracy and real-world effects. “A laser is at the speed of light, and the bullet is not,” he said. Yates previously said that though the current shooting systems are a generational change from old MILES, or multiple integrated laser engagement system, lasers have fundamental flaws for realistic battle scenarios. For example, laser-based systems shoot line-of-sight, making arcing weapons such as mortars and grenade launchers more difficult to simulate. Lasers can also be deflected by light concealment such as tree leaves and thin walls. And the number of troops and shooting ranges will change with new systems. The first generation ITESS accommodated 120 Marines and opposition forces, the second generation expanded to 1,500 with a communication radius of 5 to 8 km. The third seeks to track up to 2,500 Marines, making it capable of battalion on battalion exercises envisioned by the commandant, Yates said in the November interview. A new simulator must act more like a real bullet, requiring Marines to lead their moving targets, fire rifles on semi, burst and fully automatic modes and ensure the bullet travels in the realistic path, which is not perfectly line of sight, he said. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/06/04/marines-want-a-better-way-do-force-on-force-tactical-shooting-training/