Poland obtains flight motion missile simulator under Wisła programme - Army Technology

On the same subject

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  March 14, 2019 | International, Land

  DARPA Seeks Tools to Capture Underground Worlds in 3D

  DARPA is seeking information on state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies for advanced mapping and surveying in support of the agency's Subterranean (SubT) Challenge. Georeferenced data – geographic coordinates tied to a map or image – could significantly improve the speed and accuracy of warfighters in time-sensitive active combat operations and disaster-related missions in the subterranean domain. Today, the majority of the underground environments are uncharted or inadequately mapped, including human-made tunnels, underground infrastructure, and natural cave networks. Through the Request for Information, DARPA is looking for innovative technologies to collect highly accurate and reproducible ground-truth data for subterranean environments, which would potentially disrupt and positively leverage the subterranean domain without prohibitive cost and with less risk to human lives. These innovative technologies will allow for exploring and exploiting these dark and dirty environments that are too dangerous to deploy humans. “What makes subterranean areas challenging for precision mapping and surveying – such as lack of GPS, constrained passages, dark or dust-filled air – is similar to what inhibits safe and speedy underground operations for our warfighters,” said Timothy Chung, program manager in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO). “Building an accurate three-dimensional picture is a key enabler to rapidly and remotely exploring and searching subterranean spaces.” DARPA is looking for commercial products, software, and services available to enable high-fidelity, 3D mapping and surveying of underground environments. Of interest are available technologies that offer high accuracy and high resolution, with the ability to provide precise and reproducible survey points without reliance on substantial infrastructure (e.g., access to global fixes underground). Additionally, relevant software should also allow for generated data products to be easily manipulated, annotated, and rendered into 3D mesh objects for importing into simulation and game engine environments. DARPA may select proposers to demonstrate their technologies or methods to determine feasibility of capabilities for potential use in the SubT Challenge in generating and sharing 3D datasets of underground environments. Such accurately georeferenced data may aid in scoring the SubT competitors' performance in identifying and reporting the location of artifacts placed within the course. In addition, renderings from these data may provide DARPA with additional visualization assets to showcase competition activities in real-time and/or post-production. Instructions for submissions, as well as full RFI details, are available on the Federal Business Opportunities website: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-SN-19-21/listing.html. Submissions are due at 1:00 p.m. EDT April 15, 2019. Please email questions to SubTChallenge@darpa.mil. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-03-07

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  January 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  New in 2019: Here’s what the Air Force is doing about aviation mishaps

  By: Kyle Rempfer The Air Force, like the other services, suffered a string of fatal aviation mishaps in 2018. A Military Times in-depth review of 5,500 aviation accidents that have occurred since 2013 found that accidents among the nation's manned fighters, bombers, tankers, tilt-rotor and helicopter aircraft has increased 39 percent. In the Air Force, the most serious Class A mishaps have declined, but the number of non-fatal Class C mishaps is increasing, causing some experts to warn that future problems could be on the horizon if the issue is not dealt with. To address concerns among the aviation community, Congress created an eight-person independent commission to review the mishap spike in the 2019 defense bill. For its part, the Air Force conducted a wave of one-day safety stand-downs of flying and maintenance wings over the summer. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein ordered the stand-down in May, after several high-profile mishaps, including the May 2 crash of a WC-130 Hercules and the March 15 loss of an HH-60G Pave Hawk in western Iraq, both of which killed all on board. In a September news release, the Air Force said their review of the data identified six potential risks to aviation safety: stress caused by high operations tempos; a lack of time to properly focus on flying basics, mission activities and training; pressure to accept risk; a culture that pushes airmen to always execute the mission; decreased availability of aircraft; and the potential for airmen to become complacent when carrying out routine tasks. “The review proved tremendously helpful as we continue to seek both high levels of safety with intense and realistic training," Goldfein said in the release. The full report summary, provided at Air Force Times' request, also raised concerns about the increasing requirements on maintainers, and low experience among some maintenance personnel. The service has distributed those findings to the field, according to the release. The findings will help flying and maintenance leaders guide their decisions. “We're taking necessary steps to ensure our airmen operate as safely as possible in an inherently dangerous business,” Goldfein said. “I want to train hard and I want commanders to push themselves and their airmen to achieve high levels of readiness. Sometimes the right answer is knock it off ... sometimes it is push it up. Confidence in the air, safety on the ground and in the air, it's a commander's business.” The summary also cites the aging fleet of Air Force aircraft as a problem contributing to increased maintenance requirements and decreased aircraft availability. The Air Force has already started putting plans into place to address airmen's concerns, including adding more support back to squadrons, reducing additional duties, “enhancing information processes for aircrew mission planning” and cutting staff requirements, according to the release. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/01/05/new-in-2019-heres-what-the-air-force-is-doing-about-aviation-mishaps

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  October 3, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  The U.S. Department of Defense selects BAE Systems to help develop and deliver next generation mission technologies

  The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has selected BAE Systems to compete for future research and development (R&D) task orders awarded under a nine-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract provides fast, flexible, low-cost solutions across technical disciplines to meet the current and future technology needs of the U.S. military. “This large-scale contract provides us with a tremendous opportunity to reach across BAE Systems and leverage our own internal research and development investments to help the DoD solve its most difficult mission challenges,” said Al Whitmore, president of BAE Systems' Intelligence & Security sector. “We are excited to help the government leverage innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and directed energy technologies to enhance the security and effectiveness of our warfighters across physical and digital domains.” BAE Systems is one of 15 companies selected by the Defense Technical Information Center to compete for future R&D and support task orders expected to exceed $15 million. These task orders will be awarded by the Air Force Installation Contract Agency/KD Offutt AFB, Nebraska and support the DoD Information Analysis Center Program Management Office. The ceiling value for all future work awarded under the IDIQ is $28 billion. BAE Systems delivers a broad range of solutions and services enabling militaries and governments to successfully carryout their missions. The company provides large-scale systems engineering, integration, and sustainment services across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. BAE Systems takes pride in its support of national security and those who serve. https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/the-u-s--department-of-defense-selects-bae-systems-to-help-develop-and-deliver-next-generation-mission-technologies