August 5, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Fighter pilots will don AR helmets to train with imaginary enemies
Roughly a year from now, Air Force pilots will start wearing augmented reality helmets that let them fight imaginary enemies in the air.
December 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Wanted: Virtual reality headsets that aren’t made in China
By: Valerie Insinna
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force wants to tap into the augmented and virtual reality technologies that are proliferating in the commercial market, but the service has run into a problem: Many have parts from China, limiting their ability to be used by the U.S. military in operational environments.
“Can we not have an AR [augmented reality] solution that's made in China? I don't think that's good for us,” Col. Gerard Ryan, chief of the Air Force's operational training infrastructure division, said during a panel discussion Tuesday at the Interservice/Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference.
“I don't think the security policy is going to pass. And I say that sarcastically, but it's true. If we're going to use a gaming engine, let's make sure it's not made by a foreign country that we don't like,” he added.
The Air Force is dipping its toes into using virtual reality through its Pilot Training Next program, which seeks to get airmen through basic pilot training more quickly and cheaply. While the PTN program is currently considered an experiment, with only a handful of airmen participating at any given time, the Air Force has already shown it may be able to shave months off the existing training timeline by supplementing live flights spent in the T-6 trainer with virtual ones using Vive virtual reality headsets and flight simulation software.
An unclassified environment like basic pilot training is a perfect place for the Air Force to use the augmented and virtual reality devices currently on the market. But for such products to ever see use by fighter and bomber pilots — or any operator that deals with secure information — the service must be sure that no part of the device is made by China, or any other foreign entity that could insert technology that allows for data collection.
The Air Force has begun talking to companies about its concerns, Ryan said. The hope is those firms can examine their supply chains and shift away from buying Chinese components.
“I've talked to some people in industry. A smaller company has said they've found a set of goggles that's American-made. I'm like: ‘Great, you're the first person to tell me that. The only one so far, too,' ” Ryan said.
Another challenge is connecting commercial devices in a classified environment, where Bluetooth and Wi-Fi use may be restricted.
“I've talked to one company that has figured [it] out. They have a system where it's a backpack laptop. So it's a direct connect to the goggles,” Ryan said. “Unfortunately it's more expensive, probably, to do that. It's probably more challenging to find the parts.”
When augmented or virtual reality systems can be brought into classified environments, they may not be flexible enough for quick reconfiguration to complement different training scenarios, said Col. David Nyikos, Air Combat Command's deputy director of operations.
“AR/VR is super cool,” he said during the panel. “But now you need it to evolve, you need it to reprogram to adapt to whatever mission rehearsal you're coming up with. Maybe tonight you're going to go out with guys from AFSOC [Air Force Special Operations Command] working with some Norwegian SOF [special operations forces], working with some Afghans. You've got to be able to train together to rehearse that. We don't have that right now.”
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May 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Cinq candidats évalués jusqu’à fin juin
Par Sébastien Galliker Avions de combatEurofighter, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Rafale, F-35A et Gripen E sont testés par Armasuisse sur la base de Payerne. Cinq avions de combat sont en lice pour remplacer les Tiger et les F/A-18 de l'armée suisse. Quatre jours de tests sont prévus pour chacun, selon l'ordre alphabétique. L'Eurofighter d'Airbus était le premier sur la sellette, dès le 11 avril. La phase de sélection du F/A-18 Super Hornet de Boeing a débuté le 29 avril. Le Rafale de Dassault suivra dès le 20 mai, puis le F-35A de Lockheed-Martin le 6 juin et enfin le Gripen E de Saab à partir du 24 juin. Pour chaque avion, Armasuisse a prévu un après-midi aux spotters et autres citoyens intéressés pour approcher l'avion respectif à l'intérieur de l'aérodrome militaire. Les places sont toutefois limitées et l'attrait du public et surtout des photographes est grand. «C'est un peu comme le Paléo pour s'inscrire, il faut être connecté au moment où les places sont ouvertes», commente un spotter. Armasuisse précise aussi sur son site qu'«il ne s'agit pas d'un meeting aérien. Aucune manœuvre supplémentaire, des loopings par exemple, ne sera présentée.» Les essais incluent huit missions comportant des t'ches spécifiques. Effectuées par un ou deux avions de combat, parfois en en solo par un pilote étranger pour le F-35A et le Gripen E qui sont des monoplaces et sinon en présence d'un ingénieur helvétique, ces missions consisteront en 17 décollages et atterrissages. Elles seront axées sur les aspects opérationnels, les aspects techniques et les caractéristiques particulières. «L'objectif n'est pas de sélectionner le meilleur avion, mais le meilleur pour la Suisse», avait présenté Christian Catrina, délégué du Conseil fédéral pour ce dossier, lors de sa présentation. La taille de la future flotte n'est pas encore déterminée, même si les prévisions oscillent entre 30 et 40 avions de combat. Le Conseil fédéral fera son choix à fin 2020, début 2021 et la facture totale sera de l'ordre de 8 milliards de francs, y compris la défense sol-air. La population suisse se prononcera sur cette acquisition, mais pourrait ne voter que sur l'achat des avions, pour un montant estimé de 6 milliards de francs. (24 heures) https://www.24heures.ch/news/news/cinq-candidats-evalues-jusqu-fin-juin/story/30895634
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September 4, 2020 | International, Other Defence
AFWERX Announces the Global Reimagining Energy Challenge for the U.S. Department of Defense
Open Call for International Entries to Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenge. Creating the Future of Resilient Energy Production, Transmission, Use and Storage. LAS VEGAS, Sept. 4, 2020 /CNW/ -- AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force's innovation catalyst, announces the Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenge, seeking solutions to create the future of resilient energy production, transmission, use, and storage. The Department of Defense (DoD) is currently the largest energy consumer globally. By reducing demand and reliance on petroleum and modernizing the energy infrastructure, the U.S. Air Force can improve the way it consumes energy, increases sustainability, and remains adaptable to future impacts of climate change and reduction in fossil fuels. This is an incredible opportunity for the DoD to partner with innovative industries and academia to identify, fund, and launch new energy strategies from now until 2045. The Challenge is seeking solutions that can be implemented immediately, those that require some further development and also moonshot ideas that may not be implemented until 2045. "The disruption of the energy sector is already happening. There's unbelievable innovation occurring in how we produce, transmit, and store energy. The DoD must partner with those leading this disruption in both industry and academia to ensure we maintain our competitive advantage," stated Colonel Charles Bris-Bois, Air Force Disruptive Technology Team. The Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenge will gather the right people from industry, government, and academia to identify solutions for a sustainable energy infrastructure for the Department of Defense. The goals of the Challenge are to leverage all energy sources for military use such as wind, solar, thermal, hydro, nuclear, and hydrogen and increase mission effectiveness and quality of life, while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Our aspirational targets are to eliminate all fossil fuel dependency and achieve a carbon negative DoD. The Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenge encompasses six specific topics: Permanent & Mobile Energy Generation Energy Transmission & Distribution Mobile & Fixed Energy Storage New Warfighting & Operational Equipment Not Dependent on Fossil Fuels Data Availability for Improved Planning & Decision Making Energy Culture, Policy & Education "I am really excited for this Challenge for two reasons. First, this will change the way the DoD consumes, stores, distributes, and uses energy which has strategic benefit and benefits the planet at the same time given the aspirational carbon-negative target. Second, this Challenge is running concurrently with a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) focus area which creates a lot of opportunity for small businesses in the U.S. to receive government funding to support this initiative," said Mark Rowland, Innovation Actualizer for AFWERX. The open call for solutions for the Reimagining Energy Challenge launches on Sept. 2, 2020. The submission window will remain open until Oct. 1, 2020. Teams that submit their solutions by Sept. 14 will be invited to participate in an event on Sept. 17 where they will receive feedback to improve their submissions; participate in a Q&A session and also a networking and collaboration opportunity. Submissions are accepted from across the globe, both domestic and international organizations and individuals are encouraged to participate. The full challenge overview and details to submit a proposed solution is available at afwerxchallenge.com/energy. Preview the video for additional information here. ABOUT AFWERX Established in 2017, AFWERX is a product of the U.S. Air Force, directly envisioned by former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Her vision of AFWERX — to solve some of the toughest challenges that the Air Force faces through innovation and collaboration amongst our nation's top subject-matter experts. AFWERX serves as a catalyst to unleash new approaches for the warfighter through a growing ecosystem of innovators. AFWERX and the U.S. Air Force are committed to exploring viable solutions and partnerships to further strengthen the Air Force, which could lead to additional prototyping, R&D, and follow-on production contracts. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/afwerx-announces-the-global-reimagining-energy-challenge-for-the-u-s-department-of-defense-822922728.html