November 22, 2012: Strategy Page

American nuclear aircraft carriers are expensive to operate. It’s not just the food and other supplies for the 5,600 people on board, or all the spare parts and fuel for the aircraft. A major expense is the periodic upgrades and refurbishments. For example, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) will complete its mid-life refurbishment and refueling early next year. This RCOH (Refueling and Complex Overhaul) took over three years and cost $3.2 billion. The RCOH requires that the ship be partially dismantled so that the spent nuclear fuel can be replaced. This takes a little longer than your usual DPIA (Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availabilities) and usually costs a billion dollars or more. The Roosevelt RCOH was so expensive because the four screws (underwater propellers that move the ship) were replaced as was much of the “island” (that tall structure on the side of the flight deck.) There were upgrades to living quarters, electronics and the usual replacement of worn out electrical and mechanical components. The ship is repainted inside and out and returning sailors feel like they are entering a new ship, not one that has already seen over two decades of hard use.

The Roosevelt entered service in 1986, and has averaged some 500 aircraft take offs a month since then. In practical terms, the average is closer to 900 a month (about 30 a day) when deployed, because the carrier spends nearly half its time in port or going through periodic overhauls. During intense combat operations, there can be nearly a hundred catapult launches a day. The carrier has four steam powered catapults.

There is a lot of shipyard maintenance involved with CVNs, enough to keep these carriers unavailable for over 20 percent of their career. Over its fifty years of service, each Nimitz class carrier has 17 planned trips back to the ship yard. There are twelve Planned Incremental Availability (or PIA) operations in which new gear is installed, worn or damaged stuff is replaced and any heavy duty work needed, is completed. Duration of a PIA varies with the amount of work to be done, but it can take several months, or a year or more. Even more lengthily are the four DPIA operations, which are more extensive PIAs that include putting the ship into dry dock. These efforts can last a year or two. Then there is the one RCOH. The cost of all these visits to the shipyard cost more than the initial construction of the carrier.

That cost is one reason the U.S. Navy disbanded one of its ten Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) last year, leaving only nine of them for the eleven aircraft carriers in service. CSGs contain 7,500 people, 75 warplanes and for surface warships, a nuclear sub and several supply ships. When a carrier is out-of-action the CSG really has nothing to do. Disbanding one is a money saving measure, because nuclear powered aircraft (CVN) carriers spend so much of their time out-of-service having maintenance done. Thus only 8-9 CSGs are needed at any one time.

A carrier strike force is actually a complex organization. There is the CVN and its crew, and the CAW (Carrier Air Wing), which includes all the aircraft, pilots and support personnel. The CAWs do not stay with the same CVN, but move around. When a CVN goes in for maintenance, its CAW will move ashore and then to another carrier (usually one coming out of dry dock). Also part of a SCG are the escort ships (usually a destroyer squadron of 2-4 destroyers, cruisers or frigates) and one or two SSNs (nuclear attack subs). There are also one or two supply ships (carrying spare parts and maintenance personnel for all ships, as well as fuel for the escort ships.)

Until a few years ago, the U.S. had twelve carriers, but new ones are not being built quickly enough to replace the older ones that must retire (because of old age). Soon there will only be nine CVNs, and there will be cost cutting pressure to disband another SCG.

Nov. 22, 2012 - By PAUL McLEARY Defense News

More than 100 civilian employees at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama are facing layoffs in January unless the U.S. Army decides before the start of the year to refurbish more than the 47 Stryker vehicles it has already contracted for as part of the upgrade program.

On Nov. 8, General Dynamics Land Systems issued notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to 139 employees working on the Stryker exchange program, in which parts from old vehicles are used to complete new-build Strykers.

The move follows recent announcements by vehicle makers Oshkosh Defense and BAE Systems that they are letting go of 450 and 145 employees, respectively, as a result of a slowdown on Army ground combat vehicle programs.

While General Dynamics is waiting until January to begin the layoffs, it does not appear any new Stryker work will come in by then — if it ever does — according to Scott Davis, the head of the Army’s Ground Combat Systems office.

Davis told Defense News the Army “is thinking through and prioritizing whether we want to continue” with its Stryker exchange program, part of a public-private partnership between General Dynamics Land Systems and Anniston.

The Army and General Dynamics will finish producing the 47 Strykers under contract early in 2013, but “I don’t hold an active requirement or the dollars to continue it” after that, Davis said. He added that his shop is preparing to brief Army leadership on the cost and benefit of modernizing Strykers in December, while a decision on which platforms and which capabilities might be upgraded is expected in February.

The Stryker exchange program harvests usable parts from older, flat-bottomed Strykers and uses them to complete builds on new double-V-hull Strykers (DVH) at Anniston. Company officials say the exchange program will not only give the Army more durable combat vehicles but also drive the cost down from $2.4 million for a new DVH to $1.6 million for an exchange vehicle.

Without new DVH contracts, operations at the facility will drop to 13 vehicles a month, well below the minimum requirement of 20 vehicles per month needed to keep the workforce at current levels.

The Army has ordered 789 DVH Strykers, and about 500 new DVH vehicles have been delivered from the Anniston facility.

The Stryker program is not the only one Army leadership is fretting over.

When it comes to overall budget pressure, Davis said, “we cut through the skin and we’re down to the bone” on development activities, and “any additional pressure will make it extremely difficult” to continue to modernize and upgrade all variants of combat vehicles on schedule.

One of Davis’ chief priorities is to identify ways to protect both the manufacturing and the intellectual industrial base in the face of budget cuts, he said. The number of companies that can design and build ground combat vehicles is limited, he added, saying, “the intellectual industrial base is mostly BAE and GD — it’s those engineers and logisticians who provide the design improvement skills” that he is looking to retain.

One of the big points of contention when it comes to the service’s ground vehicle industrial base is the battle over the Abrams tank line in Lima, Ohio. The Army doesn’t want to begin the next major round of Abrams modernization until 2017, and on Sept. 27, it awarded General Dynamics an eight-year, $395 million contract to study what capabilities it can add to the platform when those upgrades begin.

Davis said the Army and General Dynamics are studying the critical skill sets that need to be preserved at Lima and how much workflow will have to go through the line to sustain it at the minimum level of 33 tanks a month. The Army is conducting a four-month industrial base study to flesh out those issues.

One thing Davis said might help is foreign military sales (FMS).

“We’re very, very much in support of putting FMS in Lima,” he said. “We’ve got active cases in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco [for Abrams tanks], and to a large degree, that will help span that gap of U.S. production.”

The Saudi and Moroccan deals have not been fully approved by the U.S. government, but Davis said “if things go the way we anticipate it with FMS, we feel good about” the Lima Abrams line being able to meet its minimum production rate.

Because the Army and industry face the quandary of Abrams, Stryker and Bradley production ending in 2014, other new programs — such as the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), the M113 replacement — have taken on added importance. The service has said it plans to buy up to 3,800 AMPVs, making the program “pretty critical” for the overall health of the industrial base.

November 22, 2012. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

From the U.S. Navy:

Navy engineers scattered across Alaska’s polar region successfully communicated to their counterparts in the continental United States for the first time under austere weather conditions with handheld Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS) Nov. 21.

The civilian engineers – testing DTCS over thousands of miles in November – confirmed its new global range capability over a multi-satellite, multi-spot beam architecture that will enhance command and control for U.S. Northern Command and U.S. European Command.

“We provided the ability for personnel to communicate in the polar regions above the Arctic Circle and provide reach-back, a paramount capability that otherwise does not exist at the tactical level,” said DTCS technical manager, Igor Marchosky. “We tested the global architecture part of the DTCS system, and it worked as designed.”

The engineers maintained continuous communications between three DTCS testing sites in Alaska (Barrow, Kotzebue, and Anchorage) and two sites in the continental United States – U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), Dahlgren. Va.

“In spite of inclement weather and the elements of the polar region environment, we all had casual, normal conversation among the sites,” said DTCS Program Manager, Nathan Rodecap.

DTCS Phase 3 – leveraging the Iridium low earth orbiting satellite constellation – ensures coverage above the Arctic Circle, eliminating shortfalls and supplementing areas in which current systems are not reliable.

“We sustained voice communications, chat sessions, and position location information transmission to and from every site,” said Marchosky, co-located with Rodecap and Rear Adm. Thomas H. “Hank” Bond, Jr., NORTHCOM Command and Control Systems Director at the Colorado Springs site during the testing.

DTCS, developed by NSWCDD and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory scientists and engineers, is the result of commercial off-the-shelf parts and applied science, technology, and systems integration. It was designed to ensure reliable connections with a constellation of 66 satellites providing global availability for joint forces on the ground, in vehicles, aboard aircraft – and now in the polar region – via Iridium-based radios that provide on-the-move, over-the-horizon, beyond line-of-sight voice and position location information without the need for local ground infrastructure.

“The Phase 3 capability will be adopted by all combatant commands and used in a wider range of missions such as continuous, robust, Arctic communications,” said DTCS Deputy Technical Manager, John Giscard, who tested the system on site with Joint Task Force Alaska (JTF-Alaska) leadership in Anchorage. “Its global communications can be applied to search and rescue, ship patrols, and natural disasters when responders’ line of sight won’t work as well.”

The capability also provides greater capacity and interoperability with legacy services.

“This demonstration builds confidence that we can leverage the available capabilities of Iridium to address critical communications gaps and add resiliency to our communications networks at a very effective cost point and on accelerated timelines in comparison to flying military-unique constellations,” said Robert Gold, DoD Information Systems and Cyber Security Director.

Since NSWCDD engineers developed DTCS seven years ago, warfighters in Afghanistan and Iraq received more than 7,000 Phase 2 tactical radios.

The two previous phases of DTCS responded to shortfalls for mobile users. Specifically, Phases 1 and 2 provided satellite communications to users who did not previously have instant mobile access to a global communications system.

The new phase builds upon the satellite communications capability by increasing range, capacity, reliability and utility.

“Phase 3 testing demonstrated the global architecture,” said Rodecap. “We’ve been successful in each prior phase, and we also expect to be successful in the evaluation and operationalization of Phase 3.”

Once operational, DTCS Phase 3 is expected to enable communications everywhere at any time, closing the digital divide and providing access to all from users on the ground to disadvantaged warfighters who lack good communications.

“The DTCS Phase 3 demonstration at NSWC Dahlgren showed how an innovative and unique application of commercial space systems can be utilized to bring broad area command and control capability to the tactical level,” said Navy Capt. Bruce Dickey, program executive office space systems technical advisor.

This is good news for warfighters at the tactical edge who can be separated from the greater global information grid due to the inherent challenges of critical bidirectional information flow. Their needs can now be met with lightweight, resilient, and capable systems that leverage leading industry designs, components, and manufacturing methods.

“In order to close the gap of the ‘tactical’ digital divide, warfighters must be presented with the information they need, whenever they need it, and however they need it, while injecting the appropriate information needed at the operational level,” said Marchosky.

22 November 2012 chemring.co.uk

Chester Township, PA – Alloy Surfaces Company, Inc. (“ASC”) of Chester Township, Pennsylvania, a Chemring Group PLC ("Chemring") subsidiary, announces that it has been awarded a $4.4 Million contract for the manufacture of MJU-64/B decoy devices for the United States Air Force. Delivery of these units is scheduled from November 2012 through June of 2013. All work will be performed at Alloy Surfaces’ facility in Chester Township, Pa.

ASC’s President, Lawrence D’Andrea, stated, “We are very pleased to receive this contract as the United States Air Force continues to express its confidence and trust in Special Material Decoys (SMDs). We are very proud to deliver the highest quality infrared decoys to all the US armed forces. The MJU-64/B decoy protects US military transports, helicopters and fighter aircraft from infrared guided air-to-air and ground-to-air missile threats. We respect our partnership with all the armed forces and are proud that we have products that protect warfighters as well as assets.”

Chemring is a market leading manufacturing business supplying high technology electronics and energetic products to over 80 countries around the world. Chemring has a diverse portfolio of products that predominately protect military people and platforms, providing insurance against a constantly changing threat. These range from countermeasures to protect aircraft, to ground penetrating radar to protect troops and vehicles from improvised explosive devices.

ASC is an industry leader in the design, development, and production of Covert Multi-Spectral Special Material Decoys. ASC decoys have unique properties of day and night covertness that are on the leading edge of IR countermeasure technology and are currently being used to protect a wide variety of United States and allied military aircraft in combat.

22 novembre 2012 Usine Nouvelle (Reuters)

Deux conventions salariales arrivent à expiration dimanche 25 novembre. Du fait de la concurrence avec Airbus et de la situation financière des compagnies aériennes, l'avionneur américain assure ne pas pouvoir offrir de meilleures conditions aux salariés concernés.

Les ingénieurs et techniciens de Boeing ont rejeté mercredi 21 novembre les dernières propositions de la direction de l'avionneur pour le renouvellement de deux conventions salariales qui arrivent à expiration dimanche prochain.

Le syndicat SPEEA (Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace) estime que la nouvelle offre, sur quatre ans, équivaut toujours à une baisse des salaires et prestations des 23 000 membres concernés et n'hésite plus à parler de grève.

"Nous nous rapprochons d'un préavis de grève", a déclaré le directeur général du SPEEA, Ray Goforth.

Boeing fait valoir que son offre a été grandement améliorée mais assure ne pas pouvoir aller plus loin compte tenu de la concurrence d'Airbus et de la situation financière difficile des compagnies aériennes.

"Il faudra bouger des deux côtés" pour parvenir à un accord, a dit Doug Alder, porte-parole de Boeing. "Et nous avons beaucoup bougé."

Les conventions en vigueur ont expiré le 6 octobre et une prolongation de 60 jours prend fin dimanche. A ce stade, une clause qui empêchait le syndicat d'organiser une grève n'a plus cours.

Les deux parties se sont retrouvées mercredi à Seattle, où la plupart des membres du SPEEA travaillent et une nouvelle rencontre est prévue la semaine prochaine.

"Tant que durent les négociations, le travail continue normalement", a relevé Doug Adler, en notant que le syndicat n'avait pas déposé de préavis de grève.

La nouvelle offre de Boeing prévoit pour les ingénieurs des revalorisations salariales de 4,5% pendant la première et la troisième années de la convention, et de 4% les deux autres années. L'offre initiale prévoyait une hausse annuelle de 3,5%.

Pour les techniciens, la revalorisation serait de 3,5% la première et la troisième années, et de 3% les deux autres, là aussi davantage que dans les propositions initiales qui avaient été massivement rejetées début octobre.

Le SPEEA estime que la bonne santé financière de l'entreprise et ses 4.000 commandes en carnet lui permettent d'accorder davantage à ses salariés, surtout au vu des rémunérations dont bénéficient ses dirigeants.

Les négociations reprennent mardi prochain, 27 novembre.

(Avec Reuters, par Alwyn Scott, Véronique Tison pour le service français)

21/11/2012 SITTA

Le salon AUSA 2012 s’est tenu au Convention Center situé au cœur de Washington. En dépit d’une diminution notable des budgets consacrés à cette manifestation, l’édition 2012 demeure particulièrement intéressante en raison du nombre de matériels de haute technologie qui y étaient présentés. Le programme JLTV, qui vise à remplacer le HUMVEE dans l’armée de terre américaine, était particulièrement très attendu. De nombreuses nations étaient présentes, ce qui illustre la vitalité de ce salon d’armement et sa grande notoriété : Israël, l’Angleterre, la Norvège, l’Allemagne, la France, l’Italie, la Turquie, le Canada, l’Australie, la Corée du sud,  la Pologne, etc.. .

L'article ICI

21 novembre 2012 par Nicolas Laffont - 45enord.ca

Le ministère de la Défense nationale canadien doit fait encore plus d’efforts dans ses coupures budgétaires. Et pour ce faire, le ministère est sur le point d’engager une entreprise privée pour qu’elle lui dise… comment couper son budget.

Durant les trois prochaines années, la Défense prévoit de couper environ 1,1 milliard $, dont 445 millions provenant du secteur privé.

Le reste des économies proviendra de la réduction des emplois civils du service public et de la réduction du nombre de réservistes à temps plein, de la coupe dans certains entraînements de troupes étrangères et l’amélioration de la façon dont les marchés des équipements sont réalisés.

Lundi prochain à 14h (heure de l’Est), toutes les entreprises qui ont d’ores et déjà été présélectionnées en fonction de certaines exigences en matière de sécurité et de capacité, devront avoir envoyées leur offre au ministère. Le contrat est inférieur à 2 millions $.

Deux millions $ pour en sauver 1,1 milliard, le deal est rentable!

Voici la liste des 78 entreprises présélectionnées:

1.    Accenture Inc.

2.    ADGA Group Consultants Inc.

3.    Modis Canada Inc

4.    ALTRUISTIC INFORMATICS CONSULTING Altruistic Informatics ConsultingINC.

5.    CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants Inc.

6.    Confluence Consulting Inc.

7.    Deloitte Inc.

8.    Emerion

9.    Epixus Incorporated

10.    Esper Consulting Inc.

11.    Fujitsu Consulting (CANADA) Inc./Fujitsu Conseil (Canada) Inc.

12.    Gartner Group Canada Co

13.    Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co. Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Cie

14.    IT/Net – Ottawa Inc.

15.    LNW Consulting Inc

16.    Nortak Software Ltd.

17.    Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP

18.    Sierra Systems Group Inc.

19.    Systemscope Inc.

20.    Systemscope Inc., LNW Consulting Inc., Perfortics Consulting Inc., VK Computer Systems Inc., Lansdowne Technology Services Inc., IN JOINT VENTURE

21.    The Bell Telephone Company of Canada or Bell Canada/La Compagnie de Téléphone Bell du Canada ou Bell Canada

22.    168446 Canada Inc.

23.    Orbis Risk Consulting Inc.

24.    ACF Associates Inc.

25.    BMB Consulting Services Inc.

26.    CPCS Transcom Limited

27.    Dare Human Resources Corporation

28.    Delsys Research Group Inc.

29.    DPRA Canada Incorporated

30.    Ernst & Young LLP

31.    Gestion Multi Risques International

32.    Goss Gilroy Inc.

33.    Groupe Intersol Group Ltee.

34.    Hackett Consulting Inc.

35.    HDP Group Inc

36.    Human Resource Systems Group Ltd.

37.    IBM Canada Ltd.

38.    Interis Consulting Inc.

39.    James L Armstrong & Associates Inc

40.    Intergage Consulting Group Inc.

41.    John Burns Centre for Public Management

42.    Kelly Sears Consulting Group

43.    Le Groupe Conseil Bronson Consulting Group

44.    Leacock Consulting

45.    MNP LLP

46.    MGIS Inc.

47.    MHPM Project Managers Inc.

48.    PGF Consultants Inc.

49.    Phirelight E-Business Solutions Inc.

50.    PMC PROJECT MANAGEMENT CENTRE INC

51.    QMR Staffing Solutions Incorporated

52.    Quallium Corporation

53.    Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton

54.    Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc.

55.    SoftSim Technologies Inc.

56.    Stratos Inc

57.    TDV Global inc.

58.    The Corporate Research Group Ltd.

59.    Turner Consulting & Management Services Inc

60.    The Institute on Governance

61.    The VCAN Group Inc.

62.    The Strategic Review Group Inc.

63.    Colin Lindsay Development Corporation

64.    GetITExperT Inc. / AcquIerTExperT Inc.

65.    McKinsey & Company Canada

66.    Proex Inc.

67.    Allan Fuller

68.    2Keys Corporation

69.    Auguste Solutions and Associates Inc.

70.    A Hundred Answers Inc.

71.    APS-Antian Professional Services Inc.

72.    International Safety Research Inc.

73.    Canadian Development Consultants International Inc.

74.    Science-Metrix Inc.

75.    Taligent Consulting Inc.

76.    Johnston Research Inc.

77.    FoTenn Consultants Inc.

78.    GOVERNANCE RESEARCH INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT (GRID) CORP., DAOOD AIDROOS, IN JOINT VENTURE

Amin Ravan a exporté illégalement 50 antennes spirales

adossées à une cavité résonnante et cinq antennes

biconiques (Photo: Wiki Commons)

21 novembre 2012 par Nicolas Laffont - 45enord.ca

D’après l’acte d’accusation dévoilé mardi 20 par le US Department of Justice, un Iranien a été formellement inculpé de complot d’escroquerie vis-à-vis des États-Unis, de contrebande et de violation de la loi sur l’exportation d’armes.

Amin Ravan est ainsi accusé d’avoir acheté illégalement 55 antennes militaires américaines, afin de les revendre à Singapour et Hong Kong, ce qui lui permettait de contourner l’embargo imposé à l’Iran.

Ces antennes, soumises à une autorisation d’exportation, sont notamment utilisées pour des radars d’alerte ou de guidage embarqués à bord d’avion ou de navires.

Un mandat d’arrêt international émis par les États-Unis a été mis en place, et il a finalement était Arrêté le 10 octobre dernier en Malaisie.

S’il est reconnu coupable, Amin Ravan peut encourir 20 ans de prison pour violation de la loi sur l’exportation des armes, 10 ans pour contrebande et cinq ans pour complot d’escroquerie.

Le prévenu agissait au nom d’IC Market Iran et d’une autre entreprise, Corezing, basée à Singapour avec des bureaux à Hong Kong et en Chine.

En 2006 et 2007 il avait tenter d’organiser, via un intermédiaire, la livraison en Iran d’antennes construites par une entreprise du Massachusetts.

L’acte d’accusation, disponible sur le site du FBI, précise qu’après une première tentative infructueuse, il avait essayé de les obtenir avec la complicité de deux employés de Corezing, pour que cette société de Singapour les achète auprès du fabricant américain. Après un nouvel échec, Corezing, aidé d’un intermédiaire aux Etats-Unis, avait finalement obtenu des antennes d’une portée réduite pour ne pas éveiller les soupçons du contrôleur d’exportation.

En mars 2007, Amin Ravan et ses complices de Corezing étaient tombés d’accord pour un prix de 86 750 dollars pour les 55 antennes américaines, et ont organisé le paiement de manière à contourner l’embargo imposé à l’Iran. Les antennes avaient finalement été livrées entre juillet et septembre 2007 à Singapour et Hong Kong, selon la même source.

Nov 21, 2012 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation

Three Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft were officially delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps during ceremonies at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., today. The three jets are assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 residing with the host Marine Aircraft Group 13.

“For more than 50 years, it has been our mission to support the Marine Corps mission, and we’re honored to deliver the first three F-35B STOVL aircraft to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121,” said Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin chairman and chief executive officer. “The F-35B is the world’s only 5th generation, supersonic, stealthy combat aircraft that can also hover, take off and land virtually anywhere Marines are in action.  Through the hard work and dedication of the military and contractor team, the F-35B will define the future of Marine Corps aviation.”

Official welcoming ceremonies at Yuma marked the handover of the jets to the Marines. The delivery of the first three operational-coded 5th generation F-35B STOVL fighters marks the beginning of STOVL tactical operational training at Air Station Yuma.

These three aircraft increase the number of STOVL aircraft delivered to the Marine Corps to 16 and bring the total number of F-35s delivered in 2012 to 20. Currently, 13 Marine Corps STOVLs are assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing's Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 501 at Eglin AFB, Fla., supporting pilot and maintainer training.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least nine other countries.

Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.

Nov 21, 2012 ASDNews Source : MetaVR, Inc.

MetaVR, Inc. announces that it has recently sold 14 Joint Terminal Attack Control (JTAC) simulators to the U.S Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and the Air Combat Command (ACC) totaling in the amount of $1.8 million.

Nine desktop and portable JTAC simulators were sold to AFSOC with initial fieldings at Hurlbert Field, and five systems to be delivered to the Nellis Air Force Base JTAC Schoolhouse.

In a related effort, MetaVR was chosen by the Air National Guard to be the visual system for its Advanced Air National Guard Simulation (AAJTS) prototype system. MetaVR real time 3D visuals will be used on the first two full-up 4-meter dome configurations of the JTAC simulator. The 240-degree horizontal x 100-degree vertical partial-dome displays are produced by Immersive Display Solutions. The AAJTS simulators will be delivered to the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) at Randolph Air Force Base.

These sales follow the accreditation of MetaVR’s JTAC simulation system, developed jointly with Battlespace Simulations (BSI).This simulation system was recently granted accreditation by the Joint Fire Support Executive Steering Committee for JTAC training. This simulation system is accredited to replace live controls (types 1, 2, 3) for both day and night, and for laser target designation with simulated military laser, in accordance with the JTAC Memorandum of Agreement. Type 1 accreditation requires either a head-mounted display (HMD) or a 220+ degree FOV dome display.

The JFS ESC accreditation applies to any simulator that uses MetaVR’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) version 5.7 or greater and BSI’s Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE) version 1.0; such simulators include the AFSOC JTAC trainer, AAJTS, JFIRES, and JTAC-TRS systems.

This JTAC training simulator, comprised of MetaVR’s VRSG and BSI’s MACE scenario/entity generator, includes an integrated software-based Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) radio, a recording capability for recording and AAR/playback of missions, and a simulated laser range finder/laser designator. MACE is a DIS-enabled threat environment capable of generating a wide variety of semi-autonomous forces.

A privately funded COTS solution, the MetaVR/BSI JTAC simulation system enables users to perform training missions on a virtual battlefield with close air support interfaces such as 9-Line, 5-Line, and Call for Fire.

Features that support such missions include physics-based weapons performance, laser target designation, full-motion infrared video feeds, a mission editor, human-level behaviors, path finding, blast effects calculations, complex weather system control, and a robust weapons and entity library. The JTAC system is capable of importing existing military topographic database information to enable operators and instructors to quickly develop scenarios appropriate for mission rehearsal.

The MetaVR/BSI JTAC simulator is offered as a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) firm fixed price simulator with publicly available pricing, and is available in portable and desktop configurations with a head-mounted display, and as an integrated system with a fully immersive dome or curved desktop screen display from Immersive Display Solutions. The dome configuration, called the JTAC Immersive System, provides a low-cost transportable dome solution to meet the needs of JTAC simulation training in an affordable immersive environment.

The MetaVR/BSI JTAC simulator has been fully integrated at the Michigan Air National Guard's 4-meter Joint Fires Dome in Grayling, MI, AFSOC's Special Tactics Training at Hurlburt Field, FL, and AFRL's JTAC-TRS 5-meter domes, and is currently being developed for additional US and international customers.

November 20, 2012. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

Lee Berthiaume of Postmedia has this article:

OTTAWA — It’s only a two-country sample, and a full report won’t be made public until sometime this fall, but it appears Canadian arms companies have been enjoying unprecedentedly good times in recent years.

Foreign Affairs recently released figures detailing how much arms companies asked to export to the United States and Saudi Arabia on a year-by-year basis since 2006. The numbers were made public in response to a question from NDP MP Helene Laverdiere, and the results are surprising.

Canadian companies asked to export $49.6 million worth of guns, bombs, armoured personnel vehicles and other military equipment to the United States in 2007. By 2011, that number had increased to more than $250 million. The main areas of growth came in the form of smooth-bore guns and automatic weapons, both big and small, as well as bullets, bombs, missiles and other ammunition.

Canadian companies only have to request export permits for certain items that are considered of military value, unlike exports to most other countries, so the numbers across the board are likely low. Similarly, just because a company requests an export license, that doesn’t mean the goods were actually sent. But for the most part they are, and the trend is certainly favourable to Canadian arms companies.

Similarly, Canadian companies asked to export $54 million worth of military goods to Saudi Arabia in 2006. That compared with nearly $2.5 billion in 2011, which coincided with the Arab nation’s decision to purchase 700 armoured vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ont. That purchase was notable because Saudi Arabia allegedly used some of those vehicles to help crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain during last year’s Arab Spring.

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Des membres d’éˆquipage du navire américain, le USS Boone, en pleine action lors de l’accostage de leur navire au Port de Quéˆbec pour le Rendez-vous naval 2010. (Photo: Cpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Section Imagerie, Garnison Valcartier)

20 novembre 2012 par Nicolas Laffont - 45enord.ca

Quatre navires de la Flotte de l’Atlantique de la Marine royale canadienne participent en ce moment à un exercice interarmées international, l’exercice de groupe opérationnel 6-12, avec la Marine américaine entre le 19 novembre et le 14 décembre, au large de la côte est du Canada et des États-Unis.

«Notre gouvernement veille à ce que la Marine royale canadienne tienne régulièrement des exercices avec nos alliés afin de maintenir l’interopérabilité et de réussir nos missions, a déclaré le ministre de la Défense nationale du Canada Peter MacKay. Les exercices préparent nos marins à défendre les approches maritimes du Canada et permettent de réaffirmer la capacité des forces navales canadiennes à protéger les intérêts canadiens.»

«Les exercices de groupe opérationnel accroissent la capacité du Canada à travailler au sein d’un groupe multinational et interarmées, a mentionné le commodore Darren Hawco, Commandant de la Flotte canadienne de l’Atlantique. Les navires participants prennent part à l’exercice de groupe opérationnel dans le but d’accroître la capacité nécessaire pour faire face à différentes situations dangereuses, notamment se défendre contre des menaces de moindre envergure provenant de terre ou contre de petites embarcations. Les Navires canadiens de Sa Majesté profiteront de l’occasion pour préparer et entraîner leur équipage pour les déploiements à venir.»

La Marine royale canadienne travaillera avec le Commandement de la défense aérospatiale de l’Amérique du Nord (NORAD) afin de combiner l’exercice de groupe opérationnel à l’exercice de défense aérienne du NORAD Amalgam Dart, afin d’augmenter encore plus l’interopérabilité et l’efficacité de la Marine royale canadienne et du NORAD.

Le ministère de la Défense estime ainsi que le programme chargé permettra aux marins de s’entraîner et d’acquérir de l’expérience aux fins de la tenue de toute une gamme d’activités en mer, y compris la navigation et le matelotage, les opérations héliportées et les exercices de guerre. En outre, l’exercice Amalgam Dart offrira une excellente occasion de s’entraîner à la défense mer-air et air-air.

Les unités qui prennent part à l’exercice de groupe opérationnel 6-12 et à Amalgam Dart sont les Navires canadiens de Sa Majesté Iroquois, Preserver, Ville de Québec et St John’s.

Les navires seront accompagnés du personnel et d’aéronefs de la 12e Escadre Shearwater, de la 14e Escadre Greenwood, de la 17e Escadre Winnipeg, de la 3e Escadre Bagotville et de la 22e Escadre North Bay, y compris des hélicoptères CH-124 Sea King, des chasseurs CF-18 et un aéronef de patrouille à long rayon d’action CP-140 Aurora.

Nov. 20, 2012 by Zach Rosenberg – FG

Washington DC - The FAA has indefinitely delayed site selection for unmanned air system (UAS) trial flights, effectively stalling the push to integrate UAVs into civil airspace.

In a letter to Congressman Howard McKeon, Republican from California and chairman of the House Unmanned Systems Caucus, the FAA has stated that the establishment of six test sites for UAS for experimentation is suspended.

"Our target was to have six test sites by the end of 2012," says the letter, signed by acting FAA administrator Michael Huerta. "However, increasing the use of UAS in our airspace also raises privacy issues, and these issues will need to be addressed as unmanned aircraft are safely integrated."

Site selection is specified in the FAA's latest reauthorization, the Congressional legislation that funds the agency for the coming year. The sites, which were to be identified by August, 2012, are not specified. The same legislation commits the FAA to establishing rules to integrate small UAS by 2015.

Under current aviation rules, no UAS are allowed into civil airspace without an explicit certificate of authorization by the FAA. Such authorizations to date have included cumbersome requirements, including dedicated air traffic controllers and required chase aircraft.

Allowing UAS regular access to national airspace raises concerns among privacy advocates, who argue that the aircraft could be used to monitor people without their knowledge or consent, in much the same way as the US military does over Afghanistan.

"The FAA will complete its statutory obligations to integrate UAS into the national airspace as quickly and efficiently as possible," says Huerta's letter. "However, we must fulfill those obligations in a thoughtful, prudent manner that ensures safety, addresses privacy issues, and promotes economic growth."