Two of the world’s largest defense contractors said they signed a long-term agreement that can speed up procurement and delivery of geospatial information considered integral to F-35 pilot training.
Maxar Intelligence and Lockheed Martin announced their growing partnership May 6, saying it’s going to improve the F-35 Full Mission Simulator. The FMS, because it’s known, puts people inside a copycat cockpit with displays and other devices that replicate software, sensors and weapons used on the actual aircraft.
The simulator is a significant step in training and is helpful for mission rehearsal. Greater than 2,400 people have been schooled using the FMS, in keeping with Lockheed.
At its core are lifelike visuals and environments that Maxar makes possible. The brand new agreement standardizes pricing, licensing and other requirements for its products, including Dynamic and Precision3D, which generate high-resolution images and three-dimensional models of the Earth. The joint announcement didn’t mention a dollar figure.
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“Maxar’s geospatial products, particularly Precision3D, are critical to the success of this technique,” Susanne Hake, general manager for U.S. government at Maxar, said in a press release. “They allow the highly accurate, precise simulated real-world environments which can be delivered to life within the FMS, creating an immersive experience that helps improve pilot safety and enhance mission success.”
The Department of Defense is increasingly all for computerized worlds: The Army has mulled the metaverse as a recruiting tool, considering it could appeal to younger generations, and Navy leaders have advocated for improved virtual testing techniques for information warfare and other sensitive disciplines.
Doing things digitally can save real-world materiel from wear and tear while also boosting the quantity of hours one can practice. Hake described the FMS as an “industry gold standard for immersive training and mission readiness support.”
Lockheed is the world’s largest defense contractor when ranked by defense-related revenue, in keeping with Defense News Top 100 evaluation. The corporate earned $63 billion in 2022.
Maxar stood at No. 77, reaping $952 million. The corporate was tapped earlier this yr for extra work on One World Terrain, considered a critical component of the Army’s Synthetic Training Environment.
Colin Demarest was a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covered military networks, cyber and IT. Colin had previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a every day newspaper in South Carolina. Colin can be an award-winning photographer.