Mar 20, 2011, post by Artur Nowak
Last month, ThinkProgress revealed a campaign organized by lawyers for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against its opponents using three security contractors, Palantir Technologies, Berico Technologies, and HBGary Federal. During an Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) asked military officials to provide contract information related to the government’s business with the firms involved in the Chamber proposal.
Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), requested that the information be made available to the full subcommittee.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org
Dec 01, 2010, post by Artur Nowak
Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity development platform for games and interactive 3D on the web, iOS, Android, consoles and beyond, announced that D2 TEAM-Sim and Heartwood are showcasing the 3D virtual training simulations they built on Unity for the Defense, Military, Aerospace and Homeland Security industries at The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) today.
I/ITSEC is the largest display of modeling, simulation and virtual reality technology in the world with more than 18,000 attendees from government, academia, industry and research institutions.
“We evaluated several different commercial off-the-shelf gaming solutions. After doing a detailed analysis on all the products where we evaluated such factors as usability, scalability, extensibility, cost and licensing, Unity was the clear choice,” said James Cimino, Director of Technical Innovation, D2 TEAM-Sim. “Unity has made it possible for us to develop high quality interactive, game-based training solutions in a short amount of time, at relatively low costs and then deploy them across multiple devices including PC, web, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and now Android. We believe that we are just scratching the surface with what we can do for our customers using Unity.”
D2 TEAM-Sim created the Patriot Crew Drill training (http://www.d2teamsim.com/computer-based-training-examples/patriot-crew-drill-interactive-multimedia-instruction.html), one of the initial solutions selected as part of TRADOC’s Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications (CSDA) initiative, on Unity for Raytheon. As a complete blended Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) solution, the Patriot Crew Drill extended its training reach to handheld devices such as the iPad, iPhone and iTouch with the “Launcher Dogs: March Order and Emplace” training solution that D2 also created on Unity, maintaining a high degree of continuity between the web-based IMI and the mobile solution.
The “Launcher Dogs: March Order and Emplace” training solution went on to win the first-ever GameTech 2010 Innovations in DoD Gaming Award that was open to the entire DoD and its contractors. The “Launcher Dogs: March Order and Emplace” training solution went head-to-head with multi-million dollar gaming and simulation installations at Fort Lewis and Camp Lejeune and was honored for its innovation, creativity and effectiveness.
D2 TEAM-Sim also created the HAWK leveling procedure on Unity that was jointly sponsored by Raytheon and the Security Assistance Management Directorate (SAMD), as part of the HAWK Missile System’s Fair Share Conference. The intent was to educate the international customers for the HAWK Missile System about how a blended IMI training solution could be beneficial to the training challenges associated with the HAWK Missile System.
“The interest in distributed learning using gaming technology is rapidly growing, and Unity is the best platform for building immersive 3D training applications. Unity enables us to bring high realism and fidelity to the learning experience when integrated with Heartwood’s C2ActTM virtual training solutions,” said Neil Wadhawan, Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Heartwood. “With Unity’s unique ‘Author Once, Deploy Anywhere’ capability, we can provide the modern warfighter with operations and maintenance instruction anytime, anywhere and on any device.”
Raytheon awarded Heartwood the contract to develop Web Based Virtual Training Applications for one of their customers based on Unity after seeing the Unity-based prototype (http://hwd3d.com/services/custom-3d-virtual-trainers-simulations-and-training-videos/raytheon-patriot-web-virtual-trainer/). The prototype requires users to perform a routine maintenance task from a first-person perspective. Individual steps within the maintenance trainer require learners to open hatches, move levers, toggle dials and use a grounding tool. Whenever learners miss a step or perform a step out of order, a warning appears. It explains the error and its consequences. This critical path training approach ensures that learners master proper procedures before working with actual equipment. Once the learners complete the maintenance task, an after-action review and series of questions provide a measurable check-for-understanding.
The US Army is now in talks with Raytheon to revitalize an older immersive 3D maintenance training application after seeing this prototype. The new development will be based on Unity, and there will be multiple deployments to PC, web and handheld devices. Heartwood developed a demo (http://hwd3d.com/services/handheld-mobile-3d-apps/ipad-application/) of what the Virtual Training application would look like on the iPad; the lesson will be ported to the iPad.
In addition, Unity will be the base layer for the full lifecycle of the 3D digital assets that Heartwood creates for its clients, whether the requirement is to deploy to the web, desktop, mobile or augmented reality solutions for training and maintenance.
“We’ve seen explosive growth in Unity’s use in all aspects of training and simulation in the last year,” said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. “It’s so exciting to see how delivering high end game technology that is both simple to use and license solves real world problems.”
Jun 28, 2009, post by Marcin Frackiewicz
WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 22 /Reuters/ — TS2 Satellite Technologies‘ network in Iraq and Afghanistan has over 15,000 military users of local broadband satellite connections.
“We were among the first telecommunications operators in the satellite technology in the territory of Iraq and Afghanistan, and as such we have enjoyed a successful cooperation with the U.S. Army for several years now,” says Marcin Frackiewicz, CEO of the TS2 Satellite Technologies.
TS2 Satellite Technologies offers two-way high-speed Internet access with no phone lines, no cable and no dial-up modem. It’s always on, available virtually anywhere, and affordable. The laptop or Wi-Fi network can receive Internet signal through a special satellite VSAT modem, which was usually set up in a building or tent when deployed.
The one VSAT access point provides the following services for soldiers:
– Broadband access to the Internet (WWW, E-mail, FTP etc.)
– Data transfer to many other users simultaneously
– Telephone connections including VoIP, IP phone
– Video-conference connections
Advantages of the system:
– Short set-up time
– Fast and easy upgrades
– Possibility of guaranteed CIR
– Transmission in almost all weather conditions
The communication among the bases is possible thanks to the simultaneous lease of bands on the Intelsat 10-02, Intelsat 901 and Eutelsat W6 satellites whose coverage enables configuration of connections between any place in Europe, Middle East and Southwest Asia.
TS2′s satellite military networks are located in Al Taqaddum Air Base, Bahgram AF, Balad Base, Baquba Airfield, Brassfield-Mora, Cob Adder, Cob Speicher, Camp Al Asad Airbase, Camp Bucca Basra City, Camp Buehring, Camp Charlie Basra, Camp Eggers, Camp Fallujah, Camp Grizzly, Camp Korean Village, Camp Liberty, Camp Mejid, Camp Ramadi, Camp Slayer, Camp Stryker, Camp Taji, Camp Victory, Fob Bagram, Fob Brassfield Mora, Fob Delta Al Kut, Fob Diamondback, Fob Falcon, Fob Garryowen, Fob Gardez, Fob Ghazni, Fob Kalagush, Fob Kandahar, Fob Lagman, Fob Mchenry, Fob Marez, Fob Normandy, Fob Rustamiyah, Fob Summerall, Fob Sykes, Fob Salerno, Fob Torkham, Fob Warhorse, Fob Warrior, Herat RTC, Jallahabad Air Base, Kabul Airport, Kabul Camp Eggers, Kandahar Air Base, Lsa Anaconda Balad, Q-West Base Complex and Tallil Ab Lsa Adder.
Especially for U.S. Military Personnel, Contracting Officers and DoD Contractors, TS2 delivers satellite equipment to most of all military addresses in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, within maximum of 7 days.
Supported military locations in Iraq -
http://www.ts2.pl/en/Internet-in-Iraq-for-US-Army-Soldiers
Supported military locations in Afghanistan -
http://www.ts2.pl/en/Internet-in-Afghanistan-for-US-Army-Soldiers
Contact:
Piotr Kubiak and Michal Skrok
TS2 Satellite Technologies
phone +48 22 630 70 70
fax +48 22 630 70 71
http://www.ts2.pl
