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Lockheed Martin Australia has completed its preliminary design review (PDR) for a new simulator that allows RAAF pilots to virtually train alongside the crews of tanks and warships more regularly.
Currently, limited tech means these personal can only perform joint training around 10 times a year, but the new JP 9711 Phase 1 system will up that number to around 200 when fully operational in 2025.
The capability will enable the Department of Defence to link live and simulated training together for large scale joint and combined collective training and to deliver on-demand distributed mission training to the single services of the ADF and Joint Operations Command.
Lockheed said this is a significant milestone as it lays the foundational path forward for establishing the baseline software architecture for the Australian Defence Force’s largest networked training system that links virtual and constructive simulation to live training events.
The Lockheed Martin program team in Canberra and Orlando generated an innovative digital solution to assure the COVID impacts and restrictions did not prohibit the team from holding the critical PDR milestone, which allowed the program to maintain schedule.
Joe North, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand, said the business was immensely proud of this achievement.
“This milestone demonstrates Lockheed Martin Australia’s steadfast commitment and focus in delivering an innovative and timely solution to meet the critical operational needs of the Department of Defence’s Chief Information Officer Group,” North said.
In collaboration with Defence, the Lockheed Martin program team worked hand-in-hand to review a range of complex and highly detailed documents, deliver 26 priority one documents, two Contract Data Requirements List items, 10 technical data presentations, and 26 tech interchange meetings.
“This outcome is a positive example of Australia’s sustainable sovereign industrial capability in full swing, with our global teams working in concert to successfully plan and execute a software PDR on schedule,” North said.
“The Canberra and Orlando teams connected daily in a virtual environment assuring the transfer of knowledge during program execution, which saw our highly skilled Australian team deliver the PDR on time. It was a great outcome and we look forward to focusing on the next milestone in support of CIOG’s priorities.”
Malcolm Wright, program manager JP 9711-1 at Lockheed Martin Australia, also acknowledged the strong co-operation with Defence on the ability to meet the PDR milestone.
“The remarkable collaboration between our Lockheed Martin program team on both sides of the Pacific in partnership with Defence was key to achieving this positive outcome,” Wright explained.
He added, “This successful PDR was a culmination of sheer hard work, sustained commitment and working closely with Defence to identify the contract data requirements and effectively deliver them in a practical and timely manner all within a COVID-19 impacted world. We exited PDR due to a lot of hard work and dedication by the whole team.”
Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1,000 people in Australia working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.
Story by Stephen Kuper.
