World News & Analysis
The training element of the teaming agreement will include all operator training for the vehicle system and remote weapon system, including all related maintenance training for the first line support organizations in the Canadian forces. Havok Acquires Trinigy – Havok™ has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trinigy, a leading 3D game engine provider. Trinigy's Vision Game Engine has been used by a broad range of games and simulation companies and is available on all major platforms. With the addition of the Vision Engine, Havok's modular technology portfolio now expands to include a full line of production tools including rendering capabilities. The Trinigy Vision Engine will be re-branded and known as the Havok Vision Engine. NCS to Host GameTech 2012 – Team Orlando has announced that the National Center for Simulation (NCS) will host the
2012 GameTech Conference. The management move to NCS recognizes Central Florida as a hub of game-based training for the military and builds on previous growth and success of the GameTech Conference. NCS President/Executive Director, Lt. Gen. (ret) Tom Baptise said, "The GameTech conference provides the simulation and training community and the nation an excellent opportunity to come together to review emerging technologies and trends, and to network for the advancement of a critical training and learning sector of the military - the use of gaming technology." "One of the greatest things about GameTech is its ability to integrate new technologies to enhance the performance of our warfighters," commented Kent Gritton, director of the Joint Training, Integration and Evaluation Center and
deputy conference chair for GameTech. "We are pleased that NCS has accepted the leadership role in taking the conference to new levels of excellence within our simulation and gaming community." Defense GameTech Users' Conference focuses on serious games, mobile applications and virtual world technologies, and it features leading keynote speakers from government and industry. In March 2011, the conference drew almost 600 attendees. The 2012 conference will be held at the Orlando Caribe Royale, from March 26-30, 2012. Additional information can be found at www.teamorlando.or/gametech.
Arrivals & Departures Country Manager – projectiondesign® has named Jens Heymans Country Manager of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH). During late 2011 and 2012
ISSUE 5.2011
MAKS 2011
MS&T MAGAZINE
40
MAKS (International Aviation and Space Salon)-2011, the tenth of its kind, took place at Zhukovsky, 35km south-east of Moscow, between 16 and 21 August. The venue is appropriate, since the airfield and adjacent city are named for Nikolai Zhukovsky, the father of Russian aviation, and its alternative name – Ramenskoye – has been synonymous with flight test activity since 1941, when the Gromov Flight Research Institute was established there. Indeed, the hosting of an international air show at a base which was formerly shrouded in secrecy is an indicator of how things have changed. Early visitors to the show basked under cloudless skies in temperatures well above 30oC – although mercifully with a cooling breeze; later in the week, heavy rain and low cloud were the order of the day. Nearly 800 companies from more than 30 countries took part in MAKS-2011 and, although the vast majority of them were from Russia and close neighbours, there was significant participation and interest from further afield, an indicator both of foreign industry wishing to do business in Russia, and of Russian companies eyeing opportunities abroad. Several mutually beneficial partnerships have already been established, and doubtless more will have developed as a result of this air show. One such is the collaboration between Russia and India to produce a new fighter, known in Russia as the Sukhoi T-50 PAKFA (Future Complex of Frontal Aviation) and in India simply as FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft). The military aircraft presence was almost exclusively local, although the US brought a sizeable contingent, including C-5, KC-10, B-52, F-15, F-16 and A-10 aircraft; Rafales of the French Air Force were also in attendance. F-15 and Rafale took part in the flying display, but this also was mainly a domestic showcase of which the centrepiece was the T-50, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the F-22 Raptor. The T-50’s display was relatively restrained, reflecting the early stages of the flight test programme; nevertheless, it is clearly aerodynamically
very capable. Not restrained at all was the Su-35 which demonstrated yet again the triumph of thrust over drag and gravity, of fly-by-wire over conventional aerodynamics, and of flight envelope exploration over common sense. Gone was the classic ‘cobra’ manoeuvre, replaced by what can only be described as an aerial cartwheel! A bonus was the appearance of a composite and extremely pretty ‘big diamond’ formation of the 5 Su-27s of the Russian Knights team and the 4 MiG-29s of The Swifts; both teams were due to be disbanded after the show, ostensibly as a result of budget cuts, but could possibly reappear flying less expensive training aircraft such as the Yak-130. This was not a ‘training’ show, and there was little pure training content in it. Nevertheless, there were some eye-catching simulators on display, not least Dynamika’s Ka-52 Alligator, with a Constanta Design image generator, and Transas’s Mi-38. IAI also showcased THRUST, an AACMI pod developed with InterCoastal Electronics Inc. for IAI’s Rangeless Helicopter Training System. THRUST is specifically designed for attack helicopters, replicates a Hellfire anti-tank missile, and can be networked with their fixed-wing version EHUD, and with other systems such as RAIDS and Laser-based Tactical Engagement Systems. Some aspects of doing business in this part of the world appear not to have changed; for example, press accreditation and registration was its customary good-natured mayhem, and a recurrent theme was the difficulty of making commercial progress in the face of bureaucratic roadblocks. On Day 2, MAKS received a visit from the Russian Prime Minister; however, although Mr Putin’s endorsement of the show was to be welcomed, the effective loss of half a day’s business, while the exhibition was put into lock-down and flooded by security, was less praiseworthy and reminiscent of a bygone era. It contrasted sharply with the overall impression of friendly people, a forwardand outward-looking Russian aircraft industry, and an interesting and enjoyable show. – Dim Jones