Navy selects L-3 Link SimuSphere HD-9 visual displays for U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Tactical Operational Flight Trainers
ARLINGTON, Texas, 8 Nov. 2012. Engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division selected L-3 Link Simulation & Training’s (L-3 Link’s) SimuSphere HD-9 high-definition visual displays for integration with 13 F/A-18E/F and four EA-18G Tactical Operational Flight Trainers (TOFTs), employed in the U.S. and Japan.
SimuSphere HD-9-equipped F/A-18E/F TOFTs are to be delivered to U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan. Upgrades will follow to existing F/A-18E/F TOFTs at NAS Lemoore, Calif., and NAS Oceana, Va., as well as to EA-18G TOFTs at NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.
“Today, F/A-18C TOFTs integrated with SimuSphere HD-9 provide eye-limiting visuals, enabling aircrews to conduct a full range of tactical training exercises,” explains Frank Casano, L-3 Link’s vice president for Navy and Marine programs. “With this award, a low-cost, common solution for high-definition visuals will be migrated onto the service’s E/F and G model TOFTs to provide all tactical aircrews with a fully immersive and highly realistic training environment.”
L-3 Link’s SimuSphere HD-9 visual system solution is built on the company’s HD World simulation product line, which combines high-definition databases, image generation systems, physics-based processing, and visual system display technologies to produce realistic, relevant fighter training environments.
The upgraded F/A-18E/F and EA-18G TOFTs will support a range of tactical training capabilities; aircrews can identify targets with unprecedented realism, use their actual flight night-vision goggles, and experience real-world performance over a 360-degree field-of-regard, according to a company representative.
In TOFTs being retrofitted, SimuSphere HD-9 will replace currently fielded SimuSphere visual system displays, while maintaining the same physical footprint and image generator interface. The common visual database is based on refined source data from the Navy Portable Source Initiative (NPSI), U.S. Air Force programs, and newly acquired imagery.
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Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace
Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.
