November 2004

PLEXSYS Interface Products ASCOT V provided the "Backbone" for this Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff directed, Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) Sponsored, and U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) Distributed (Wide Area Network) Joint Exercise.  JSTE exercises provide Joint Tactical Air Operations (JTAO) training to C4I units of all four services. Exercises are computer assisted and focus on participants designing and operating C4I data links and voice nets to support "netted" joint air operations, stressing Joint Tactics Techniques and Procedures.

A significant first was accomplished by ASCOT V as it transmitted Precise Participant Location Identifiers (PPLIs) J2.2, J2.3, and J13.2 messages throughout the DIS wide area network. This feature of the ASCOT V system greatly enhanced the training experience for surveillance and weapons controllers at the C2 nodes and also the Army ADA Batteries. 

For this JSTE, PLEXSYS personnel and systems were deployed to Fort Bliss, TX in support of the Joint Exercise Control Group and the 11^th Air Defense Brigade; Eglin AFB, FL in support of the 728^th ACS; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in support of the 141^st ACS, and Tinker AFB, OK in support of the 552^nd Operations Support Squadron (AWACS). 

The scenario for this exercise was developed by PLEXSYS Interface Products for JFCOM in 2000.  
 

19 November 2004

PLEXSYS Interface Products, Inc.^® successfully completed its participation in the NATO First Warfighter Alliance in a Virtual Environment (WAVE) exercise.  PLEXSYS supported the exercise from two separate locations:  Cold Lake CFB, Cold Lake, Alberta Canada, and RAF Lossiemouth, UK, with both laptop and full console versions of their Unclassified NATO releasable Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Mission Simulators (AMS), as well as their Airspace Control and Operations Trainers (ASCOTs).  Both systems in US-only versions have been integral components of the US Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) AWACS Mission Training Center (MTC) since its inception in 1999.  The US and UK AWACS systems are nearly similar with a few exceptions, so much in fact that during the exercise at the Lossiemouth site, two UK's RAF E-3D Weapons Directors were able to immediately and effectively use the AWACS Mission Simulator laptops to control 8-10 simultaneous flights of virtual cockpits and Computer Generated Forces (CGF) which were flown from various locations throughout Europe.   

Whilst control capability for all Blue Forces was exercised from RAF Lossiemouth, Cold Lake CFB initially supported the Opposing Forces (OPFOR) control.  A decision to centrally exercise both the Blue and OPFOR control functions at RAF Lossiemouth was made late in the exercise demonstration, wherein the equipment already positioned there was reconfigured for this additional task.  The ASCOT and AMS systems operated in both Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) and High Level Architecture (HLA) modes and used their own DIS Voice Communications application, compatible to current distributed simulation standards.

September 2004

Advanced Simulation Interface Buffer (ASIB) equipment upgrades and training were performed for NATO at Geilenkirchen, Germany. 

August & October 2004

SDS International awarded PLEXSYS two contracts for wargaming support for JSTE 05-01, executed on 7-19 Nov 04;  and JSTE 05-02 (MGBIE), executed on 7-10 Feb 05.

July 2004

Contract modifications were awarded by Aeronautical Systems Center to the AWACS MTC contract for DMO Support Services, Interoperability Support Services, and Standards Implementation Services, exceeding $1,500,000 in value. 

"We have once again demonstrated our flexibility and adaptable environment generation capability in Distributed Simulations exercise control and management across Wide Area Networks." said Jamie Boulet, Simulation Integration Engineer of PLEXSYS Interface Products, Inc.^® Already responsible for Exercise First WAVE dynamic CGF Blue Forces of F-15C and F-16CJ, KC-10, and AWACS aircraft, PLEXSYS also became responsible for the real-time CGF generation of MIG-29, MIG-21 and Mirage F-1 aircraft on the fly as training requirements were identified. 

NATO First WAVE was the first step in a collaborative demonstration of the anticipated implementation of Mission Training through Distributed Simulation (MTDS) throughout NATO, sponsored by the NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO), through the NATO Modeling and Simulation Group (NMSG) and Studies, Analysis and Simulation (SAS) technical task groups.