The 309th Software Maintenance Group at the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah does not produce graphics-intensive video games, instead the software it produces “runs the ballistics calculations for dropping weapons, handling communications between various units, or providing pilot displays for speed, target, status, and so forth,” says David Webb, 309th senior technical program manager for new workloads. According to Air Force journalist G.A. Volb, developing this type software often takes 18 months or longer, including writing between 200,000-500,000 lines of computer code. Kevin Tjoland, another senior technical program manager, notes that the unit’s software “has often made the difference in recent combat actions in the Middle East.” He called it a “challenging job,” but one that is essential to “keeping 20-year-old aircraft relevant.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
