The Air Force is pushing efforts to train its pilots and crews in advanced scenarios where Global Positioning System guidance becomes denied or degraded. For Capt. David Levene, an F-15E weapon systems officer at the Air Force’s Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, Calif., this need drove him to create a software algorithm that calculates realistic GPS jamming effects and injects them into an aircraft’s navigation system, according to a Sept. 25 Edwards release. He calls it the Simulated Programmable AirCraft-Embedded JAMmer, or SPACE JAM. Levene is leading a team that began a series of eight planned flight tests with SPACE JAM on Sept. 10. “The testing we’re doing now has never been done before,” he said. “My hope for the future is that every military aircraft will include a navigation system that can be jammed for training purposes,” he said. Maj. Raven LeClair, another TPS student, and a member of Levene’s team, said it’s important for aircrews to train in realistic scenarios so that they can devise counter-tactics. “If all this saves one life, it’s worth it,” he said. (Edwards report by Rebecca Amber)
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.
