Latest news with #T-38
Axios
21-05-2025
- Axios
Red 6 targets pilot training woes with airborne augmented reality
In a small hangar east of downtown Orlando sits a custom two-seater aircraft hardwired for combat. It carries no missiles under its wings. It has no concealed weapons bay. And it has no refueling probe. It does, however, host the Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), which can simulate all of the above. The big picture: Training and rehearsal are cornerstones of military success. But it's easier said than done. Services like the U.S. Air Force are plagued by pilot shortages, aging aircraft and availability issues. Historically, there has been an "inability to train against representative threats at scale and at frequency to keep ourselves ready," Daniel Robinson, the CEO of ATARS maker Red 6, told Axios during a visit last week. "We were never, ever, ever going to fix this problem of training using physical assets and pilots and dollars, because we just don't have enough of them." How it works: The ATARS headset projects virtual, interactive objects against the real world, offering users a custom training environment. It works in the air, while flying an actual plane, or on the ground strapped into a mock cockpit. "It's basically a massively multiplayer video game being played outdoors to a very, very high standard," said Robinson, a former F-22 and Tornado pilot. Surface-to-air missile sites perch on the horizon. Missiles zip past your head. Your digital wingman screeches off. Ships glide through the water below. State of play: Red 6's tech is embedded in the T-38. The company, employing about 150 people, is also tinkering with the F-16 and MC-130. It has existing relationships with BAE Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The intrigue: The sandbox can be quickly updated; it already includes collaborative combat aircraft. The Air Force's competition for them hasn't even concluded. Robinson said he flew against a Chinese J-36 the morning of the media tour. (That aircraft emerged in December, causing quite the online stir.) Our thought bubble: The virtual world can be incredibly useful for visualizing, engineering and testing bleeding-edge weapons and vehicles. Digital twin chatter is more than hype. Zoom out: The Pentagon has long sought accurate, agile simulation. The Army established an entire program executive office dedicated to it and has pursued projects like the Synthetic Training Environment and One World Terrain. Orlando, meanwhile, is home to I/ITSEC, a premier modeling-and-simulation defense conference. The bottom line: "The whole premise was: Let's try to solve training in the air for the Air Force, in a way that's novel, that no one else has done," said Brandon Harris, the company's vice president of operations and chief pilot.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sheppard AFB readies for cattle egret dispersal efforts
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — If you live near Sheppard Air Force Base, don't be alarmed if you hear what sounds like gunshots over the coming weeks. SAFB officials said the base is partnering with the City of Wichita Falls and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the coming weeks to start using non-lethal methods to disperse a large flock of cattle egrets roosting just west of the base. Sheppard AFB tackles aviation safety with bird control measures Officials said egret flights threaten aviation safety, and collisions between aircraft and birds can result in significant monetary damage, the loss of an aircraft, and even the loss of human life. Residents who live near the base should be advised that the dispersal methods will sound similar to gunfire, occur throughout daylight hours, and end around sunset. Base officials say even though major strikes are pretty rare, in July 2013, a single cattle egret strike over the base airfield led to the non-fatal ejection of two pilots and the complete loss of a T-38 aircraft worth around $8 million at the time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Here's the latest on the near miss between military jet, passenger plane at Reagan Airport
CHARLOTTE () — Are air traffic controllers too stressed in the aftermath of the first deadly U.S. airline disaster in decades? There are new concerns about the safety of military and commercial aircraft operating 'too close for comfort' in the cramped Washington, D.C. airspace. Chief Transportation Correspondent and Pilot MayCay Beeler gives an update on the near-collision investigation of a U.S. Air Force T-38 jet and a Delta passenger plane. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Near-collision investigation reveals Reagan National Airport controllers failed to stop flights during military flyover
A federal investigation is focusing on an air traffic control communications breakdown that led to a formation of military jets coming within seconds of colliding with a Delta Air Lines flight near Reagan National Airport, multiple sources told CNN. The March 28 incident was in the same crowded Washington, DC, airspace that was the site of January's fatal midair collision between a commercial flight and an Army helicopter. The new details, first reported by CNN, renew concerns about the safety of military and commercial aircraft operating in close proximity and raise new questions about whether air traffic controllers in the nation's capital are too stressed in the wake of the worst US air disaster in decades. As previously reported by CNN, the night before the incident, a fight broke out in the Reagan National control tower, leading airport police to arrest an air traffic controller. According to previously unreleased air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN, collision alerts flashed in front of the air traffic controller responsible for handling the military jets as they maneuvered for a flyover of Arlington National Cemetery, with the controller frantically issuing instructions to the formation of four jets. 'Drago 61, I need you to make a left turn, left turn heading 250 immediately,' the controller from Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control shouted via radio to the leader of the United States Air Force T-38 jets. 'Traffic opposite direction departing Washington National.' The military jets – flying at more than 350 miles per hour – came less than 3,900 feet laterally and 100 feet vertically from the Delta Airbus A319, which just took off from the airport and was still climbing, according to a source briefed on the incident. A CNN analysis of the previously unreported distance between the flights put against speeds gathered by FlightRadar24 suggests the jets came within roughly five seconds of colliding. The new details add to growing scrutiny of the crammed airspace around Reagan National Airport in the wake of the January 29 collision of a US Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, killing all 67 people on board. The Federal Aviation Administration has since imposed heavy restrictions on helicopters operating near the airport. The communications breakdown, according to sources familiar with the incident, appeared to occur when air traffic controllers in the Reagan National Airport control tower failed to hold departing flights for five minutes as planned leading up to the 3:17 p.m. flyover. A short pause in departures from the airport is standard protocol for Arlington cemetery flyovers, but for some reason that did not happen, that source said. The source added that two other commercial flights departed after the Delta flight, which received an in-cockpit collision alert known as a resolution advisory. The apparent failure stunned those briefed on the case who say aviation officials 'now fear what else could happen.' The FAA, which is investigating the incident, responded by deploying a 'critical incident stress management team' to the control tower to provide 'confidential support for staff.' The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the case. CNN has reached out to both agencies for comment. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the FAA, said during a committee hearing last week that the incident was 'far too close, seconds away from becoming yet another disaster.' 'The air traffic center that controls airspace around D.C. notified DCA about the flyover,' Cruz said. 'That should have led to halted traffic,' calling the incident a 'serious communication breakdown is just the latest in a string of missteps that signal that the air traffic organization is under extreme stress.'
CNN
08-04-2025
- General
- CNN
CNN Exclusive: Near-collision investigation reveals Reagan National Airport controllers failed to stop flights during military flyover
A federal investigation is focusing on an air traffic control communications breakdown that led to a formation of military jets coming within seconds of colliding with a Delta Air Lines flight near Reagan National Airport, multiple sources told CNN. The March 28 incident was in the same crowded Washington, DC, airspace that was the site of January's fatal midair collision between a commercial flight and an Army helicopter. The new details, first reported by CNN, renew concerns about the safety of military and commercial aircraft operating in close proximity and raise new questions about whether air traffic controllers in the nation's capital are too stressed in the wake of the worst US air disaster in decades. As previously reported by CNN, the night before the incident, a fight broke out in the Reagan National control tower, leading airport police to arrest an air traffic controller. According to previously unreleased air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN, collision alerts flashed in front of the air traffic controller responsible for handling the military jets as they maneuvered for a flyover of Arlington National Cemetery, with the controller frantically issuing instructions to the formation of four jets. 'Drago 61, I need you to make a left turn, left turn heading 250 immediately,' the controller from Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control shouted via radio to the leader of the United States Air Force T-38 jets. 'Traffic opposite direction departing Washington National.' The military jets – flying at more than 350 miles per hour – came less than 3,900 feet laterally and 100 feet vertically from the Delta Airbus A319, which just took off from the airport and was still climbing, according to a source briefed on the incident. A CNN analysis of the previously unreported distance between the flights put against speeds gathered by FlightRadar24 suggests the jets came within roughly five seconds of colliding. The new details add to growing scrutiny of the crammed airspace around Reagan National Airport in the wake of the January 29 collision of a US Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, killing all 67 people on board. The Federal Aviation Administration has since imposed heavy restrictions on helicopters operating near the airport. The communications breakdown, according to sources familiar with the incident, appeared to occur when air traffic controllers in the Reagan National Airport control tower failed to hold departing flights for five minutes as planned leading up to the 3:17 p.m. flyover. A short pause in departures from the airport is standard protocol for Arlington cemetery flyovers, but for some reason that did not happen, that source said. The source added that two other commercial flights departed after the Delta flight, which received an in-cockpit collision alert known as a resolution advisory. The apparent failure stunned those briefed on the case who say aviation officials 'now fear what else could happen.' The FAA, which is investigating the incident, responded by deploying a 'critical incident stress management team' to the control tower to provide 'confidential support for staff.' The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the case. CNN has reached out to both agencies for comment. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the FAA, said during a committee hearing last week that the incident was 'far too close, seconds away from becoming yet another disaster.' 'The air traffic center that controls airspace around D.C. notified DCA about the flyover,' Cruz said. 'That should have led to halted traffic,' calling the incident a 'serious communication breakdown is just the latest in a string of missteps that signal that the air traffic organization is under extreme stress.'
