July 6, 2005 – ASTi recently provided additional equipment to Evans & Sutherland for use at the United Kingdom’s School of Army Aviation for the Aviation Combined Tactics Trainer (ACTT) facility as part of its phase 3 upgrade. ASTi previously supplied a total of 6 DACS to support the 12 reconfigurable cockpit positions, extensive instructor facilities and After Action Review (AAR). The most recent delivery included 12 of ASTi’s Touch Screen Panel (TSP) units configured to provide replication of the aircraft-specific radio and communication control panels for both Lynx and Apache (WAH-64) helicopters.

The addition of the TSP is seen as a significant step forward in the fidelity of the training device since the aircrews will now have highly realistic representations of the actual control panels from the aircraft, and will be able to interact with the display directly. The combination of experienced ASTi engineering staff and the flexibility of the programming environment was key in being able to translate the operation of the aircraft panels onto the TSP display.

ASTi has been involved with the ACTT installation since 2001. ASTi’s highly specialized project engineering support has allowed it to maintain a high standard of operational readiness for the facility, and leads to a good understanding of the overall installation. This type of support becomes particularly valuable when capability enhancements are requested. ASTi is now due on-site to assist with the installation of the TSP units.

Although this installation is still in progress, ASTi is already in discussion for the Phase 4 capability enhancement due for award in late 2005.