WHAT'S HAPPENING 2023

ASTi Comms for JSE, Easy as 1-2-3

This summer, ASTi received a number of contracts to supply hardware and software to the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) expansion of the multibranch Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) virtual battlespace testing and evaluation (T&E) program. The U.S. Navy pioneered JSE under the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) at Pax River, MD, and the USAF is building JSE facilities at Nellis and Edwards Air Force bases with plans for another at the Joint Integrated Test and Training Center (JITTC), Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK.

ASTi Voisus and Telestra products provide networked comms and high-fidelity radio simulation at Pax River and are slated to do the same for the USAF T&E centers. Telestra provides its tried-and-true, high-fidelity radio simulation environment along with Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) and Link 16 modeling for 5th generation stealth aircraft simulation platforms. Voisus handles instructor-to-pilot and other training coordination communications.

These latest contracts also include ASTi's software and information assurance (SW/IA) maintenance multiyear package, ensuring the JSE program receives the latest software features and security updates. For more information about Telestra, Voisus or SW/IA maintenance, contact your favorite ASTi sales engineer. If you do not have a favorite, one will be provided to you at no cost.

SERA USAF OTTI CTF 4 JSIL, OMG

The U.S. Air Force recently issued a Certificate to Field (CTF) for ASTi's Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC (SERA) product. SERA passed rigorous information assurance evaluation, code analysis, and security scans performed by the Operational Training and Test Infrastructure to obtain this certification in support of the Joint Technology Center/Systems Integration Laboratory (JSIL). The issuance of this CTF sets the stage for future SERA deployments throughout all branches of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Acquisition of SERA's CTF, however, is just one part of the larger JSIL MQ-9 training program. In September, ASTi received a follow-on order for more than 100 additional SERA licenses to integrate with both desktop and ground control station MALET-JSIL Aircrew Trainers (MJATs). This same order also included more than 60 licenses for ASTi's Voisus simulated communications suite along with more than 250 Voisus software clients and 140+ AI-Delta audio & I/O distribution devices.

New Voisus Security-Levels Feature Looks Beyond the Horizon

ASTi is supplying its products for a highly mobile, tactical-edge Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) solution as part of the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) program. We delivered multiple kits featuring ASTi’s Voisus, Flex Client and Comms Logger products to provide hundreds of operators access to hundreds of live radios, intercom/VoIP channels and Voisus point-to-point calling.

We’ve got several new features to brag about:

The holidays are coming up! Contact ASTi to discuss your multilevel security RoIP or remote radio control wish list.

Share the Skies with SERA’s New Multi-Ownship Capability

ASTi is pleased to announce that its Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC product, more commonly known as SERA, now supports multi-ownship training. But wait, what IS multi-ownship training? We're glad you asked! But first, a quick history lesson.

Before SERA, pilot trainees's only interactions with ATC (e.g., ground, tower, RAPCON) were limited to whatever the instructor could handle during training. Then we developed SERA, and it filled the simulation with AI-enabled controllers as well as other planes and pilots with radios to fully flesh out the training environment. Each human pilot trained in their own dedicated and unique "world" and in their own plane (i.e., the ownship).

Now, however, SERA's multi-ownship capability allows multiple human pilots to participate in the same bustling SERA ATC environment. They can see and communicate with each other as well as SERA's AI controllers. Trainees can join or leave at any time and interact with ATC simultaneously or independently, depending on where they are in the training mission. Trainee actions and reactions have repercussions on their human counterparts as SERA's full ATC environment nimbly adjusts accordingly.

This multi-ownship capability is just the next evolution in SERA's accurate reconstruction of real-world pilot training, where we all share the same space. It helps simplify distributed, multiplatform training and can reduce the hardware footprint for your training center or facility. Contact ASTi to learn more about how SERA can upgrade your civilian or military pilot training.

D’oh! You Could’ve Had a T8. Er… V8.

ASTi released versions 8 of its Telestra and Voisus products this year, adding support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 and ensuring product lifetimes through May 2029. This new baseline for both Telestra and Voisus accommodates the latest ASTi hardware and expands hardware options for customers hosting run-time licenses on customer- or government-furnished equipment.

Contact your nearest ASTi sales representative to learn about these latest features and—more particularly—to inquire about an ATO or CTF for Telestra and Voisus products.

ASTi's Enterprise License Agreement Puts the ELA in "ELATED"

The ASTi Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) is our innovative solution to the problem of vendor lock-in, zero customer support, or some other commercial vendor's unreasonable assertion of intellectual property (IP) rights.

ASTi's role under the ELA is to provide large-scale, distributed, fully security-certified solutions for a period of 12 months along with any required auxiliary equipment. These solutions can be hosted as VMs on customer-supplied platforms or on ASTi-supplied, industrial computer hardware. The customer gets to decide.

The ELA also provides on-site installation, training, virtually unlimited phone support and free software enhancements and upgrades. If customers underestimate the amount of resources needed (e.g., seats, licenses, what have you), they are free to add as many additional positions or install extra licenses as needed without any extra fees. The cost for follow-on ELA years increases or decreases proportional to activity during the previous 12 months.

Under ASTi's ELA, in the extremely unlikely event that the client finds that our stellar technical and customer service is somehow unable to meet their requirements, we are willing to provide access to our source code so they may address their particular issue. That said, the ELA contract may be terminated at any time. Our product architectures conform to standard, published interfaces and APIs, which means our customers can pull the plug on ASTi, and replace our solution with minimal disruption if they are not completely satisfied. We guarantee that "The Customer is King."

At the time of this writing, ASTi is delivering on nine of these ELAs covering thousands of seats for our U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps customers. And, so far, our renewal rate is 100 percent. Can you think of anything that’s better designed for customer satisfaction than that? Call or email your ASTi sales representative to talk about an ELA for your program. They can elaborate with elan the elastic nature of the agreement, leaving you elated.