Perth-based firm aims high
Australian company Calytrix Technologies is staring down the giants, as it hopes to win key simulation software work on the JSF programme from Lockheed Martin when major training contracts start flowing next year.
The two-year-old Perth-based company, which has just five employees in Australia and one full-time employee in a new office in Pennsylvania, USA, has been working since the beginning of the year to get its name known in US defence circles.
The company specialises in creating software tools for simulation development, and particularly distributed simulations - those that involve multiple machines and/or people. Its first product, Simplicity, has been ordered by the Australian Defence Simulation Office, Boeing Australia, Saab Systems and, most recently, Mitre.
In August, the company was selected by Lockheed Martin to head an Australian industry study of the simulation technologies to be used for the F-35. Team members include Adacel, Agent Oriented Software, BAE Systems Australia, Boeing Australia, CAE Australia, CSC Australia, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, KBR, Raytheon Australia, Sydac, Tenix and Thales Training and Simulation.
Calytrix chief executive Mark Rheinlander says the contract followed an awareness campaign in the USA that included many visits to Lockheed Martin.
Rheinlander says the study initially involved taking a high-level look at the processes, architectures and products that are available for developing distributed simulations. The second part will look at tactical environments, simulator hardware and software options, including computer-generated forces; while the third part will investigate "containerised" or mobile simulators.
Source: Flight International