F-35 Auto-GCAS Team to Receive 2018 Collier Trophy

[rheonomic]

Didn't see this posted when I searched...

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) is pleased to announce that the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS) Team has been named the recipient of the 2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy for “… successfully completing a rapid design, integration, and flight test of critical, lifesaving technology for the worldwide F-35 fleet.”

The Collier Trophy is awarded annually “…for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.” The list of Collier recipients represents a timeline of air and space achievements, marking major events in the history of flight.

“I am so proud of the entire Auto GCAS Team and their commitment and dedication to saving lives through this revolutionary technology,” expressed Mark Wilkins, Senior Aviation Safety Analyst, Office of Secretary of Defense for Personnel Readiness and Safety. “We are truly honored to be recognized with such a prestigious award and deeply humbled considering the aviation greats who won previously.”

“I want to congratulate the Auto GCAS team on winning the 2018 Collier Trophy,” said Greg Principato, President and CEO, NAA. “The Collier Trophy was established more than a century ago to encourage the best minds in this country to continually find ways to advance and improve aviation. The Auto GCAS team, comprised of elements of the U.S. Air Force, to include the Air Force Research Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Joint Program Office, NASA, and the
Defense Safety Oversight Council; is a sterling example of a project that brought together the best minds from many disciplines. The result is a game changing advance in safety that has already changed military aviation and can one day change the game for everyone.”

The Collier Trophy Selection Committee, comprised of 30 aviation and aerospace professionals, convened on April 4, 2019 to hear presentations from 11 nominees.

PDF Announcement

[steve2267]

With the apparent first fatality in an F-35 with the tragic loss of the JASDF Lightning... and how expensive that pilot and aircraft were... one wonders if this Auto-GCAS software update might get pushed out to the fleet toot-suite without waiting for the full Block 4 update?

[marauder2048]

There was no reason to bundle it with Block 4 especially as it was initially envisioned as a Block 3F effort.

[quicksilver]

There was no reason to bundle it with Block 4 especially as it was initially envisioned as a Block 3F effort.

3F clean-up. Post-SDD.

[SpudmanWP]

There was no reason to bundle it with Block 4 especially as it was initially envisioned as a Block 3F effort.

No, it was originally Block 4

[marauder2048]

There was no reason to bundle it with Block 4 especially as it was initially envisioned as a Block 3F effort.

No, it was originally Block 4

At that stage of the program, yes. But once the JPO steering board elected to accelerate its
introduction it was being looked at as quicksilver says: 3F clean-up but pre-Block 4.

The motivation there being to decouple it from the Block 4 approval process which even
then was looking to be protracted.

[spazsinbad]

Some forum links to outside links for the FAST TRACKING of installation of AUTO-GCAS for the F-35 fleet five years earlier:

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=13143&p=406094&hilit=GCAS#p406094 [fast track]
&
viewtopic.php?f=58&t=13143&p=405998&hilit=GCAS#p405998 [5 yr early]
&
viewtopic.php?f=58&t=12237&p=396793&hilit=GCAS#p396793 [auto-GCAS before 2020]

[spazsinbad]

F-35 AGCAS recommended for fielding
26 Apr 2019 Giancarlo Casem, 412th Test Wing Public Affairs

"EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 412th Test Wing recently published the technical report on the F-35 Automatic Ground and Collision Avoidance System and have recommended it for fielding; seven years ahead of schedule.

The Auto GCAS is a tool that utilizes a suite of sensors, on-board monitors and flight data to determine if a plane is on course for a probable ground collision. Based on the plane’s trajectory, speed, and lack of input from the pilot, the system then calculates the best way to recover to a safe trajectory.

“The 461st Flight Test Squadron is passionate about identifying, developing, and implementing technology that will benefit the warfighter,” said Lt. Col. Tucker Hamilton, 461st FLTS commander and F-35 Integrated Test Force director. “With respect to Auto GCAS, we knew how important this technology was for the warfighter and did everything in our power to accelerate it; protecting those that go into harm's way.”

The effort to test the system on the F-35A was headed by the Test Wing’s 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as part of the F-35 AGCAS Team. The whole team consisted of engineers and pilots from the Air Force, the F-35 Joint Program Office, NASA, Lockheed-Martin and the Defense Safety Oversight Council.

Further support was provided to the team by a group of congressmen. In November 2017, Hamilton provided a brief of the program to Rep. Kevin McCarthy and then-Rep. Steve Knight. The support of both California congressmen helped shed light to the importance of the program and accelerate its development by seven years.

“Following our briefing with Colonel Hamilton, Rep. Steve Knight and I sent a letter, along with our colleagues Rep. Paul Cook and Rep. Ken Calvert, to then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis, urging him to work with the F-35 Joint Program Office to prioritize the incorporation of AGCAS as quickly as possible,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said a driving factor for him and Knight was the bottom line: AGCAS saves lives....

...“AGCAS reflects the good work being done every day by our military personnel and their civilian counterparts at places like Edwards Air Force Base,” McCarthy said. “These proud men and women strive to test and evaluate our nation’s finest technology. I am proud of the visionary leadership being displayed by Brig. Gen. John Teichert (412th Test Wing commander) and Brig. Gen. Christopher Azzano (AFTC commander). Under their command, I am confident that the team at Edwards will continue to advance our community’s proud aerospace legacy.”"

Photo: "An F-35 Lightning II launches an AIM-120 missile released from an internal weapons storage bay over a controlled sea test range in the Pacific Ocean.The 412th Test Wing recently published the technical report on the F-35 Automatic Ground and Collision Avoidance System and have recommended it for fielding; seven years ahead of schedule. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Okula)" https://media.defense.gov/2019/Apr/26/2 ... 5-1140.JPG (2.3Mb)

Source: https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article ... -fielding/

[spazsinbad]

From a post on a different topic [ viewtopic.php?f=54&t=55440&p=418152&hilit=Sidekick#p418152 ] the quote below was at the end so repeated here also:

"...[Tony ‘Brick’ Wilson, LM F-35 TEST PILOT] also said the company, working with the Air Force Research Lab, has developed and installed on the F-35A — six years ahead of schedule — the Auto Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS). The AGCAS has “saved eight pilots’ lives,” Wilson said. He said the AGCAS will be installed later on the F-35B and on the F-35C in 2021." https://seapowermagazine.org/lockheed-d ... x-shooter/ 01 May 2019

[quicksilver]

To read the press release from the testers you'd a thunk they did all the work from idea to implementation. IIRC, it was
LM/AFRL/NASA in origins.

But, very good stuff for the end users. Rare that each of the bureaucracies with some kind of equity in this kinda thing all marched in the same direction at the same time -- with urgency (knock me over with a feather) -- for a common end.

Well done. They should do so more often...

[mixelflick]

Amen.

Dunno what they're spending on this but whatever it is, it's well worth it. Going to save many lives (and airframes). Had the F-22 had this, we'd have a few more of them around (and at least one pilot). Ditto for the F-15C. One where I live went down on a cross country flight a few years ago. Oddly enough, the official accident investigation gave no cause.

Plunged from 30,000ft or so. The pilot declared an emergency, but no other communication from him after that. The report noted he was incapacitated, but never found out why. He left behind a beautiful wife and two young girls...

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your ... -15-crash/

[spazsinbad]

UhOH the LIGHTINGS are back.... Someone needs to devise a spallchucker wot changes anything into a LIGHTNING! ASAP.

AFMC team receives prestigious award for life-saving aircraft technology
28 May 2019 Whitney Wetsig, Air Force Research Laboratory Corporate Communications

"ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, or Auto-GCAS, team won the 2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy, an award bestowed annually by the National Aeronautic Association that recognizes “the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles."

The NAA selected the Auto-GCAS team for “successfully completing a rapid design, integration and flight test of critical, lifesaving technology for the worldwide F-35 (Lighting II) fleet.”

The winning team comprises representatives from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Lockheed-Martin, the F-35 Joint Program Office, NASA, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Safety Oversight Council and other U.S. Air Force entities.

AFRL’s Aerospace Systems Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, led the development of Auto-GCAS while members of the F-35 Integrated Task Force at Edwards Air Force Base, California, led the flight-test program.

Kevin Price, AFRL program manager and retired Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, says the team is honored and especially grateful for the resulting public awareness. Price explains that the “greatest reward comes from the knowledge that pilots have come home from missions” safely due to the development and transition of Auto-GCAS.

We are “most proud” of the “precious lives and combat resources (that) have been preserved through this revolutionary, life-saving technology,” he said.

Auto-GCAS relies on GPS and a digital terrain database. The system employs complex algorithms and scans the digital terrain around an aircraft’s current and projected area to initiate an automatic recovery at the last instant to avoid a ground collision when needed.

Auto-GCAS saves pilots’ lives by preventing the most common reason for crashes: Controlled Flight Into Terrain. According to Air Force statistics, CFIT is responsible for 75% of all F-16 crashes. The leading causes of CFIT are spatial disorientation, target fixation and G-force induced loss of consciousness.

Mark Wilkins, a senior aviation safety analyst for OSD personnel readiness and safety praises the “entire team and their commitment and dedication to saving lives through this revolutionary technology.” He described this award as “deeply humbling considering the aviation greats who won previously.”

Since being fielded on F-16 Block 40/50 aircraft in 2014, Auto-GCAS has saved seven aircraft and the lives of eight Air Force pilots. Today, more than 600 F-16 Block 40/50 aircraft have the capability. Development efforts are in the works to field the system on an additional 330 Pre-Block 40 aircraft in 2021.

In April 2019, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, recommended that Auto-GCAS be fielded on the F-35 following a series of flight tests. The Pentagon estimates that this technology will potentially save 40 pilots as well as 57 F-16s and F-35s through 2040.

Greg Principato, NAA president and CEO, said that Auto-GCAS is “a game-changing advance in safety that has already changed military aviation and can one day change the game for everyone.” The NAA committee, comprised of 30 aviation and aerospace professionals, selected Auto-GCAS over 10 other nominees. The Collier Trophy, which is on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, will be presented during a formal ceremony on June 13, in Washington D.C...."

Photo: "The Collier Trophy, on display at the Smithsonian Museum. (Courtesy photo)" https://media.defense.gov/2019/May/23/2 ... 6-1009.JPG (0.8Mb)

Source: https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display ... echnology/

[quicksilver]

Hmmm...

Interesting that a USG entity has a “corporate” communications department. Some in the syscoms think of themselves confused it seems.

[outlaw162]

It still amazes me that people think the primary purpose of this engineering miracle is to save lives.

It's a side bar compared to saving a $100,000,000 aircraft. Pilots are a dime a dozen....good ones maybe 20 cents/dozen. Pilots would fly the machines with or without auto-GCAS....consistently good pilots generally would not need saving.

Realistically, the crux of the matter here is that the folks in command positions want to avoid fatal class 'A's to keep their commands, and as well, the folks paying for the machines want something pilot-proof.

[magitsu]

Well, the pilots aren't exactly cheap either. 7 million is spent on each for the jet training alone. But you are right about the saving of face/commands. There are high expectations overall, for example said pilots won't be staying unless enough of this kind of "easy" safety measures are implemented. 100 million planes without pilots would be ultimately useless.

They are "dime a dozen" only at the time of selection. Losing a trained one can be recouped only in 5-10 years. For the society it's a loss of at least 30 years. Which is much more time than it takes to produce another jet.