L-3 Link announces UAV partnership

L-3 Link Simulation & Training (L-3 Link) announced today that it is collaborating with Dayton, Ohio-based Sinclair Community College to educate students and industry participants in the operation and application of unmanned aircraft systems to support future global market requirements.

In support of this initiative - which aims to establish a National UAS Training and Certification Center on Sinclair's campus - L-3 Link has designed and will install its UAS Classroom Training Suite, which includes 10 student stations that have independent vehicle and sensor controls. Sinclair has developed a curriculum and course materials, and will provide classroom instruction.

"With the rapid expansion of UAS platforms around the world, a job market has been created that requires talented and educated people skilled in the operation of unmanned systems," said Leonard Genna, president of L-3 Link. "We are proud to team with Sinclair Community College to deliver a training solution that meets civilian UAS training needs, an area that has the potential for tremendous growth."

"We believe this agreement with L-3 Link is another important step in our stated goal of developing a national UAS Training and Certification Center at Sinclair Community College," said Deb Norris, Sinclair vice president for Workforce Development & Corporate Services. "L-3 Link's significant expertise in UAS simulation and training fits well with that of our other regional UAS partners including the Center for UAV Exploitation and IDCAST affiliated with the University of Dayton Research Institute, Woolpert, a national leader in geospatial data collection and analysis, and Co-Operative Engineering Services, a UAV manufacturer and services provider."

The L-3 Link-built UAS Classroom Training Suite includes a single instructor operator station and UAS training models that can be tailored and adapted to represent a specific UAS platform type. The suite will provide training focused on flight operations, payload integration, sensors, controls and communications. In developing and fielding this suite, L-3 Link is able to offer a full complement of training solutions that range from initially exposing students to UAS concepts to providing experienced operators with mission qualification opportunities in complex UAS platforms.

The UAS Classroom Training Suite's system architecture is built on a scalable computational technology solution that breaks the traditional approach to how a training system is designed. This computational solution greatly increases training capability and reliability, while significantly decreasing cost, size, weight and power required for operation. By leveraging L-3 Link's simulation capabilities, the UAS Classroom Training Suite provides operators with an immersive level of physics-based interaction, engagement and realism.

Source: L-3 Link