Point 6 is exhibiting in the 911 Supply booth.
The Base Glove is offered in both Black and Coyote. Like other Point 6 garments it’s made from 3D knit Merino Wool and is touch screen enabled on the thumb and forefinger.
OpEx 22 – Point 6
June 2nd, 2022OpEx 22 – EOTech
June 2nd, 2022EOTech is dusting off a couple of designs from their L3 days including the Mk56.
With a window about 2.5 times larger than their standard Holographic Weapon Sights, it is intended for use with heavy weapons like the M2.
Designed for use out to 2000 meters, this one integrates a standard reticle.
OpEx 22 – Recon Robotics
June 2nd, 2022
Recon Robotics is introducing a new controller which features a larger view screen and has integrated antennas for a more streamlined design. Additionally, you can record video right on the controller. It is also compatible with future upgrades.
OpEx 22 – TYR Tactical
June 2nd, 2022
TYR Tactical has developed a basic plate carrier kit which includes this carrier and their HA/30102 Plate. The plate weighs 1.5 kg / 3.31 lbs and is NIJ 0101.06 Level III stand alone certified.
Operator Expo 2022
June 2nd, 2022
Now in its second year, Operator Expo has done a great job of bringing Canada’s tactical companies together.
GM Defense Expands Into Canada
June 2nd, 2022GM Defense is expanding its global strategy to Canada, leveraging the existing relationships of GM Canada along with the advanced technologies and capabilities of its parent company, General Motors, with the aim of delivering efficient and innovative solutions to international military, security and government customers.
Fully aligned with its parent company’s vision for an all-electric future, GM Defense will leverage commercial battery electric technology and recent EV manufacturing investments to help defence and government customers transition to a more electric, autonomous and connected future. GM recently announced $2B to transform both Oshawa Assembly and CAMI Assembly plant, which will become Canada’s first full-scale EV manufacturing plant. The company also announced a partnership with POSCO to build a new $500 million facility in Quebec that will process Cathode Active Materials for EV batteries. GM Defense will leverage these investments to deliver customized solutions based on commercial derivatives that enhance capabilities for defence and government customers in Canada and overseas.
Safran Optics 1 Raises Over $43,000 for the Sterling Promise Foundation
June 2nd, 2022
Safran Optics 1 supports non-profit organizations which seek to improve the lives of veterans and military families. Most recently, Optics 1 partnered with the Sterling Promise Foundation to host their first-ever fundraiser during Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) 2022. With the help of industry sponsors, financial donations and a silent auction, the foundation received $43,500 to support their mission.
The Sterling Promise Foundation exists to honor the life of Staff Sergeant Scott Sterling, who passed away in April 2021 after a heroic battle with colorectal cancer. Scott served in the 75th Ranger Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment and 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. The foundation is dedicated to ensuring that veterans are able to live long, healthy, fulfilling lives following their careers in the US Army Special Operations, through early cancer screenings and awareness campaigns.
With financial assistance, the foundation can focus on early detection cancer screenings and augment related medical benefits for special forces members and veterans before cancer takes another soldier. Some of their ongoing initiatives include:
• Partnership with Cologuard® to promote early screenings for colorectal cancer
• Free colorectal screenings for veterans, regardless of age, whose insurance benefits do not cover
• Awareness campaign targeting the special operations community promoting all GI cancer screenings
Optics 1 was honored to host this event to raise funds and awareness for the well-being of our nation’s veterans, while celebrating the life of Scott Sterling, a cherished industry friend.
Software Factory Helps Transform Army from Industrial to Information Age
June 2nd, 2022
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — Anyone can submit a problem to the Army Software Factory.
To be clear, that is not just anyone at the factory, or in the formation, or anyone of a certain rank or office. Anyone in the U.S. Army can submit a problem to the Army Software Factory. It is an innovative concept but one that fulfills the promise of Army Futures Command.
When AFC was stood up in 2018, it was understood that it would not be business as usual. And when AFC opened the Army Software Factory in 2021, it was making good on that promise. The first-of-its-kind factory brings in rotating groups of Soldiers and Army civilians through a highly competitive application process and trains them in modern agile software development. Joshua Farrington of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center, or AvMC, is one of those civilians chosen for a prestigious factory rotation. Farrington is currently in a three-year assignment at the factory located in Austin, Texas.
“Employees that accept a rotation with the Army Software Factory bring their unique perspectives and capabilities from their home organizations and share those ideas into our ecosystem which further widens our vision of what is possible,” said Maj. Christopher Bennett, product manager at the Army Software Factory. “In addition to building their collaboration skills, rotations of employees that come through the Software Factory will encourage innovation through context-sharing on problems and products. When more people see a greater variety of problems and pains solved by software across the Army, it helps build a repository of ideas more easily shared across teams to reference.”
The program starts with a 16-week boot camp. There are four different tracks — platform engineer, software developer, product manager and designer. Farrington is on the software development track.
When a problem is submitted, the factory has a team to vet it. They do interviews, an initial scoping, and then decide whether to accept the problem. Once a problem is accepted, the assigned team works with partners to build a web application to address the problem — providing the collaboration that Army Futures Command is striving to foster Army-wide. Currently, Farrington is working on an application that will assist the 101st Airborne Division in their air assault mission planning process.
Another innovative aspect of the factory is that it is “rank agnostic” with Soldiers solving problems for Soldiers — an experience that Farrington said has been personally beneficial.
“It has been impactful for me — working directly with a lot of Soldiers,” Farrington shared. “At AvMC, we were doing things for the Warfighter but I was not around the Warfighter. Now, here, I am on a team with three other Soldiers who have directly dealt with the problem we are trying to solve. My impact for the Warfighter feels a lot more tangible.
“I was a civilian at AvMC writing Army-related software and I just wouldn’t have the context on what the app was actually doing because I had never flown a helicopter. So a Soldier who actually understands the context of how an app is actually going to be used – it just makes it so much easier to make decisions. I think having more Soldiers writing software will be a huge asset to the Army.”
In the Army’s continuing mission to transform itself from the industrial age to the information age, the Army Software Factory is a key player in the future fight — one that will be as much in the virtual cloud as it is in the physical ones.
“One of the big purposes of the Software Factory is to increase the software that is in the Army’s technical capabilities,” Farrington said. “The talent is already there, the Software Factory is finding a way to make the most of it.”
By Katie Davis Skelley, DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center Public Affairs
