ST. LOUIS, May 09, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] officials dedicated a new state -of-the art customer center today that allows military experts to analyze and take part in simulated battle scenarios in order to develop future systems and platforms.
The Virtual Warfare Center (VWC) is networked with existing Boeing Integration Centers in Anaheim, Calif., and Washington DC, the System of Systems Integration Laboratory in Huntington Beach, Calif., and centers in Philadelphia, Seattle and Mesa, Ariz. It enables live and virtual military forces and military systems to interact with one another to create realistic war scenarios in a complex and immersive learning environment.
"The Virtual Warfare Center is a window to the future, a result of listening to our customers and adapting technology to meet their mission objectives," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "We are able to model hundreds of thousands of different scenarios, and test capabilities, technologies, strategies and tactics. We stress the systems in the lab so the weapons and capabilities deployed with our soldiers, sailors and airmen give them a decisive edge in combat."
The 70,000 square foot facility enables more than 150 operators from all military services to participate in warfare-scenarios in real time at the VWC and through military labs across the country. The VWC virtual battle scenarios are realistic, with thousands of air and ground targets, multiple hostile threats and diverse communication networks introduced, making the experience one of the most complex testing environments outside actual warfare.
"The new Virtual Warfare Center builds upon 15 years of collaboration with our customer in the simulated battle arena," said Bob Schraeder, director, Virtual Warfare Center, for Boeing. "It is designed in the way our customers conduct their experiments. Each floor is self-contained with a series of rooms engineered to maximize the capabilities of operator-in-the-loop testing and analysis."
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.5 billion business. It provides network-centric system solutions to its global military, government, and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.