U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command, 4300 Goodfellow Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63120-1798

99 -- AIR WARRIOR PROGRAM POC For additional information, scheduling of presentations, and viewing of current ALSE equipment, Contact Cpt. Brad Wood, Assistant PM at 314-263-1945/ Cpt. Mike Lindsay, Contract Specialist at 314-263-0731. The ALSE Project Manager located at ATCOM St. Louis, MO, is responsible for the Air Warrior Program. Air Warrior (AW) is the rotary wing aviation focus for providing a mission-tailorable system that standardizes and integrates aviation life support equipment for Army, Navy and Marine Corps aircrew personnel during flight and ground operations. AW concentrates on mission equipment and protective clothing and equipment that are pimarily aircrew-mounted. Some portions of the system will interface with aircraft-mounted equipment and will require integration throughout a common interface and designed-in compatibility. The AW system will be designed to provide a synergistic approach to aircrew equipment by integrating aircrew protective and mission equipment that is worn, carried by, or kept readily accessible to aircrew members. The lack of effective integration of current equipment has resulted in helicopter crew members being furnished with a volume of personal gear that becomes a physical burden, especially when protecting against worst-case threat scenarios. The physical burden imposed by cumbersome personal equipment can degrade aircrews' effectiveness by increasing rates of fatigue, reducing mobility, limiting visiblity, and restricting their ability to safely fly aircraft and perform mision functions. The AW system will provide state-of-the-art integrated chemical and biological (CB) protection, noise protection, heat stress reduction, crash and postcrash survivability, concealment and environmental protection, ballistic protection, night vision capability, heads-up displays, nuclear flash protection, directed energy eye protection and flame/heat protection. The AW will improve overall aircrew mission performance, aircrew comfort, aircrew's personal protective gear with other essential functions, such as visual enhancement, physiological comfort and hygiene, escape, evasion and survival. The AW design will use a modular approach to allow the commander and aircrew to tailor the system to their specific mission. The design will also allow for future enhancements and expansion of the AW system and interfacing equipment. Items such as flight clothing, body armor, NBC equipment, and some helmet functions will be designed to protect the wearer against specific hazards associated with crashes, fire, and threat weapons. Aircrew equipment such as flotation gear, anti-exposure suits, signal, shelter, sustenance items, personal weapons, and radios will integrate and complement each other to improve aircrew members'mission capability. This equipment will be readily accessible to the aircrew to meet various survival, escape, evasion, and rescue contingencies following a crash or forced landing. While the Project Manager has overall responsibilty for the AW Program, there are many ongoing acquisition programs that may provide components as government-furnished equipment (GFE) to Air Warrior. The AW acquisition strategy integrates these individual programs with the unique AW subsystems to form a fully integrated aircrew system that will be fielded near year 2000. The ALSE Project Manager is conducting a market survey to ascertain industry's interest in the AW program. One acquisition strategy alternative is to contract with a prime contractor lead team to develop a near-term and far-term AW around the year 2000. The near-term objective is to field a first generation AW system to combat elements in support of crises response roles and to provide interim solutions to current integration problems. The far-term objective is a state-of-the-art second generation system that will provide a full solution to integration problems and replace the first generation AW. The ALSE Project Manager is seeking industry idea/comments as well as information from potential prime contractors and teaming partners to assist in shaping the AW acquisiton strategy. (0166)

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