The U.S. Air Force has selected Tapestry Solutions, Inc., a Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), to develop advanced mission planning software for airdrop missions tailored to the C-17 and C-130 military transport aircraft. Work will be performed under a Mission Planning Enterprise Contract II (MPEC II) delivery order, which is valued at $26 million over a four-year period.
Tapestry, the prime contractor, has teamed with Jacobs Engineering and MORSE Corp to provide software development for Consolidated Airdrop Tool (CAT) versions 6.x through 8.x. The team will also perform software maintenance services on all fielded software versions.
A U.S. Air Force C-130H drops an airdrop platform with a heavy equipment training load Aug.8, 2017 while flying a local training mission. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo: Airman Caleb M. Vance)
CAT software is used to calculate and plot both conventional and precision airdrop solutions to accurately deliver supplies to warfighters in remote, austere environments. The upgrades will include a new intuitive interface that will allow the user to quickly perform airdrop tasks and provide greater automated inflight planning capabilities.
“We’re pleased to leverage our mission planning expertise to enhance the computing speed, accuracy, efficiency and automation onboard the C-17 and C-130 aircraft. The upgrades will reduce aircrew workload and prevent distractions from flight tasks, which will make our troops’ jobs easier and safer,” said Robin Wright, president and CEO, Tapestry Solutions.
CAT works alongside the Army’s Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) – a high-altitude, all-weather capable system that includes a GPS-based cargo parachute system. JPADS allows cargo to hit a single designated drop zone from multiple release points, allowing aircraft to safely avoid enemy ground fire.
During airdrop missions, crewmembers run JPADS-CAT software on laptops, gathering mission data needed to plan the route of flight and increase cargo airdrop accuracy. Among other functions, the software runs aircraft performance and weather algorithms to determine acceptable air release points.
“The CAT program is an exciting win for our team,” said Michael Longarzo, Tapestry’s Business Development Director who led the team’s capture effort. “It not only combines the core strengths from Tapestry, Jacobs Engineering and MORSE – but also draws on the resources from the Boeing Enterprise to create a winning solution for our customers.”
ABOUT TAPESTRY SOLUTIONS
Tapestry Solutions, Inc. is a global provider of information management software and services for defense, government and commercial markets. Backed by our parent company, The Boeing Company, we provide mission planning, training and simulation support to maximize readiness for our warfighters. We also help solve logistics challenges for the world’s largest and most complex supply chains. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Tapestry supports customers from more than 50 locations worldwide, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Afghanistan, Kuwait, the UK, South Korea, Australia, Germany and Italy. For more information, see www.tapestrysolutions.com
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information
does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
Contact:
Janet Dayton
Tapestry Solutions Inc.
jdayton@tapestrysolutions.com
Published Nov. 17, 2017