Foreflight - Brand Name Justification.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

NINETEENTH AIR FORCE

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH

13 Sep 2020

MEMORANDUM FOR 338 ESS

FROM: 19 AF/A5

SUBJECT: Brand Name Justifiction, Foreflight Sentry ADS-B Receivers

1. Description of Supply: Sentry is a compact, affordable ADS-B receiver specifically made for ForeFlight, the selected Electronic Flight Bag solution of AETC. In addition to popular features like ADS-B weather and traffic. Sentry’s compact size offers ease of use but still offers 12 hours of battery life.

With onboard memory supporting up to 30 minutes of FIS-B data, Sentry saves animated radar and other weather so data is available as soon as you connect. Turn off your iPad screen and save battery when not in use. Sentry provides a built-in carbon monoxide sensor and alerting system, with an audio and in-app alert when CO concentration reaches hazardous levels. The LED indicator also provides a visual indication of CO levels.

Foreflight Synthetic Vision provides a backup glass cockpit on your iPad that can help you stay aware of your position and surroundings in normal and emergency operations. Combined with Sentry, Synthetic Vision provides super responsive pitch and bank in addition to terrain and obstacle depictions. Simple calibration supports mounting Sentry on the left window, dash, or right window.

Sentry’s efficient power usage allows 12 hours of continuous operation on a single charge, providing non-stop situational awareness for the long haul. Sentry comes with a USB-A to USB Type-C charging cable in the case. Sentry can be charged by connecting the charging cable to any 5V USB port or charger capable of delivering at least 1A, such as an iPad or iPhone charger. Sentry’s quick release mechanism allows for quick mounting and removal.

2. The 19th Air Force is invested in Pilot Training Transformation (PTT) to produce quality pilots while integrating emerging technologies and new learning methods. In doing so, PTT has expanded the required mission sets of the primary trainer aircraft the T-6A. These mission sets require the ability to provide comprehensive debrief in the areas of multi-ship missions.

The current solution requires the Instructor Pilot to reconstruct by memory, complex aircraft parameters for multiple aircraft during the sortie debrief. The proposed solution will allow for aircraft performance, attitude and reference tracking. Further, it will enable the digital reconstruction of the flight to ensure a thorough and accurate debrief facilitating more efficient student-centered learning.

3. Efforts to Obtain Competition: A few competitors have been tested within AETC and due to the complex flight maneuvers, the only ADS-B receiver that has met the requirements has been the Sentry solutions. The nearest competitor was the Stratus solution, but due to some limitations of the hardware, the device does not record flight parameters when at extreme flight attitudes. This capability is paramount in the flight regimes that are common in flight training.

Detachment 24 has conducted Operational Utility Evaluation (OUE) during their Pilot Training Next program.

4. Steps to Preclude Future Single Source or Brand Name Awards: AETC EFB Community will continue to scrutinize the rationalization for an ADS-B device solution. Additionally, MAJCOMs present technical solutions at the annual Technical Interchange Meetings for further consideration. We will continue to surveil the marketplace to determine potential future sources and the feasibility of obtaining equivalent certifications.

5. Please direct any questions to me at john.moore.60@us.af.mil.

9/14/2020

X John J. Moore John J. Moore Deputy of Technology Signed by: MOORE.JOHN.JOSEPH.1283420546

JOHN J. MOORE, MAJ, USAF

Deputy of Technology