The Company And The College Have A Memorandum Of
Understanding
The University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks and L-3
Link Simulation & Training announced Thursday they have signed
a memorandum of understanding to jointly create an Unmanned
Aircraft Systems (UAS) Training Center. The center, which will be
located on UND's campus and Grand Forks Air Force Base, will be the
first non-military educational institution in the U.S. to provide
initial qualification and continuation training for operators of
the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft. The training center
will begin operations in March 2011.
"We've worked to make the Grand Forks area a national center for
UAS activities," said U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan. "This partnership
is just another example of our goal becoming a reality. Those
seeking to be Predator and Reaper UAS operators now have a unique
opportunity to be trained in North Dakota, boosting high-tech UAS
education initiatives right here in our state."
"L-3 Link Simulation & Training looks forward to building on
its partnership with the University of North Dakota to create a
premier UAS Training Center," said Bob Birmingham, president of L-3
Link. "By providing a comprehensive curriculum and proven training
technologies, which will include high-fidelity simulation of the
Predator and Reaper platforms, the training center will be
positioned to meet the increasing demand for qualified unmanned
aircraft systems pilots and sensor operators."
"The partnership between L-3 Link and the University of North
Dakota represents a significant entrance into the world of UAS
pilot and sensor operator training," said Al Palmer, interim
director of UND's Center for UAS Research, Education and Training.
"The world aviation community is going to take notice of this
historic collaboration between these successful organizations."
The training center will provide advanced unmanned aircraft
systems training opportunities to UND students pursuing a bachelor
of science in aeronautics with a major in unmanned aircraft systems
operations. In addition, the training center will support other
organizations' training requirements to develop highly capable
Predator and Reaper operators.
In its partnership role, L-3 Link will provide and maintain a
high-fidelity UAS simulator in addition to training center
instructor support. The UAS training device is configured to
simulate the Predator or Reaper, combining ground control station
hardware, simulation software and high-fidelity, correlated
databases to create a fully immersive environment. Aircraft
platform performance, sensors and weapons systems are precisely
modeled to provide training in complex, real-world mission
scenarios.