The next generation of pilot education with Red 6: Weapons and Warfare

Jul 02, 2025 at 03:00 AM CDT

This week, host Ryan Robertson explores Red 6's groundbreaking approach to pilot training through augmented and mixed reality technologies. — Image credit: Red 6

This recording was made using enhanced software.

This week on Weapons and Warfare, host Ryan Robertson explores Red 6’s groundbreaking approach to pilot training through augmented and mixed reality technologies. Learn how their revolutionary systems are providing pilots with immersive training experiences that enhance skills and situational awareness in ways previously thought impossible.

Also featured in this episode:

F-35 software update ready for approval.
New role for the M-10 Booker?
Return to production for the C-17?
Weapon of the Week: We shine a spotlight on the Whiskey Project Group’s Alpha and Bravo platforms. Learn how these boats are specifically designed to address the unique challenges of maritime operations, alleviating the physical burdens faced by operators.

You can subscribe to the Weapons and Warfare podcast on the platform of your choosing here.

Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: Air Force, Navy, Pilots, U.S. Army, Virtual reality

Make SAN preferred on Google Show Transcript

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HEY EVERYONE AND WELCOME TO WEAPONS AND WARFARE. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST, RYAN ROBERTSON. HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY AMERICA!
JUST AHEAD ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE…

THE M-10 BOOKER MAY HAVE A NEW LEASE ON LIFE IN THE U.S. MILITARY.
THE ARMY MAY HAVE KILLED THE PROGRAM, BUT ANOTHER BRANCH MIGHT JUST BE IN THE M-10’S FUTURE.

PLUS, WERE HEADED FOR THE OPEN WATER FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AS WE CHECK OUT THE WHISKEY PROJECT. WE GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH A WATERCRAFT DESIGNED BY AND FOR WARFIGHTERS TO ENHANCE THEIR PERFORMANCE IN MARITIME OPERATIONS.

LEADING THINGS OFF TODAY–
WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS TWO OF THE AIR FORCE’S BIGGEST OBSTACLES WHEN IT COMES TO TRAINING, AND RETAINING, THEIR PILOTS.

THOSE OBSTACLES ARE RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS AND JUST NOT ENOUGH AVAILABLE AIRCRAFT TO MEET MINIMAL TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.

BUT YOU KNOW WE ARE SOLUTIONS ORIENTED JOURNALISTS HERE ON THE SHOW–SO, ENTER RED 6, AND SOME POTENTIALLY GAME CHANGING INNOVATIONS FOR MILITARY AVIATORS. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE THE SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK’S DEBRIEF.

WHAT WAS ONCE VIEWED AS A SHORT-TERM PROBLEM, IS NOW A GENERATIONAL ONE.

[Maj Gen Larry Stutzriem USAF (Ret.), Dir. of Research, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies]

“The Air Force’s pilot force is too small and it’s poorly structured to be the force required to prevail in peer conflict, the Air Force has suffered a persistent pilot shortage for decades.”

[Heather Penney, Sr. Resident Fellow, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies]

“If we don’t have experienced fighter pilots, we risk the outcome not just of the mission, but the entire operation, or even the war. ”

[Lt Gen Joseph T. Guastella USAF (Ret.) Fmr. Dep. Chief of Staff, USAF]

“You don’t have to listen to the Air Force here to believe or to be led to believe that we need to be bigger. Listen to the joint force. Listen to the demands of the combatant commanders that are asking for air power. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ACCORDING TO HEATHER PENNEY, A SENIOR RESIDENT FELLOW AT THE MITCHELL INSTITUTE FOR AEROSPACE STUDIES, THE AIR FORCE HAS BEEN ROUGHLY 2,000 PILOTS SHORT OF ITS GOALS FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. ON TOP OF THAT, THEY’RE DEALING WITH OUTDATED TRAINING AIRCRAFT, POTENTIAL CUTS TO THEIR FORCE STRUCTURE, AND EXPECTED SQUADRON CLOSURES.

ADD IT ALL UP AND IT’S EASY TO SEE WHY THE SERVICE IS FINDING IT HARD TO MAKE SURE ITS CURRENT PILOTS ARE GETTING THE TRAINING EXPERIENCE THEY NEED TO PERFORM WELL IN COMBAT.

[Heather Penney, Sr. Resident Fellow, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies]

“I commend the Air Force for all the efforts they’re making, but this is a long term problem that we’re not going to see the outcomes of for five to maybe even 10 years.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE THERE IS NO ONE CURE-ALL, THERE IS A FLORIDA-BASED COMPANY WORKING TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER TO PART OF THE PROBLEM RIGHT NOW.

[UNKNOWN SPEAKER]

“We honor our history, but we are the future. Red 6, made in America, for America.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOUNDED BY DANIEL ROBINSON IN 2018, RED 6 IS ON A MISSION TO REIMAGINE MILITARY FLIGHT TRAINING BY USING CUTTING-EDGE AUGMENTED REALITY AND MIXED REALITY.

WHILE SERVING IN THE BRITISH ROYAL AIR FORCE, ROBINSON, A FORMER FIGHTER PILOT HIMSELF, CONCEIVED THE IDEA WHILE ENCOUNTERING PROBLEMS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“We needed to train against, you know, significant numbers every day of the week, against relevant threats, and we were just failing to do”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT EXPERIENCE LED HIM TO THE IDEA OF PUTTING AUGMENTED REALITY, INTO THE COCKPIT OF ACTUAL AIRCRAFT, RATHER THAN A SIMULATOR.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“So we asked ourselves, could we make simulation work outdoors, up in the sky? And that was the genesis of the idea for ATARS, the ability to create virtual, synthetic worlds, but up in the sky, such that pilots in real airplanes physically are interacting with digital content and digital environments, but outdoors, and that was the idea behind ATARS and Red 6.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ATARS STANDS FOR ‘AIRBORNE TACTICAL AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM’. THE BACKBONE OF RED 6’s FULLY IMMERSIVE TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE DRIVEN BY DATA AND POWERED BY A-I, SO PILOTS CAN TRAIN SAFELY AND EFFECTIVELY IN REALISTIC THREAT SITUATIONS; ESPECIALLY IN HIGH-SPEED SETTINGS. THEIR GOAL IS TO COMBINE THE BEST OF SIMULATION WITH REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE TO BETTER PREPARE AMERICAN PILOTS.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“We had to have a means by which we enter these digital worlds outdoors. So the enabling technology is augmented reality. And I will draw a distinction right up front. Augmented reality is not helmet mounted queuing. Helmet mounted queuing does not do augmented reality. It is a fundamentally different technology. We’re not aiming to put ahead of display in the in the field of view of the pilot. We’re aiming to mimic human vision and put three dimensional contextual information into the field of view of the pilot and have it behave in a manner commensurate with real objects flown by real pilots.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TO DO THAT ROBINSON SAYS RED 6 HAD TO CREATE PURPOSE DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY TO WORK IN REAL WORLD ENVIRONMENTS. THAT MEANT CREATING SOMETHING THAT WOULD WORK IN ANY WEATHER CONDITION ON ANY KIND OF FLIGHT HELMET.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“We don’t manufacture helmets. We manufacture an AR optical system that attaches to any helmet that does everything that helmet monitoring systems do, but to orders of magnitude greater, far higher standard. But it also now gives you a gateway into this digital world, if you like, a synthetic training world outdoors.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

DOING THAT MEANT RED 6 WOULD HAVE TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT TACKLED THREE SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE EQUIPMENT QUICKLY, THEN MAKE IT WORK ON FRONTLINE JETS, AND THEN PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER TO CREATE THE EXPERIENCE OF FIGHTING PEER THREATS.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“So the beauty of what we have is, if we have assume an intelligence base on the on the platforms, it’s simply code. You put the codes in, and then, much like any simulator you’re flying against, whatever it is you you want to fly against. So we’ve created environments that are scalable, able to train infrequently, and are absolutely relevant to the threats we face if we were going to do it for real. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR DECADES THE AIR FORCE HAS USED AERIAL COMBAT EXERCISES, LIKE RED FLAG AT NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE IN NEVADA, TO GATHER FIGHTERS, BOMBERS AND REFUELERS, AND SIMULATE REAL-WORLD COMBAT SITUATIONS FOR ALL KINDS OF AIRCREWS. BUT THOSE KINDS OF EXERCISES DEMAND A LOT OF MANHOURS, LOGISTICS, AND BIG BUDGETS. IT’S SOMETHING RED 6 CAN OFFER AT A FRACTION OF THE COST.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“It gives you the ability to expand the training scenarios enormously, but you’re still doing the job for real. So when you’re in these representative threat environments, you’re still under the cognitive loads you would be for real and making the decisions in those environments”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE THING RED 6 OFFERS PILOTS THAT THEY’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FULLY REPLICATE IN TRAINING IS SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE THREATS. THINK MAVERICK, PHOENIX AND ROOSTER TRYING TO EVADE THEIR UNNAMED ADVERSARY IN ‘TOP GUN: MAVERICK.’

[UNKNOWN SPEAKER]

“Here it comes! Radar warning, bogey in the air, Phoenix, break right.”
“Emergency jamming, Dagger three defending!”
“Here comes another one!”
“Dagger one defending!”

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“It’s the greatest risk to an airplane being shot down. Well, now we can be physically flying the airplanes, and you’d see a surface to a missile launch. You can see the boost, the sustain phase. You see the smoke trail. You can see whether it’s taking lead and lag. You get to fly the airplane against it, deploy countermeasures, physically try and defeat it with endgame maneuvers. That level of realism training will save lives, and we’ve never in our history been able to do it. So that’s the benefits of bringing simulation and connecting it to life like there are multiple examples of that, but that one, I think, is perhaps one of the most important”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

OF COURSE THE AIR FORCE, AS WELL AS THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS, FLY A LOT OF AIRCRAFT THAT AREN’T FIGHTER JETS. RED 6 KNOWS THIS, TOO, AND BUILT OUT SIMULATIONS FOR A NUMBER OF TRAINING SCENARIOS, LIKE IN-AIR REFUELING. .

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]

“The first time you ever go Air to Air Refueling as a pilot, whatever kind of pilot is the first time you ever go is the first time you go air to air refueling. And it’s scary by day, and it’s terrifying at night. Well, now we can start to utilize this technology to expose pilots to this level of training in in multiple senarios. So by the time they go to these assets for the for the first time, it’s so intuitive because they’ve seen the picture multiple times, and they’ve seen it as they’re physically flying an airplane.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR RED 6? ROBINSON TELLS US THEY’RE ALREADY WORKING WITH A NUMBER OF TRAINING PLATFORMS, AND ARE MAKING INROADS BEYOND THE AIR FORCE WITHIN THE DOD, AS WELL AS BRITAIN’S MINISTRY OF DEFENSE.

[Daniel Robinson, Founder/CEO, Red 6]
“I really believe that doesn’t just represent a brand new, really important technology. I think what we’ve actually done is create a new market, and I think this is going to change training to the point where it will be, never be the same again. Training has broken the world, throughout the world, for all allied nations, it’s really in dire straits. This is the solution to how we’ll train in the future. We’re really excited to be a part.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALL RIGHT, FOLKS, TIME NOW FOR HEADLINES. AND YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THERE IS A GUEST WITH ME, OR I HAVE SOME COMPANY, RATHER, WITH ME, NOT REALLY A GUEST, BECAUSE IT’S SUPER PRODUCER. BRETT BAKER, BRETT, YOU’RE PART OF EVERY SINGLE SHOW. YOU’RE ALSO AN AIR FORCE VETERAN. AND YOU’VE HEARD, I’VE HEARD YOU SAY NUMEROUS TIMES YOU HAD THE MOST FUN OUT OF ANY AIR FORCE VETERAN, YOU KNOW, IS THAT TRUE?

[BRETT BAKER]

THAT’S TRUE. I HAD, I HAD AN AMAZING CAREER. I WORKED WITH A LOT OF GREAT PEOPLE. I GOT STATIONED IN A LOT OF GREAT ASSIGNMENTS, A LOT OF GREAT DEPLOYMENTS. NOBODY HAD IT BETTER THAN I DID. MAYBE SOMEBODY HAD IT AS GOOD, BUT NOBODY HAD IT BETTER.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SO BRETT, YOU WERE A DINFOS GRAD, A BROADCASTER IN THE AIR FORCE, SO YOU WERE A JOURNALIST FOR THE AIR FORCE, COVERING A LOT OF STORIES. AND THAT EXPERIENCE OBVIOUSLY PLAYS VERY WELL TO WHAT WE DO HERE ON THE SHOW FOR THE AUDIENCE OUT THERE. BRETT GOES WITH ME ON WHEN WE GO OUT TO THESE DEFENSE EXPOS. EXCUSE ME, BRETT’S THERE. BRETT IS THE ONE WHO PUTS TOGETHER MOST OF THE SCRIPTS FOR THE SHOW, AND THEN THE REST OF US, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, ADD OUR OWN FLAVOR TO IT. SO BRETT REALLY EXCITED TO HAVE YOU HERE ON HEADLINES. SO HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK IS, I’LL GIVE YOU THE AUDIENCE THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE STORY, AND THEN BRETT AND I WILL DIVE IN WITH OUR INSIGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS, HOPEFULLY PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME DEEPER CONTEXT. WHAT DO YOU THINK? BRETT, SO WE JUST GO AHEAD AND GET TO IT.

[BRETT BAKER]

I SAY, LET’S GET TO IT.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALL RIGHT, MAN. SO FIRST STORY, ONE OF THE MANY, ONE OF THE MANY EMERGING STORIES FROM THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED PARIS AIR SHOW, WAS LOCKHEED MARTIN’S CONFIRMATION THAT THE LONG AWAITED TR-3 UPGRADE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TECHNOLOGY REFRESH THREE FOR THE F-35, IS READY FOR FORMAL GOVERNMENT APPROVAL. THE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE UPGRADE WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE READY BACK IN 2023, BUT PROBLEMS WITH THE SOFTWARE PUSH THAT DELIVERY DATE BACK TO SOMETIME THIS YEAR. BRETT, YOU AND I WERE AT THE LOCKHEED MARTIN PRODUCTION FACILITY. AND THIS NEWS OF THE TR-3 WAS KIND OF STARTING TO BUBBLE AT THE TIME. IT’S READY. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[BRETT BAKER]

WELL, I THINK, I THINK LOCKHEED’S PROBABLY BE HAPPY TO HAVE IT, YOU KNOW, OUT THERE IN THE WORLD ROLLING, READY TO GO. YOU KNOW, AS SOON AS THEY GET THE FINAL GOVERNMENT APPROVAL, WHICH I WOULD EXPECT WILL HAPPEN SOON, YEAH, THEY’VE GOT A LOT OF STUFF ON THEIR PLATE. SO I WOULD HAVE TO THINK GETTING THIS ONE OFF WOULD BE A BIG RELIEF, SINCE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE IN 2024

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

YEAH, YEAH. WELL, 2023 ORIGINALLY, AND THEN, YEAH, DELAYS AND EVERYTHING, RIGHT? UM, TR, THREE. I WAS DOING SOME RESEARCH ON IT. IT’S, IT’S A LOT TO DO WITH, YOU KNOW, FUSING THE DATA, OR MAKING THE DATA FUSION EASIER, EMPOWERING MORE LONG RANGE WEAPONS, BASICALLY THAT THE F-35 IS A FLYING COMPUTER, AND THIS IS A BUNCH OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE UPGRADES TO MAKE IT MORE INTEROPERABLE WITH ALL OF THE HIGH TECH TOYS THAT THE AIR FORCE AND SPACE FORCE ARE ARE MAKING AVAILABLE. SO LIKE BRETT SAID, GOOD THING TO GET IT OFF THEIR PLATE, AND THAT MEANS THEY CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT

[BRETT BAKER]

FOR SURE. THINK OF IT AS LIKE GOING FROM A PS4 TO A PS5, AND THEY JUST KEEP, YOU KNOW, DELAYING THE RELEASE DATE FOR PS5. I THINK THAT’S PROBABLY WHAT THIS IS MORE A SITUATION OF, YOU KNOW, NOT YOU KNOW, THE F-35 COULD STILL FLY, CAN STILL CARRY OUT THEIR MISSIONS. THEY WERE JUST KIND OF WAITING ON THIS NEXT PIECE. NOW THEY’RE FINALLY, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

YOU BET. ALL RIGHT. OH, AND ALSO, BRETT, I SAID YOU BET SOMETHING THAT I ALWAYS SAY IN INTERVIEWS.

[BRETT BAKER]

WE SHOULD HAVE A YOU BET JAR.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HAVE A “YOU BET” JAR, FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW. SO BRETT ALWAYS HEARS ME SAY YOU BET WHEN HE’S LOGGING, SOUNDS SORRY ABOUT THAT.

THE NEXT STORY THAT WE GOT GOING ON IS, REMEMBER THE M-10? BOOKER, BRETT, WE HAD REPORTED A TIME,

[BRETT BAKER]

I DO.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

YEAH. THE M-10 BOOKER WAS A BILLION-DOLLAR PROGRAM. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE THE ARMY ITS FIRST NEW COMBAT VEHICLE IN FOUR DECADES, BUT WAS KILLED BACK IN MAY. SO WHAT WAS THE ARMY’S LOSS, EXCUSE ME, WHAT WAS THE ARMY’S LOSS? CAN NOW BE THE MARINE CORPS GAIN, AT LEAST. THAT’S THE OPINION OF TWO MARINE OFFICERS IN A RECENT TASK AND PURPOSE OPINION PIECE, LIEUTENANT COLONELS JOHN DICK AND DANIEL PHILLIPS STATE THEIR CASE BY ARGUING THE M-10, WHICH IS NOT A TANK, WOULD SUIT THE NEEDS OF MOBILE RECON BATTALIONS BETTER THAN THE NEWLY INTEGRATED ULTRA LIGHT TACTICAL VEHICLE. BRE TT, I SAY IT’S NOT A TANK BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE ARMOR ISN’T AS THICK, THE GUN IS NOT AS BIG, BUT IT IS AN ARMORED VEHICLE THAT THESE MARINE LIEUTENANT COLONELS THINK THAT THE RECON MARINES MIGHT BE ABLE TO USE WHEN THEY’RE POKING AND PRODDING AROUND THE BATTLE SPACE. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[BRETT BAKER]

YEAH, I THINK ANYTIME YOU’VE PUT THAT MUCH TIME, ENERGY AND INVESTMENT INTO SOMETHING, I. UH, THERE I WOULD HAVE LEAST LIKED TO HAVE SEEN. HEY, LET’S SEE IF WE CAN FIND MAYBE SOME OTHER PURPOSES FOR THIS BEFORE WE JUST KILL IT OUT, RIGHT? SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THESE TWO MARINE COLONELS COMING ABOARD AND SAYING, HEY, LOOK, MAYBE THERE’S ANOTHER USE FOR THIS. MAYBE THIS THING DOESN’T HAVE TO GO AWAY COMPLETELY, ESPECIALLY IF IT SUITS THEIR NEEDS. I DON’T BEGIN TO PRETEND TO KNOW WHAT THE MARINE RECONNAISSANCE NEEDS. BUT IF A COUPLE GUYS WHO ARE IN THAT POSITION SAY, HEY, THIS COULD WORK, I THINK THEY’RE WORTH LISTENING TO.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

YOU BET, RIGHT? SO, YEAH, THE MARINE RECON GUYS, THEY THEY HAD A HAVE A THEY SHARE A LOT OF MISSION SETS WITH SPECIAL OPERATION FORCES, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, BUT THEY ARE WITHIN THE THEY ARE THERE TO SUPPORT THE MAIN INFANTRY OF THE MARINES. SO THEY DO SOME RECON. THEY DO SOME BATTLE SPACE SHAPING, IS WHAT IT’S CALLED. AND THEY DO AMPHIBIOUS RECON, LAND RECON, ALL KINDS OF STUFF. SO MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE THEY NEED TO, YOU KNOW, PUT A HOLE IN A BUILDING, TAKE DOWN A BRIDGE. MAYBE THEY COME UNDER FIRE, AND THEY NEED IT JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE PROTECTION THAN WHAT THE ULTRA LIGHT TACTICAL VEHICLE CAN OFFER THOSE ULTVS, SUPER FAST. IT’S BASICALLY LIKE A MARINE PAIRED-DOWN PICKUP TRUCK THAT’S, YOU KNOW, SUPER LIGHT, SUPER FAST, BUT IT’S NOT NECESSARILY OFFERING THE MOST ARMOR, AND MARINES MIGHT HAVE TO FACE SOME OF THAT. SO YEAH, WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE M 10 BOOKER COMING UP.

AND THIS LAST STORY, BRETT, IS ON THE C-17 GLOBE MASTER THERE ARE SOME TALKS ABOUT POSSIBLY RESTARTING THAT PRODUCTION PROGRAM. NO WORD ON WHICH COUNTRY IS ASKING BOEING TO RESTART THE C-17 GLOBE MASTER PROGRAM, BUT IT’S POSSIBLE IN YOUR AIR FORCE DAYS. DID YOU HAVE ANY OPPORTUNITY TO RIDE IN ONE OF THESE THINGS?

[BRETT BAKER]

I DID. I ACTUALLY SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN C SEVENTEENS IN ON, SAY, THE SUMMER OF 1995. THEY WERE BRAND NEW BACK THEN. THEY STILL HAD THAT NEW AIRPLANE SMELL. I FLEW ON ONE OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL TO THE VE DAY 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS, WHICH IS PRETTY AWESOME. BUT HERE’S, HERE’S MY FAVORITE C-17 STORY. WHEN THE AIR FORCE LAUNCHED GLOBAL REACH, GLOBAL POWER IN THE 90s, GLOBAL REACH WAS THE LIFT PORTION OF IT. THE WE CAN MOVE ANYBODY, ANYWHERE, TAKE ANYTHING ANYWHERE, GET IT AT ANY TIME. AND SO I DECIDED TO DO A STORY ON THE C7 TEAM. AND I FOUND THIS MISSION THAT LAUNCHED OUT OF CHARLES, OR YEAH, CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE IN SOUTH CAROLINA. SO WE FLEW FROM CHARLESTON TO LODGES FIELD IN THE AZORES, THAT’S PORTUGAL. AND THEN WE WENT FROM LODGES TO NAS SIGONELLA, WHICH IS ON THE ISLAND OF SICILY, AND THEN CHANGED CRUISE. EXCEPT FOR ME. I STAYED WITH THE JET, BECAUSE IT WAS MY STORY. SO THEN WE FLEW THE C-17 FROM SIGONELLA TO BAHRAIN, AND THEN BACK TO SIGONELLA AND BAHRAIN. WE PICKED UP AN ENTIRE UNIT, A SQUADRON OF PEOPLE, AND ALL OF THEIR GEAR AND EQUIPMENT, BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN IN BAHRAIN FOR MONTHS. AND SO WE PICKED THEM ALL UP, FLEW BACK TO SIGONELLA, BACK TO LODGES, BACK TO CHARLESTON, AND THEN FINALLY, ON TO MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, WHICH I THINK WAS LIKE SOME 14,000 MILES ROUND TRIP. I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT STAYED WITH A JET THE ENTIRE TIME, BECAUSE THAT WAS KIND OF MY STORY. THE THEME WAS, THINK OF THE PONY EXPRESS, EXCEPT NOW WE JUST CHANGED THE RIDER AND NOT THE HORSE. YEAH. SO I HAVE A LOT OF FONDNESS FOR THE C-17, BUT THAT IS A VERY BIG ASK TO BRING BACK A PROGRAM LIKE THAT. IT IS NOT AN EASY THING TO A, START, B, SHUT DOWN, AND THEN CONSIDER RESTARTING. THAT TAKES A LOT OF MOVING PARTS AND PIECES, BUT I CAN SEE WHERE ANOTHER COUNTRY WOULD WANT IT, BECAUSE IT’S AN OUTSTANDING AIRCRAFT, AND IT DOES SO MANY MISSIONS SO WELL THAT I THINK YOU KNOW THAT IF A LOT, IF, IF BOEING’S GOT SOMEBODY SAYING, HEY, WE’RE WILLING TO PONY UP, MAYBE THEY CONSIDER IT.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

RIGHT, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, WITH WITH POTENTIAL FIGHT IN THE PACIFIC, WITH WHAT WE’RE SEEING, AND WITH ISRAEL AND IRAN RIGHT NOW, WITH ISRAEL HAVING TO RELY ON AMERICAN TANKERS, YOU KNOW, THE THE HEAVY LIFT CAPACITY, THE GIANT TANKER CAPACITY, IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE AIR FORCE CALLS IT THE EXQUISITE SYSTEMS, AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF SMALLER COUNTRIES DON’T HAVE. BUT WITH THE US KIND OF PULLING BACK FROM NATO, PULLING BACK FROM THAT WORLD POLICE ROLE, YOU START TO SEE THESE OTHER NATIONS, YOU KNOW, STEPPING UP AND SAYING, HEY, WE WANT SOME MORE OF THOSE TOYS ALSO. SO COULD BE A GOOD THING FOR AMERICAN INDUSTRY. COULD BE A GOOD THING FOR WORLD DEFENSE. WE’LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. BRETT, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO JOIN US TODAY. LET’S MAKE THIS A REGULAR THING. WHAT DO YOU SAY?

[BRETT BAKER]

ABSOLUTELY, I THINK IT’LL BE A NEW, FUN, NEW PART OF THE SHOW.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN I SAY THE WORDS WHISKEY PROJECT, WHAT IMAGES COME TO MIND?

RIGHT, ME TOO. SO IMAGINE OUR SURPRISE WHEN WE PULLED UP TO THE TEAM MANNING THE WHISKEY PROJECT GROUP BOOTH AT MODERN DAY MARINE, ONLY TO LEARN WHISKEY WAS CODE FOR WATERCRAFT. AND, I MEAN, IT WAS IMPRESSIVE–NO ARGUING THAT POINT–WHICH IS WHY IT’S OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

EVEN PARKED ON A DISPLAY STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WASHINGTON D.C. CONVENTION CENTER, THE 30-FOOT WHISKEY ALPHA MAKES AN IMMEDIATE IMPRESSION.

TOUTED AS BEING CRAFTED BY WARFIGHTERS FOR WARFIGHTERS, THE ALPHA IS ESSENTIALLY A PRODUCT OF DARREN SCHUBACK’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

[Darren Schuback, CEO & Executive Dir. of The Whiskey Project Group]

“I left the Navy and I had a mission to build the boats that I wish would throughout my tenure in the Navy, I experienced a number of different challenges with the small craft that we were conducting our missions, from whether they were safety performance or just being generally fit for purpose, for the mission at hand. So that was our primary focus through the development of this business.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

BASED OUT OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, SCHUBACK IS THE WHISKEY PROJECT’S FOUNDER AND CEO. HE TELLS US THE ALPHA, AND IT’S BIG BROTHER, THE 40-FOOT LONG BRAVO, FEATURE MODULAR PLATFORMS THAT MAXIMIZE DECK SPACE AND PAYLOAD, MAKING THEM ADAPTABLE FOR VARIOUS OPERATIONS.

[Darren Schuback, CEO & Executive Dir. of The Whiskey Project Group]

“It was important for us throughout the development of the craft to maximize versatility with any craft we design. And you’ll see here in the Whiskey Alpha, it’s completely modular by design, because the mission sets can change. They can change at a moment’s notice. And we need to be able to adapt our craft, adapt our technology, to be able to provide a fit for purpose solution for the mission at hand.”

[Ryan Robertson]

“The mission at hand. But also, like the customer, might be different, right? Like the Australian Royal Navy, might want something different than the USMC, then the Navy. They all might want something a little bit different, and you’re able to kind of give them that playground, so to speak.”

[Darren Schuback, CEO & Executive Dir. of The Whiskey Project Group]

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s almost like a choose-your-own-adventure with the craft. Whatever you need to do, however you need to adapt the craft, you can do that. And that’s not only that’s not only through the back deck area. Here. It’s through the modular mass system. It’s through the access to power and {tighten/edit sot} the versatility of the architecture underneath the deck here. So it’s more than just the deck that you’re seeing here.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SCHUBACK SAYS THE ALPHA AND THE BRAVO ARE BUILT FOR QUICK DEPLOYMENT, OFFERING CONVENIENT ACCESS AND RETRIEVAL. BOTH CAN BE TRANSPORTED BY LAND, OR DROPPED FROM THE AIR.

[Darren Schuback, CEO & Executive Dir. of The Whiskey Project Group]

“What we’ve done here is demonstrated what we believe to be an ultimate package for the customer, base level package for the customer. We’ve designed the craft to have that open architecture, electronic infrastructure underneath the craft here, so that they can essentially plug and play as they see fit, whether it’s by sensor system, whether it’s by autonomous systems or remote control systems, whatever they want to plug in, they can plug that in.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE MAJOR CONSIDERATION FOR THE DESIGN TEAM WAS IMPROVING THE RIDE FOR THE OPERATORS. SHUBACK SAYS HISTORICALLY, CREWS WORKING ON SMALL BOATS GET BEAT UP PRETTY GOOD AND HAVE TO DEAL WITH KNEE AND BACK PROBLEMS–THE TYPES OF INJURIES THAT COULD END CAREERS.

SO, BOTH BOATS HAVE SHOCK-MITIGATING HULLS, BUILT FROM CARBON FIBRE COMPOSITE. THAT MEANS THE BOATS ARE MORE AND OPERATORS DON’T GET TIRED OR SORE ON THE WAY TO THE FIGHT.

[Darren Schuback, CEO & Executive Dir. of The Whiskey Project Group]

“The design of this hull provides a 40% up to a 40% reduction in shock onto the hull, and therefore onto the human or onto the sensitive equipment that they’re hosting on board. It has a lower planing threshold as well, which means it gets up onto the plane and stays on the plane a lot better than the traditional deep V craft, creating more fuel efficiency with with the craft as well. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AS FOR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS, SCHUBACK TELLS US FOUR OF THE BRAVOS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DELIVERED TO MARINES IN CALIFORNIA, WHERE THEY’VE BEEN TESTED EXTENSIVELY FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. AND THE ALPHA THAT WE WERE ON IN D-C WAS SENT TO MARINES IN TAMPA, FLORIDA, FOR TESTING AND EVALUATION.

ALRIGHT FOLKS, THAT’S GOING TO JUST ABOUT DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK…SURE HOPE YOU HAD SOME FUN AND LEARNED SOMETHING ALONG THE WAY. WANT TO THANK BRETT BAKER FOR HELPING TO TURN OUR HEADLINES SEGMENT INTO SOMETHING NEW…AND THANKS TO MY WIFE FOR THIS AWESOME SHIRT THAT I GOT AS A FATHER’S DAY PRESENT–IT FINALLY CAME IN THE MAIL SO I HAD TO BUST IT OUT FOR THE SHOW.

IF YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF MY FASHION SENSE, YOU CAN–JUST GO AHEAD AND LIKE OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS AND LEAVE A COMMENT… I DO READ THOSE, DESPITE MY FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COWORKERS ENCOURAGING ME NOT TO.

ALRIGHT, FOR MY WRAP THIS WEEK–AND WITH AMERICA’S BIRTHDAY JUST A COUPLE DAYS AWAY–I WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME ON PATRIOTISM.

WHICH MEANS DEVOTION TO AND VIGOROUS SUPPORT FOR ONE’S COUNTRY.

I LOVE THE UNITED STATES. I LOVE THE FACT I LIVE HERE. I LOVE THE OPPORTUNITIES IT AFFORDS ME. I LOVE OUR ORIGIN STORY ABOUT FIGHTING AGAINST OPPRESSION. I LOVE HOW PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD STILL WANT TO COME HERE FOR A CHANCE TO LIVE THE LIFE WE HAVE.

I DO NOT LOVE EVERYTHING OUR COUNTRY HAS DONE. I DON’T LOVE THE ATROCITIES COMMITTED AGAINST THE NATIVE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE FIRST… I DON’T LOVE THAT WE–LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD– USED SLAVED LABOR TO BUILD MUCH OF WHAT WE HAVE. AND I DON’T LOVE THE CURRENT ANIMOSITY AND IN-FIGHTING THAT SEEMS SO PREVALENT TODAY.

BUT I LOVE THIS COUNTRY… AND I’M A PATRIOT… SO, IN MY DEVOTION TO THIS LAND– I ALSO SUPPORT THIS COUNTRY.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

WELL, THE DEFINITION OF SUPPORT IS TO BEAR ALL OR PART OF THE WEIGHT–OR TO GIVE ASSISTANCE–TO HELP… IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A PATRIOT AND YOU DON’T HELP YOUR COUNTRY–YOU’RE A LIAR.

SO, WHAT DOES THE UNITED STATES NEED WITH RIGHT NOW? PATIENCE–THE RETURN OF DECENCY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE… AFFORDABLE HOMES AND WELL PAYING JOBS… SCHOOLS THAT TEACH LIFESKILLS AND AREN’T DIPLOMA FACTORIES…I MEAN, TAKE YOUR PICK FOLKS. THE COUNTRY COULD USE SOME HELP IN LOTS OF AREAS. SO, HAVE FUN THIS JULY FOURTH–BUT ALSO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN FULFILL YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY ALL YEAR LONG–HOW CAN YOU HELP THIS COUNTRY, ALL YEAR LONG?

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHICS ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO–I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.

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