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Daily News
By Gail Helmer

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Thursday, June 14, 2001

PC News

Battle of Britain Source Code To Be Released?
Empire Interactive and Rowan Software have released the following statement regarding the future of Rowan's Battle of Britain.

Thank you for your patience. Here's the strategy we propose to take us forward with Rowan's Battle of Britain.

[1] Over the next three weeks we will be attempting to identify and rectify as many repeatable HARDWARE problems as we can. And it will be done on a first come first served basis. Anyone who has such a problem, and who would like to get in contact during that period, should mail: [email protected]. Chris is the lead in-house tester at Rowan and knows the product as well as anyone in the world. He is also in daily contact with the team, who will be working with him.

I must make it clear that before this product was released it underwent thousands of hours of testing. This included using the facilities of Absolute Quality as an external compatibility testing resource. We have received some comments such as: 'The game does not work with a Voodoo 2 card.' I am afraid that this is not very helpful to us. The game certainly works on most machines with Voodoo 2 cards. The game works from a hardware point of view without glitch on the vast majority of our in-house equipment and passes muster on all the major cards we have tested on. If individuals are having problems, and it is quite clear that some of you are, then it may be due to much more specific reasons than simply the graphics card. So, the more information you can provide the better. We cannot guarantee to fix all problems, but we will try and deal with all replicable ones if we can.

[2] We are seriously considering releasing the entire source code and ALL relevant utilities and ALL resources under an open source arrangement in the very near future. This will take a considerable amount of work to organise. This approach has the benefit that:

[a] The many enthusiasts from Sim HQ and other fan sites who have mailed me asking if we would consider releasing the code will be able to fulfil their ambition of altering the code in whatever way the community sees fit. This would allow the release of unofficial patches at any stage in the future ad infinitum.

[b] The flight sim community will have access to the source code of a state-of-the-art flight simulation.

[c] It would be a significant addition to the open source community.

[d] Members of the Rowan software team may be willing to give unofficial support to those working with the source.

We'll be making the decision on open source over the next few days. To an extent it depends on the reaction of the community. But it is something that Empire and the members of the Rowan Software team feel will be a lasting legacy.

Anyone with comments on our strategy is welcome to mail me personally at: [email protected]

Yours,
David Pringle
Development Director
Empire Interactive

WWII Online For Mac
Strategy First announced today that it is publishing the Mac version of WWII Online scheduled to ship to stores nationwide July 10th, 2001.

New Sudden Strike Video Available
A new video has just been posted on Fileplanet. It contains some in-game footage as well as movie sequences from Sudden Strike Forever. This trailer will give a little taster on what SSF will play like and the things to expect out of this World War 2 RTS Masterpiece. Sudden Strike Forever will add a number of new features to the original game, including 30 new units, four new campaigns, seven single missions, and a complete map editor. The expansion is scheduled for release this August. Download it here: Sudden Strike Forever Video

Dell Selects Matrox Millennium G450
Matrox Graphics Inc. today announced that the Matrox Millennium G450 has been selected to power the Dell PrecisionTM Workstation 730-based on the Intel® ItaniumTM processor. The Dell PrecisionTM Workstation 730, starting at US$7,999, features a single Itanium 733 MHz processor, 1GB SDRAM, an 18 GB SCSI hard disk drive, and a Matrox Millennium G450 32MB graphics card.

Matrox is actively working on driver development with Dell and other major partners, in order to ensure that the Millennium G450 will provide stable support for the Intel® ItaniumTM architecture in 64bit Windows and Linux environments.

GodGames Announces the Doug Myres Substance Award
GodGames today announced the creation of the Doug Myres Substance Award. Honoring the memory and spirit of Doug Myres, GodGames co-founder and VP of New Media who recently passed away, the award will be presented to a computer game industry leader and visionary on July 1 at the Cyberathlete Professional League's (CPL) Four Year Anniversary Event in Dallas, TX.

The Substance Award recognizes a member of the industry whose integrity, solid character and influence reaches beyond the business and makes a significantly positive impact in the gaming community.

Military News

Pilot Dies In Kunsan F-16 Crash
The pilot of an F-16 Fighting Falcon was killed June 12 when his aircraft crashed about 40 miles southeast of here. First Lt. Randolph E. Murff, assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron here, was en route to a bombing range for a training mission. Murff had 259.5 flying hours in the F-16 C/D model. He was the only person on board. The aircraft was not carrying any live munitions.



To ensure the safety of the population around the crash, base officials have secured the area. At this time, damage to civilian property is being assessed. A board of officers will investigate the accident.

Second C-17 Delivered To RAF
The second Boeing C-17 Globemaster III for the United Kingdom became Royal Air Force property today, less than one month after the first aircraft was delivered.



This second aircraft, UK2, was accepted by Air Commodore David Vass, Air Transport, Air-to-Air Refueling, 2 Group, Headquarters Strike Command, RAF, from the Boeing C-17 production facility here. UK1 was delivered to the RAF on May 17. The airplanes are stationed at RAF Brize Norton, west of London.

This is the second of four aircraft to be delivered to the United Kingdom. The aircraft are leased under a seven-year contract with two separate one-year term extensions available. The remaining two aircraft in this contract will be delivered in August.

Under its multi-year contract with the U.S. Air Force, Boeing has currently delivered 73 C-17 aircraft to the USAF. The USAF has ordered 120 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters.

100th Undersea Warfare System To US Navy
Lockheed Martin has delivered its 100th AN/SQQ-89 undersea warfare system to the US Navy. The system will be installed aboard the Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87). Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems (NE&SS)-Undersea Systems manages the AN/SQQ-89 contracts.

AN/SQQ-89 is the Navy's premier surface ship undersea warfare combat system, in service on destroyers, cruisers and frigates. Using a variety of underwater sensors, the system detects, classifies and localates submarines and other undersea threats. It includes hull-mounted sonar, a sonobuoy processing system and a system used to launch weapons against undersea targets, all integrated with the Aegis combat system.

Early this summer, the Navy will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the next competitive procurement, which will include the acquisition of AN/SQQ-89 systems beginning in FY02.

"The Navy has said that the unit price of SQQ-89 systems has been reduced by over 70 percent since Lockheed Martin started building them in 1983," said Frank DeBritz, president, NE&SS-Undersea Systems. "Most components are COTS or procured competitively so because of this fact, we've been able to reduce the average system price significantly. " added DeBritz.

Aster 30 Missile Tests Successful
At the end of May the French procurement agency, Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA) carried out a test firing of the Aster 30 missile to test its capability to operate in a hostile EW environment at its Test Centre in South West France.



The test used two airborne targets, each carrying a jammer. The missile was fired when the targets were 15 km away and the missile succesfully hit its selected target despite heavy jamming.

This was the fourth successful test in a series designed to confirm the Aster 30's ability to operate in a hostile environment. The SAMP/T will now begin a trials programme in Italy, which will start at the end of the year.

The Aster missile is being developed as part of a family of future surface to air (FFSA) systems, which includes the SAAM system installed on the French Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and the medium range SAMP/T.

The FFSA programme is a cooperative effort between France and Italy, managed by OCCAR and with the work being done by Eurosam (A‚rospatiale Matra Missiles, Alenia Marconi Systems and Thales)

. Aster will be deployed on the Horizon anti-aircraft frigates being built for the French and Italian Navies and the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers.

New Air Defence System For Bundeswehr
Germany's Bundeswehr will soon be taking delivery of an advanced air defence system. On 27 June the first platoon of its new "LeFlaSys" air defence system will be handed over at the Feldwebel Schmid barracks in Rendsburg, home of the German Army Air Defence School.



The lead contractor, Rheinmetall subsidiary STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH of Bremen, is manufacturing the system in co-operation with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG of Munich. As the supplier of the Wiesel 2 platform vehicle, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH of Kiel is also heavily involved in the project.

Delivery of the systems will be completed in 2003. Other NATO countries are planning to procure similar air defence systems, or have already decided to do so.

The LeFlaSys consists of an Air Defence Command Wiesel (FlaFWiesel), a Reconnaissance, Command and Fire Control Wiesel (AFFWiesel), an OZELOT Antiaircraft Missile Platform (FlaRakWaTrg), a lightweight Air Defence Interface Vehicle (leFAST), repair and maintenance equipment, as well as the accompanying training equipment.

The system is deployed in three light antiaircraft batteries and integrated in the German Army's HFlaAFSys Air Defence, Reconnaissance and Combat Management System.

The prime mission of the LeFlaSys/ASRAD is to protect combat and combat support troops and vital military assets from the threat posed by fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

The platform vehicle for the weapons platform, AFF and BF/UF versions is the Wiesel 2, the successor of the Wiesel 1, independently financed, developed and manufactured by Rheinmetall Landsysteme. As part of the procurement programme, Rheinmetall Landsysteme will be supplying 67 Wiesel 2 platform vehicles (50 chassis for the weapons platforms, 10 AFF platform vehicles and 7 chassis for the BF/UF version, including two chassis for the field trial models).

The core element of the LeFlaSys is the ASRAD weapons platform. It consists of a pedestal with azimuth and elevation drives, a combined sensor unit with system electronics, including the missile-interface electronics and a multipurpose launcher. Thanks to a high degree of modularity, ASRAD can be readily adapted to a wide variety of wheeled and tracked tactical vehicles.

Designed as an air defence system for SHORAD guided missiles, it can also be used with the STINGER (Basic, Post, RMP and Block 1 versions), IGLA (SA 16) or the MISTRAL. It is also possible to equip it with so-called "laser beam riders" like the RBS 70 and Starburst.


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