The U.S. Air Force and FAA led a team that included Northrop Grumman and its partners, Taboada Research Instruments and Cherokee CRC, to design, build and integrate a laser positioning system in a Boeing 737 simulator to study flight performance while aircrews are exposed to lasers. Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology (IT) sector team assisted the Air Force and FAA in creating the capability, which will help define how pilots respond to lasers when pointed at aircraft during flight. The researchers integrated eye-safe lasers in the flight simulator to monitor pilots’ reaction so that new flight-safety measures can be developed to counter the threat. “The team’s technological contribution to the flight simulator will lead to improvements in cockpit procedures so commercial and military pilots can concentrate on safely flying their aircraft should a laser be pointed at them,” said Jim Barry, vice president of Technology Integration & Application for Northrop Grumman IT’s Defense group. Work on the contract was conducted at Brooks City Base, San Antonio, and at FAA’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.