MS&T Magazine - Issue 1/2010

www.halldale.com The International Defence Training Journal

Training Technology

Visual Systems – A Situation Report National Focus

The Russian Flight Simulator Industry Procurement

USAF Advanced Trainer Replacement Transformation

Effective Training Through Simulation ISSN 1471-1052 | US $14/£8

Issue 1/2010

Editorial Comment

Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Chris Lehman [e] chris@halldale.com Managing Editor: Jeff Loube [e] jeff@halldale.com Contributors Walter F. Ullrich - Europe Editor Chuck Weirauch - Training Procurement Lori Ponoroff - News Editor [e] lori@halldale.com Advertising Business Manager: Jeremy Humphreys [t] +44 (0)1252 532009 [e] jeremy@halldale.com Business Manager, North America: Mary Bellini Brown [t] +1 703 421 3709 [e] mary@halldale.com Marketing Manager: Lizzie Daniell [t] +44 (0)1252 532008 [e] lizzie@halldale.com Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator: Karen Kettle [t] +44 (0)1252 532002 [e] karen@halldale.com Design & Production David Malley [t] +44 (0)1252 532005 [e] david@halldale.com Internet www.halldale.com/mst Subscriptions & Distribution Subscriptions Hotline [t] +44 (0)1252 532000 [e] mst@halldale.com 6 issues per year at US$168 Distribution Co-ordinator: Sarah de Wet [t] +44 (0)1252 532006 [e] sarah.dewet@halldale.com Publishing House and Editorial Office Military Simulation & Training (ISSN 1471-1052) is published by: Halldale Media Ltd. Pembroke House, 8 St. Christopher’s Place, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 0NH, UK. [t] +44 (0)1252 532000 [f] +44 (0)1252 512714 [e] mst@halldale.com General Manager: Janet Llewellyn US office Halldale Media Inc. 115 Timberlachen Circle Ste 2009 Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA [t] +1 407 322 5605 [f] +1 407 322 5604 Publisher & CEO: Andrew Smith

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Chris Lehman

Generation Change Over recent years, MS&T has expended enormous effort in covering the marvel of Training Transformation, the transformation of training itself, and successes and challenges associated with transformation in US and NATO forces. For those of us responsible for the planning and execution of this magazine’s editorial plan, it is pleasing to now observe the increasing focus on the nature and initial training of today’s young recruit. After all, this is really where the training rubber hits the road, and where the military lays the cornerstone for each and every one of its soldiers, sailors and airmen.

At a recent conference, Lt Gen Mark Hertling, TRADOC deputy commanding general for Initial Military Training (IMT), noted that on any day, roughly 47,000 soldier recruits are in Initial Military Training. The mission of IMT is to bring more consistency to Army standards, particularly as applied to the earliest encounters with the novice soldier. IMT itself is a new organization, having stood up in September 2009, and created to address a unique generation that not only learns differently, needs to train differently, and whose training has to reflect the fundamental changes in the nature of modern conflicts.

In a recent article in Army News, Hertling was quoted: “We have to train them for things we have never trained for before – a conflict that may last decades as opposed to years... it’s also much more complicated than it’s ever been before.” Hertling pointed out that sometimes the Army has tried to train too many things which can lead to “task paralysis” and a generalized loss of focus. And because soldiers have been trained differently at various basic training sites – remember the sheer scale of US Army training – there is deviation in their skills. The IMT organization is working to remove those deviations.

In other instances the Army has been teaching skills that have little use in today’s conflicts. “For example, bayonet training – something that’s been a staple in our Army – is kind of hard to teach right now when most the weapons we use don’t have the ability to fix a bayonet,” said Hertling.

But Hertling affirmed that basic training programs would continue to focus on those skills that are timeless, such as rifle marksmanship and physical conditioning. In fact, fitness is becoming a key issue. “We have statistical data... that shows an unbelievable decline in American society – increasing obesity, decreasing physical capacity, decreasing bone strength. All of these things contribute to the health of our youth, so we have to do a very fine balancing act between physical training and not injuring the soldier. You have to bring them aboard through a process,” said Hertling.

Perhaps the most interesting area of reform is in the training of values. Hertling commented on the fact that drill sergeants traditionally taught the seven Army values by telling stories. With 9,000 drill sergeants, you get 9,000 different stories aimed at inculcating the critical values. So there is an ongoing Army project to determine the best way to teach these values, as well as the Soldier’s Creed and the warrior ethos. Many other components will be revamped, including first aid training to reflect what has been learned in today’s conflicts. And coming soon is a new global assessment tool to help assess for strengths in five areas: mental, physical, social, family and spiritual. As an example, if a soldier demonstrates social skill deficiencies, he’ll be given additional programs to help him build those skills and personal resiliency at the same time.

Another area of interest is simply in the relay of training information, especially from the initial entry battalion to the first unit of assignment. Surprisingly, data is still transferred in a little brown envelope hand carried by the soldier and therefore open to tampering. A new program called the Digital Training Manual System will eliminate those issues and stay with the soldier for his or her entire career.

Watching the Army incorporate the valuable lessons learned from current deployments into even the basic training system, as well as deal with the attributes of today’s recruits, is gratifying.

Army leadership should be commended for looking, listening, and acting.

Chris Lehman MS&T Editor-in-Chief • chris@halldale.com MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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traiNiNg techNology

Visual Systems – A Situation Report NatioNal Focus

The Russian Flight Simulator Industry ProcuremeNt

USAF Advanced Trainer Replacement traNsFormatioN

Effective Training Through Simulation ISSN 1471-1052 | uS $14/£8

Issue 1/2010

cover credit Rockwell Collins

front cover

www.halldale.com The InTernaTIonal Defence TraInIng Journal

contents ms&T 1/2010

03 Editorial Comment

6

National Focus

06 National Focus Russian Flight Simulator Industry. When we last examined the simulator industry it was clear that there were challenges ahead. Now, 6 years later, Walter F. Ullrich revisits the Russian flight simulator industry.

12 Training Technology Seeing is Believing. Visual systems have come a long way since ‘model boards’.

Ian Strachan examines the state of the technology.

16 Transformation

12

Training Technology

Ramping Up. The US Army intends to produce more, and better, helicopter pilots using simulators. Chuck Weirauch explains.

20 Technology Application Faster, Better. 3D interactive models form the core of improved maintenance training at Ft Leonard Wood. Cecil Caldwell of the Engineer School tells the story.

22 Procurement USAF Advanced Trainer Replacement. This is a large programme, with emerging requirements for the new advanced training aircraft. Dim Jones discusses the issues.

26 Show Report

22

Procurement

I/ITSEC 2009. “Train to fight, fight to win”. MS&T’s editors report on I/ITSEC 2009.

26

Show Report

feature Articles

Generation Change. Editor in Chief Chris Lehman looks at how the US Army is revamping its basic training to better reflect today's recruit and today's conflicts.

30 NEWS Seen and Heard. A round up of developments in simulation and training.

Edited by Lori Ponoroff.

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

05

National Focus

The Russian Flight Simulator Industry

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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

Opposite Page In the bay: Full Mission Simulators for the L-39 trainer aircraft.

Image credit: Dinamika.

Since MS&T’s last survey in 2004 many things have changed for the better.

Structural changes, increased budgets and domestic competition all helped, as did acknowledgement of the crisis, and that external help was required.

Walter F. Ullrich explains.

T

hese are still not the glory days of the former Soviet Union, but the outlook is improving. There are three main reasons for this resurgence: The first impetus came from the Russian government, which restructured the disaggregated aerospace industry, concentrating the remaining capabilities to ensure a more targeted use of the scarce resources - in some experts’ view also an attempt to (re)gain state control over the strategic industries. In addition, the new national export agency, Rosoboronexport, altered the strategy for promoting military aircraft. Instead of offering just the aircraft, the agency aimed to establish service centres in the customer countries, with training centres included.

Secondly, for the first time in years, increased military budgets meant that sufficient funding was available to purchase new equipment. In 2009, a recordbreaking 1 trillion roubles (32 billion US$) was spent on armament.

Finally, competition that was getting ever fiercer in an open domestic market soon separated the wheat from the chaff. Companies that were not able to keep pace fell by the wayside. ERA JSC, one of the famous Penza-based simulator manufacturers, no longer exists.

The Penza Simulation Design Company (PSDC), once the only enterprise in the USSR and Russia to specialise solely in the design and manufacture of simulators, has not produced a single simulator over the past decade. PSDC stays afloat by repairing the rare equipment that still remain from the thousands of units produced in its heyday. Today, more than 30 enterprises in the Russian Federation are involved in simulation and training for

Andrew G. Bushgens, Deputy Director and Chief Designer CSTS Dinamika (left), talked with MS&T’s Walter F. Ullrich.

Image credit: Author.

the air, land and sea domains. Basically, only three companies, however, develop and produce flight training devices on a larger scale: the closed joint-stock companies (ZAO) CSTS Dinamika, Transas / R.E.T. Kronshtadt, and Spetztekhnika.

The Major Players CSTS Dinamika, the Centre for Scientific and Technical Services Dinamika, was founded in 1989 on the initiative of TsAGI, the Central Aero-hydrodynamic Institute. Dinamika designs and produces aviation training equipment for flying crews and maintenance engineers, equipment ranging from interactive CBT to full flight simulators. Dinamika has always worked in close cooperation with Russian design bureaux to provide reliable and highly adequate maths models for aircraft flight. Dinamika was the first company in post-Soviet Russia to apply for and successfully pass state examinations. Dinamika is a prime contractor of the Russian Air Force, which implies high quality and engineering quality

in regard to development, certification, logistics and supply, and after-sales support. Dinamika’s developments include full flight simulators for the MiG-29, MiG31and Su-33 fighters, and Mi-24P, Mi28N/Mi-8MTV, and Mi-17–1V combat and transport helicopters. The company also made two research simulators for the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, two research simulators for the MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation and four L-39 full flight trainers. CBT was designed for the IL-96–300 wide-body aircraft, the Be-200 amphibious aircraft, the Tu-22M3 strategic maritime strike bomber, the Su-24M all-weather interdiction and attack aircraft, and the Su-33 and Su-27KUB carrier-based multirole aircraft. More than 250 systems have been supplied so far to training facilities in Russia and abroad.

Overseas, the Veracruz Navy Training Centre in Mexico, operates a Mi-17-1V Full Flight Simulator, the Myanmar Air Force acquired a MiG-29 FFS, and China procured two research simulators. For Colonel General Anatoly A. Nogovitsyn, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces no less, Dinamika is Russia’s leader in flight simulation.

Transas, with subsidiaries in Western Europe and the United States, develops and supplies airborne and maritime equipment, advanced onboard navigation systems and simulators in the highly competitive international market.

Transas, Rosoboronexport and the aerospace holding company Oboronprom hold Kronshtadt, which was established in 2000. Kronshtadt’s business objective is to transfer Transas’s experience in civil equipment to the military market. Today, Kronshtadt provides training MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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Equipped with five level-D flight simulators to train crews of MI-17, MI-26 and Mi-35 helicopters, the centre will begin operations in early 2010.

Spetztekhnika provides special technology for aircraft navigation and controlling and air traffic control. Founded in 1991 and an affiliate of Oboronpromm, the Moscow area company’s activities in flight simulation are less well known.

It develops and manufactures highquality flight and navigation procedures trainer and part-task trainers mainly for domestic customers. Products also include the development and integration of CBT, classroom training and automated training planning systems for the air force, the Ministry of the Interior, as well as foreign customers. Flight simulators were made for the Su-22M4 fighter bomber, the Su-25SM attack aircraft, the Su-27SM air superiority fighter, the IndoRussian Su-30MKI fighter jet and the Ansat light multipurpose helicopter. The Yak-130 flight simulator, jointly developed by the A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau and Spetztekhnika, is a prestige project.

The simulator, together with classroom and computerised training aids, a training control and supervision system, the

In Full Swing MS&T’s Walter F. Ullrich spoke with Andrew G. Bushgens, Deputy Director and Chief Designer, CSTS Dinamika. A prominent simulator designer, he was formerly responsible for simulation and research related to the Soviet space shuttle programme, Buran-Energy.

What is the situation of the Russian flight simulation industry today?

Some years ago I anticipated and announced in public an upcoming boom in the Russian flight simulation industry. My prediction has come true and today we can see that it is in full swing.

However, this is all about military flight simulators, where the customers are the air forces, both of the Russian Federation and foreign countries operating Russian aircraft. At a rough estimate, Russian companies manufacture around 10 to 15 flight training devices a year. The main manufacturers are CSTS Dinamika, Spetstechnika and Transas/Kronshtadt.

As far as commercial aviation is concerned, the boom is yet to come. Nevertheless, crucial steps have been taken to pave the way for a future breakthrough.

>>

Training System

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National Focus

media and simulation devices for air, naval and ground forces. The company has especially made its mark in the field of helicopter training devices, both complex simulators (the Russian term for full mission simulators) and procedural trainers. The pallet of training products covers practically the entire range of Russianmade rotorcraft. Full mission simulators are available for the Ka-31/Ka-32 naval helicopter, the Ka-52K attack helicopter and the Ka-60 multirole helicopter. The portfolio also includes simulators for the Mi-8/Mi-17 multirole helicopter, the Mi-24/Mi-35 gunships, the Mi-26 heavylift helicopter and the Mi-28 attack helicopter. An agreement with the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, an Oboronprom affiliate like Kronshtadt, gives the latter exclusive intellectual property rights to produce Mil helicopter simulators. Being the “daughter” of the state export agency Rosoboronexport gives Kronshtadt an additional strategic advantage when it comes to developing businesses abroad - particularly in Asia and Latin America, where the company sees its principal markets. A showpiece project is the helicopter training centre in Venezuela, said to be the largest in Latin America.

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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

09

National Focus

<<

For example, the RF Ministry of Transport has approved the ICAO 9625 as the Russian national standard for flight simulator qualification and certification; the brand-new Russian near-range airliner SSJ-100 is about to begin regular flights; the new Russian near-mid-range airliner MS-21 is well under development; TsAGI, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, has established a new branch, the Centre for Certification of Flight Simulation Training Devices.

All the above taken into account, the Russian aviation complex, that is government authorities, original equipment manufacturers, flight simulator manufacturers, operators and certification bodies, will soon have to tackle the problem of building up full flight simulators certifiable according to international standards, either JAR or FAR or ICAO 9625 3rd edition.

What are the industry’s strengths? The shortcomings?

Russian exporters have so far been slow enough to let foreign companies surpass domestic manufacturers and seize the market for Russian platforms despite the fact that they do not have OEMcertified data on these aircraft or any other “go-ahead” approval from the aircraft manufacturers. Besides the issue of legitimate data, this discredits their simulation fidelity in terms of aircraft dynamics and system models. Here Russian manufacturers and CSTS Dinamika in particular are in a perfect position and have a strong suit. More than that, one should realise that there are currently no ready-made data packages for any Russian platform, and building them will be painstaking and will require studious effort.

Here Russian manufacturers of flight simulators do have a clear advantage and wherever military platforms are concerned we are self-sufficient except for a few COTS vendor items. The situation is different in the case of civil aircraft: We Russians are behind our Western counterparts in a number of core simulation technologies such as motion platforms or panoramic collimated displays. Nor do we have any experience in the certification of our products for compliance with the international standards FAR, JAR, ICAO. How could Russian industry overcome any possible deficits?

I cannot speak for the whole industry, but in my opinion cooperation with the world leaders in flight simulation and modelling technologies, say CAE or THALES, would help solve the problem.

Where are Russia’s principal markets?

First and foremost, the market for Russian-origin military platforms! Then, in years to come, I believe there will be a market for the SSJ-100 Regional Jet and the medium-range passenger aircraft MS-21. I am speaking about flight simulators for both domestic and international markets.

Where do you see Russia’s simulator technology in five years from now?

In the wake of the continuous development of simulator core components, simulation technology in general will advance – that is obvious. These innovative technologies will make their way into the crew training business and provide impetus for improvement and growth. Western companies are the leaders when it comes to provide training services. For this reason, I am sure they will enter into the Russian training market. Furthermore, a number of their modules are perfect solutions for being integrated into Russian platforms, another reason why I believe that in the very near future Western global players will make a full-scale appearance on the Russian flight simulation scene.

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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

Yak-52M basic training aircraft, and the actual Yak-130 advanced jet trainer, form the new Russian Air Force’s Flight Training Complex, of which 24 are to be built. Algeria, its first foreign customer, has bought one ground-based training system, along with 16 Yak-130 aircraft.

Other Players Rosoboronexport State Corporation is a federal state unitary enterprise acting as the sole Russian state intermediary agency for the export and import of military and dual-purpose products, technologies and services. The enterprise was established in 2000. It conducts foreign trade operations related to defence products in accordance with governmental policy. In its role as the sole state arms trade agency, Rosoboronexport has unique opportunities for promoting and controlling export operations.

The State Test Centre of the Air Force is the certifying body for military flight simulators. The Centre for Certification of Flight Simulation Training Devices (CC FSTD) is responsible for civilian products. CC FSTD was established by presidential decree in June 2008 at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute TsAGI, one of the world’s leading aviation research centres. The new certification policies will follow the international ICAO standard, replacing the previous Standards of Flight Simulator Worthiness for Training of Aircrews.

Original Equipment Manufactures (OEMs) have preferred partners among simulator manufacturers - at least in principle.

Kamov, Mikoyan and the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) go for CSTS Dinamika, while Yakovlev prefers Spetztekhnika. The Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant has its simulators made at Transas/ Kronshtadt and Dinamika, and Sukhoi chooses both Dinamika and Spetztekhnika.

The Ilyushin Aviation Complex looks for individual, autonomous solutions. For its new IL-112V military transport aircraft, planned to be ready in 2012, the company is building a full flight simulator in house together with the avionics specialist KotlinNovator. A demonstrator was shown during the Moscow Airshow MAKS 2009. Tupolev, which took over the traditional Penza Simulation Design Company in December 2009, seems to be heading down a similar path.

Foreign Partners Western S&T companies started exploring potential business in Russia in the early 1990s. One of the first was the Canadian company CAE, which in 1992 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Penza Simulation Design Bureau in a joint venture to build training equipment for airliners made in the former Soviet republics. At MAKS 2009, CAE signed a MOU with CSTS Dinamika to cooperate on a range of future military and civil training programmes. Dinamika sees joint opportunities for the Superjet-100 FTD and FFS, Mi-Helicopters family, MS-21 New-Generation Russian Airliner and Tupolev-204/214 training.

Following some bad experiences in 1997, the US Evans & Sutherland (now Rockwell Collins) in 2001 entered into cooperation with such serious partners as TsAGI, PSDC and GosNIIAS, the State Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Systems. The aim was to combine modern visual system technology with domestic engineering and manufacturing advantages.

In 2001 the German STN Atlas (now Rheinmetall Defence Electronics, RDE) signed an agreement with Kronshtadt aimed

The World’s Largest Gathering of Aviation Training Professionals

Above Former President Putin – here in the cockpit of a Su-33 simulator – gave important impulses to reform the Russian aerospace complex.

Image credit: TsAGI.

at the conjoint development and marketing of flight simulators in which Kronshtadt took the low-cost simulators and STN Atlas was to handle the high-end portion. In 2008, in close cooperation with the Russian aircraft manufacturer MiG, Rheinmetall Defence Electronics delivered a full mission simulator containing the Avior laser system as well as a 6DOF motion system to the Indian navy for the carrier variant of MiG 29K fighter planes.

The French Thales cooperates on a broad basis with Russian aerospace and defence enterprises. The memorandum of partnership and cooperation with the technology giant Rostechnologies was signed in November 2009 in the presence of the French and Russian prime ministers and focuses on exchanges of advanced technologies for both civil and military applications.

Thales has so far supplied two Airbus A320 full flight simulators for Russian S7 Airlines. UK-based Thales Training & Simulation Limited will provide at least three full flight simulators to SCAC to train pilots to fly the Superjet100 aircraft.

A Bright Future?

“Russia’s domestic aircraft industry is facing a bright future,” said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during his annual TV and radio message in December 2009. At the same time, he announced that the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation would receive additional financial support and have its 1.6 billion US$ debt restructured - a strong indication that the Russian government is still willing to spend to ensure the survival of the national aircraft industry despite the 2009 criticisms of serious management errors such as a lack of willingness to invest in new manufacturing plants or the suppression of uncomfortable initiatives.

S&T manufacturers did not escape blame. For far too long they had stuck to outdated standards that discouraged development of modern simulators. Even if the Russian S&T providers today have products that are competitive at home and on some export markets, when it comes to competitiveness in the upper class range, Russian S&T providers still depend on cooperation with Western companies. And most experts agree that this is not about to change. ms&t

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Training Technology

Visual Systems – A Situation Report Today’s visual systems are a far cry from the days of ‘model boards’.

Ian Strachan examines how they’ve evolved.

L

ast December at the I/ITSEC exhibition in Orlando, viewing the magnificent imagery being displayed, it was difficult to envisage how different the situation was a quarter of a century ago. First-generation digital imagery for simulators was basic; there was still a lobby that preferred the old “model-board” systems, where imagery came from a small camera that tracked over a model of terrain. Model-boards, however, soon proved to be a technological “dead end”. Early digital image generators were monochrome and textureless. Texture was added later, then came full colour and day brightness. When it became possible to apply photographic detail to texture maps, the basic technology of the modern Image Generator (IG) was in place. Cost was high and leading military systems in the 1980s such as General Electric’s Compuscene 4 retailed at an amazing million dollars per channel.

Turning now to display systems, in the past there was nothing particularly difficult in using multiple projectors to show imagery on screens of various shapes and sizes. However, breakthroughs in simulator display technology included Collimation, higher resolution, seamless edge-blending between 12

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

channels, and Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Viable HMDs had to wait for miniaturisation, but Collimation involved more basic engineering. The term comes from “co-linear” and implies infinityfocus, rather than a focus at the screen distance of direct projection systems.

The essence is that the subject looks into a mirror that has vertical curvature, rather than at a screen. The amount of curvature determines the focal distance, which can be set to what is best for the simulation, rather than always at infinity. The image that is seen in the mirror can be from a TV screen via a beam-splitter and such single-screen units are known as WideAngle Collimated (WAC). Several “WAC windows” can be placed side-by-side for a larger horizontal view. The problem is where two crew sit side-by-side, some imagery seen by one crew member cannot be seen by the other, leading to “black holes” in the display. The solution was to use a large mirror of wide horizontal extent, typically of mylar coated with a reflective surface. Imagery seen in the mirror is from an intermediate screen.

Typically, three or five projectors can be used; the screen height and width matching that of the mirror through which the crew view the scene. This system, first

Above Rockwell Collins’ unveiled its EP 8000 image generator at I/ITSEC 2009.

Image credit: Rockwell Collins.

marketed in 1982 by Rediffusion Simulation of Crawley, UK (now Thales), under the name Wide-angle Infinity Display Equipment (WIDE), had an across-thecockpit view of 150 x 40 degrees. Several other companies now make Cross-Cockpit Collimated Displays and cover has reached 240 x 60 in some designs. The main advantage is not so much the more realistic focal distance for outside world imagery, but that the perspective seen by two pilots sitting side-by-side is correct for both of them, a feature not present in direct projection where there is only one eye-point for undistorted imagery. It is for this reason that Regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration mandate Cross-Cockpit Collimated Displays for Level D full flight simulators (FFS). The same technology is also used in simulators for military aircraft that have side-by-side pilot seating, such as transport and tankers, the larger helicopters, and so forth.

The third link in the Visual chain is the size and complexity of the database

of information that is stored and can be called up into active display. In the past, databases were limited in area; many of us can remember “running off the edge of the world” during a simulator sortie.

Indeed, different mathematical models of the earth were used, as regional maps continue to do today. Nowadays, the ellipsoid world model of the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) is almost universally used. Since WGS84 is the world model for the U.S. GPS system, this works well and matches simulations that include navigational data without the need to transform co-ordinates from one earth model to another. In terms of database size, terabytes of computer storage are now readily available, and databases can be networked so that several simulations can share, which not only reduces costs but also allows joint and other exercises using protocols such as DIS/ HLA and the US Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) system With this background, what is going on in these areas today?

Image Generation Many high-specification Image Generators are available and customers have a

wide choice. A combination of competition and progress in computer graphics has not only allowed specifications to increase but also costs to reduce.

For military applications, battlefield and weapon effects are essential, as is imagery beyond visual wavelengths. All such imagery must be accurately correlated so that anomalies are avoided when switching from one view to another.

This is generally achieved by electronic “tags” added to each polygon or at the sub-polygon level so that, for instance, NVG or FLIR tags can be called up when required, in addition to the usual tags for colour, shading and texture.

Imagery detail is critical for landbased battlefield operations. Here, there is a need for high detail of ground features, and for a helicopter at nap-of-the-earth (NOE) heights, dynamic rotor downwash effects when near the ground or water. In I.G. specifications, pixels, polygon count and frame rate are important, but other features are equally so. These include versatile texture capabilities and the ability to model the real world in detail.

There is an imaging system for everyone. At I/ITSEC Rockwell Collins revealed the EP 8000 image generator.

This has sub-metre resolution imagery over large areas including for sensors. A new feature is that updates can be made through software rather than changing hardware. Other leading imaging systems seen at I/ITSEC included Aechelon pC-NOVA, Bohemia Interactive VBS2, CAE Medallion 6000, FSI Vital X, Link SimuView, MetaVR VRSG, Presagis Lyra, Quantum3D Independence 6000, TerraSim TerraTools7 Core, and ThalesView.

At the lower end of I.G. technology, Lockheed Martin announced an agreement with Microsoft to develop the latter’s ESP visual software, based on PC games technology. ESP capabilities will be developed for other applications as well as the original aviation role.

Database Aspects An important US DoD project is for a Common Database (CDB). This is being coordinated by CAE under a contract from PEO STRI in Orlando. The object is to produce a viable common basic architecture upon which more specialised features of individual IGs will be based. The scale of the current problem is shown by reports that the US DoD and other agencies had funded over 50 different databases of the

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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Above The recently revealed Full Mission Simulator for the F-35.

Image credit: Lockheed Martin.

on any surface with any projector and allows uploading and geometry corrections within one frame. projectiondesign7 of Norway announced the F35 series of DLP7 projectors. Like the Christie products above, they use the Texas Instruments7 2560 x 1600 WQXGA DLP7 chip. The F35 has image blending and geometry correction for 2-D and 3-D displays, processed on a per-pixel basis, and a data rate up to 6.25 Gbps.

Rheinmetall Defence of Bremen announced Generation 4 of their AVIOR laser-based display system. This uses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) diode lasers and has increased contrast, lower latency and near-IR imagery to stimulate NVGs. Sony announced the VPL-GH10 projector featuring a fast frame rate of 120 Hz. This has SXRD resolution (1920 x 1080), smear reduction, DVI-D interface and control via Ethernet.

Application

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a simulator is designed to be particularly compact, allowing a wide outside world view without the need for screens and projectors. Examples of HMDs in service include the Link AHMD in U.S. Army systems such as the trailer-mounted AVCATT and in the Reconfigurable Collective Training Devices (RCTDs) that are part of the “Flight School XXI” programme. Other HMDs are also used in simulators for vehicle convoys and for shoulder-mounted weapons.

Projectors with outputs of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels are now available, the socalled WQXGA resolution. This is 78% more pixels than WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) and more than five times XGA (1024 x 768), itself significantly better than the earlier 800 x 600 SVGA. The benefit of higher figures is not just resolution for its own sake, but that fewer projectors can be used for the same pixel count in an overall display system.

At I/ITSEC, Christie announced WQXGA products that use Texas Instruments’ Digital Light Processing (DLP)7.

An example is the LED-based Christie Matrix StIM projector, available from mid-2010. It will also transmit in the near-IR for stimulating real NVGs. eyeViz of Germany announced openWARP2, a system for edge-blending, colour correction and image warping.

It is designed to be used for any image

An example of the use of modern visual technology is the recently revealed design for the Full Mission Simulators for the F-35 Lightning II fighter, a ninenation progamme. The prime contractor for the training system is Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support (LMSTS). The Rockwell Collins Whole-Earth database and EP-X Image Generator are used, giving resolutions up to 4M pixels per video output. The 1.6m radius dome is by the UK branch (the ex SEOS company) of Rockwell Collins and is unique in that the pilot straps in to the seat outside it, a rail system being used to position the seat in the dome, after which it is raised to the correct pilot’s eye-point.

No less than 25 Rockwell Collins Zorro 2015HC LCOS projectors are used for the outside world scene and target imagery.

Image Generation systems are thriving, with many high-specification products available. Databases for visual and other systems are more variable; the Common Data Base concept is not yet in place. The area of most variability is that of display systems. Here, choices made for simulator designs lead to radically different geometries depending on the Field-of-View needed and whether collimation or motion is required. One thing is certain, today’s simulation technology is not only very effective but is now universally recognised as such by parties in both the civil and military areas. ms&t

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Compared to I.G. systems, simulator display systems have enormous differences in size and shape, from compact headmounted to domes on motion platforms.

If wide view is needed but collimation and motion are not required, projection within a static dome can be used such as for the Eurofighter Typhoon simulators. An alternative is back-projection on a number of flat screens (“facets”) such as in the Link SimuSphere system used in many US fighter simulators, now marketed in a High Definition version.

However, if 6-axis motion is required, the display system must be designed and stressed appropriately. The CrossCockpit Collimated Display system (Rediffusion/Thales WIDE and similar) is part of the Level D design and is also used for relevant military aircraft. Examples include the FlightSafety International built simulators for the US C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 and other transport aircraft simulators worldwide, and many simulators for military helicopters that have side-by-side seats. In the latter case, two “chin windows” are often added for downward view.

Head-Mounted Display systems (HMD) are used in some military applications, but not in great numbers. This is because of a combination of the extra weight on the head and the resolution of the display elements. HMDs are useful if

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Display Systems

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Training Technology

Baghdad area, most of them incompatible with each other.

L-3 Link Simulation and Training announced a real time network service called Blue Box HD, to support distributed training operations, working with HLA, DIS and standard internet protocols. It can integrate training systems with avatars and voice processing and accesses Link’s “HD World” system of geospecific data.

Presagis of Montreal announced their Worldwide Database (WWDB), part of the company’s Aeria project for a unified suite of COTS software for producing complex models and training scenarios. .

Terrasim of Pittsburgh announced Xtract(TM) for automatic enhancement of geospatial data. It exports to other geospatial products such as Google Earth and Presagis Creator, imports to OneSAF and OpenFlight databases, and extracts models to systems such as to 3DStudio and VBS2.

Boeing’s groundbreaking integration of Live, Virtual and Constructive training domains (I-LVC) sets a new standard of training and readiness. With I-LVC, real aircraft can be integrated into exercises with simulators and computer-generated threats.

It’s the latest addition to Boeing’s full spectrum of training capabilities, including live range training— unparalleled training options that reduce cost and most importantly, maximize personnel readiness.

Transformation

Effective Training Through Simulation Mother Rucker is relying on simulation to increase pilot production. Chuck Weirauch tells the story.

I

f ever there was a country that is a military logistics commander’s nightmare, it has to be Afghanistan. Faced with few roads, mostly dangerous, and mountainous terrain, US and Coalition forces are relying far more than ever before on helicopters to transport personnel and supplies to forward bases in the landlocked, nearly 250,000 square-mile country.

The US Army has more than doubled the number of helicopters in the country, and the Pentagon added $500 million to its 2010 budget request for them “because helicopters are a capability that is an urgent need in Afghanistan.”

Interestingly enough to the military training community, the funds are actually not for more aircraft, but for more recruitment and training “because the principal limitation on helicopter capacity is a shortage of maintenance crews and pilots rather than a lack of airframes,” the Pentagon’s budget report states.

Flight School XXI In response to this increasing need, the Army’s Flight School XXI (FS XXI) program at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, AL is gearing 16

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up this year to increase the number of its initial entry student pilots by 25 percent – to 1,500. The goal is also to increase its number of graduate students – those who are coming back for career courses beyond the initial entry and advanced undergraduate courses they have already completed – by the same percentage within the next three years. In 2009, the flight school enrolled 1,200 initial entry students and 3,600 graduate students.

To accommodate this increase, the flight school intends to significantly increase the number of simulations and simulators over the next four years, said Kevin Hottell, Program Manager for FS XXI Simulations for the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI).

Contractor Team member L-3 Link Simulation & Training is already under contract to provide the first-ever fullmotion CH-47F Chinook flight simulator, while contracting is also in progress for three first-of their-kind UH-60M Black Hawk full-motion simulators. Also on the schedule are four more TH-67 Creek simulators, the conversion of three current UH-60 Instrument Trainers to full motion and an additional OH-58D

Above US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Flight School XXI Simulation Complex.

Image credit: DoD/Jerry Morrison.

Kiowa Warrior full-motion simulator, Hottell explained.

The $1.1 billion, 19.5-year FS XXI Simulation Services contract was awarded in October 2003 by PEO STRI to prime contractor Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) and its partners FlightSafety International and L-3 Link Simulation &Training. The flight school first began active training in October 2005 and became fully operational in October 2008. There are currently 50 simulators employed in the FS XXI program; 20 TH-67s employed for basic flight school training provided by principal contractor FSI; and eight UH-60A/L, two CH-47D and OH-58D simulators provided by L-3 in the primary Warrior Hall FS XXI facility in Daleville.

An additional 18 Reconfigurable Collective Training Devices (RCTDs) – Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainers (AVCATTs) in AH-64A Apache configuration – are located at Fort Rucker. Two TH-1H Iroquois simulators provided by

FSI for US Air Force rotary-wing training are also located in Warrior Hall.

The purpose of the FS XXI concept is to have pilots graduate from flight school with a higher level of combat readiness in less time than traditional approaches, Everette Roper, CSC FS XXI Project Manager said. To accomplish this, initial entry students who train in TH-67 simulators and the aircraft first complete the 31-week Phase I basic flight school. Then they go directly to the FX XXI Phase II segment for advanced aircraft training rather than deploying to a unit and then coming back for a qualification course for advanced aircraft as was previously done, Roper explained. Depending on the type of theater-ready aircraft, in Phase II students spend anywhere from 85 to 135 hours in a simulator and the helicopter over a period anywhere from 14 to 18 weeks. After completing Phase II, the new pilots then deploy to their units, coming back for graduate-level courses after completing their operational tours.

“The difference now in FS XXI is that the advanced aircraft is incorporated into Phase II of flight school,” Roper explained.

“So now there is less time in the trainer and more time in the advanced aircraft.

What simulation does is it enables the incorporation of advanced aircraft into the basic flight school. By increasing the percentage of simulator time we are able to get students to the unit in the field with more time in the combat aircraft than under the previous system.”

Simulation Integration Prior to the switch to FS XXI, the previous, traditional helicopter training curricula at Fort Rucker included perhaps 15 to 20 percent simulation-based training, Roper said. The increase of such train-

clusion. They all concurred that the FS XXI contract is supporting flight training effectively and is structured to provide an excellent training capability at a very reasonable price, Hottell pointed out.

One metric that the program uses regularly is that the Commanding General of Fort Rucker is getting 38.6 percent of his flight training for about eight percent of his budget, he added.

Above The 136,000-square foot training facility – Warrior Hall.

Image credit: CSC.

ing in the FS XXI curriculum has led to the throughput of more pilots, as well as more capable ones, at less cost to the government, he pointed out.

“Our latest analysis shows that we average 38.6 percent of our training in simulations in both Phases I and II, with the remainder in live aircraft,” Hottell said. “With the advent of the new UH-60 and CH-47F full-motion simulators, it’s likely that we will try to push closer to a 50/50 mix, but that analysis must be completed and programs built to support that goal. We have a draft idea and are moving forward, but will likely have to adjust as we gain more fidelity in the needs growing from that analysis.”

Hottell also believes that the FS XXI flight training curriculum has led to graduating better aviators than before that are much better prepared for combat much sooner after arriving at their units.

He also cited Government Accounting Office (GAO), Internal Review and Audit Compliance and Army Audit Agency audits that all reached the same con-

More Networked Mission Training Along with the need to graduate more and better pilots, FS XXI is also answering the increasing demand for collective Combat Aviation Brigade pre-deployment Aviation Training Exercises (ATXs) via its networked RCDT system of 18 Apache-configured AVCATTs. According to Roper, when the FS XXI program was conceived, it was expected that it would support perhaps two ATXs per year. Now, because of the demand for this type of training, the flight school is supporting more than 10 of the exercises per year, he said.

According to Hottell, the ATXs provide virtual training environments for units deploying to such areas as Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo.

In addition to the flight simulators, headquarters, operations centers, computer-based battle command systems and even unmanned aerial system (UAS) simulations can be linked together in this environment. The result is that not only air crew, but command staff and ground support personnel can collectively train together. The exercises are conducted with training support packages custombuilt by CSC employees in advance for each unit requesting such training and are constructed according to the needs

7th Modelling & Simulation Conference & Exhibition March 10th - 11th, 2010, Stadthalle Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany

M&S supports and enhances military capabilities considerably. It will independently, as well as in the context of OR and CD&E, improve prognostic capabilities, point out potentials of innovation and make them available fast at acceptable cost and risks. Combining real and simulated systems provides realistic training, specific combat preparation as well as a test bed for technical experiments. This conference covers perspectives, chances and current developments to improve the capability profile of the German Armed Forces.

The conference will be held by the German Association for Defence Technology - Centre for Studies and Conferences with the support of the German MOD. For details see www.dwt-sgw.de.

Studiengesellschaft der DWT mbH, Hochstadenring 50, 53119 Bonn, Germany Tel.: +49 228 410 98-0, Fax: +49 228 410 98-19, info@dwt-sgw.de MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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Transformation

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stated by the unit command staff, he explained. The RCDT training system, which is maintained by L-3, also features an after-action review capability, Hottell added.

“We believe that the program has been an extraordinary success to this point,” Roper summed up.

Room for Improvement Despite the effectiveness of current helicopter simulations, much work still needs to be done to improve the realism of the virtual aircraft and immersive environments flight crews train in, according to Adolfo Klassen, CAE Chief Technology Officer. Overall, there needs to be more detailed textures and scene development in the virtual environment to provide the pilot with better speed and height references at low altitudes, he said. This area is today generally neglected except for in high-end, sophisticated helicopter simulators, Klassen pointed out.

“One of the challenges we still have comes down to a degree of fidelity,” Klassen said. “Pilot perception today is that the simulation is still harder to fly than the aircraft is, and particularly in the hover and low-speed maneuvers that are close to the ground.

And to fix that, we need to fix visual distance cues. It’s harder to hover in the simulator because you don’t have all of the cues that you have in the real world. This really has to change to reduce the perceived handling qualities in the simulation.”

Klassen said that CAE has focused on providing such improvements and is “very close to putting out” a solution that will also be more-cost effective than high-end simulators. This product will also have been developed to provide the necessary visual environment to allow it to accurately replicate the real world, another of the company’s area of focus. This improvement will enable users to conduct much more effective training, since it will be significantly above the capabilities that are currently in the marketplace, he emphasized.

“Overall, one of the primary challenges is ensuring that the performance components of the helicopter simulator reflects the

aircraft accurately,” Klassen summarized. “Computing power needs to be done faster than it has been done so far so that we can better simulate the behavior of the aircraft. Another challenge is to provide the mission or tactical environment that introduces mission capabilities of all types and do it in a cost-effective solution at the entry level.”

“Better access to visualization and aircraft data is essential for the future improvement of simulation,” agrees Colin Hillier, Agusta Westland Tactical Programmes Manager. “There is a great deal of duplication and poor work-flows for enabling access to aircraft or terrain data as an example. A push to publication of standards will help, however a concerted effort between the Ministry of Defence and industry in the spirit of partnering is essential to ensure future synthetic training remains affordable.”

Mission Training One of the more important concepts emerging in both the military and civil helicopter arena is mission training. While previously this type of training would require full mission simulators (or a hugely complex live-collective system), the emergence of “targeted fidelity” mission training devices has meant that access to mission training is becoming more affordable, Hillier said. While the emphasis has been on pilot training, it is no longer good enough to just train the front crew, he emphasized. While pilot training will always be a long-lead activity, the integration of the whole crew at the appropriate time cannot be ignored, otherwise the mission may be jeopardized, Hillier pointed out “The intent is training for capability, with a focus on the mission end result rather than just how to get from A to B,” Hillier summed up. “Missions are now being routinely undertaken which previously would not be carried out. This is aided by introduction of more pilot aids. In order to use these effectively as a whole crew, mission training is required in an environment free from consequences and where the difficulty of the mission can be adjusted at will to provide measured training.” ms&t

Training for UAV/Helicopter Operations Currently, UAV reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and target acquisition data is fed from the unmanned aircraft to UAV ground stations for distribution to ground units and brigade commands. The latest application feeds this data to the Army helicopters. The next-generation Longbows are to receive a direct data feed from the UAVs as a part of the onboard controlling capability. The purpose of these improvements is to increase the situational awareness of the helicopter flight crew and enhance mission effectiveness through combined aircraft operations. Recent Army studies have shown that combined aircraft operations can significantly increase the percentage of battlefield targets detected and destroyed.

Up until now, there has been no way to train pilots, UAV ground station operators and brigade commanders together in how to use the current UAV sensor-feed-to-the18

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cockpit capability except during live training with the aircraft. At last year’s I/ITSEC, L-3 Link Simulation and Training displayed its Manned/Unmanned Team Training (MUM-T) system to provide a simulationbased collective training solution for this new capability.

While the MUM-T has not yet been incorporated into any military training system, there has been a lot of interest in it from a collective training perspective, said Lenny Genna, L-3 Link Vice President for Rotary Wing, Unmanned Aerial and Ground Training Systems.

“The Army is slowly adding this capability where they can pump UAV videos into platforms, the Longbow being the first one,” Genna said. “There is also some discussion about adding this capability to the Kiowa Warrior.”

According to Genna, the MUM-T is “not that complicated” to add to existing

training simulations. L-3 Link is currently working on incorporating the new system into its AVCATT program and flight schools that it supports, although it can be added to other trainers, he explained.

“By adding the MUM-T, you can train not only the pilot in the cockpit, but also the UAV operator and everybody else involved in that scenario from a field commandertype perspective,” Genna pointed out. “This system helps answer the question of how brigade commanders can better train this new cockpit UAV data feed capability to make best use of it, and right now they have to train it in the field. The real benefit for field commanders is that you are taking UAV simulation capability and moving that into a collective environment. So it is training both students and leaders in the added situational awareness provided by the UAV feed so that they can learn how to make decisions based on that additional information.”

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Technology Application

Effective and Efficient The US Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood leverages 3D interactive models to achieve savings and increase training effectiveness. Cecil Caldwell, Division Chief for the Maintenance Training Division, 577th Engineer Battalion, US Army, tells their story.

S

oldiers who want to support ground missions by becoming Construction Equipment Repairers take an eight-week course run by the US Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and repairing brakes are an important part of that course. At the Engineer School’s brakes annex, we teach about 1200 soldiers a year how to troubleshoot, repair, and overhaul the brake systems of heavy machines used for a variety of purposes, such as earthmoving and grading. Our goal is to ensure they become skilled brake repairers.

During the summer of 2004, we were teaching entry-level soldiers how to maintain brakes in a 40-hour training block with antiquated brake board system trainers. Each hard trainer was essentially a “brakes board,” which hooked up to computers that would display photos of the related parts. Students completed tasks by pressing buttons on the boards.

These trainers used laser disks from the early 80’s with analog input devices, along with out-dated software requiring 20

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parts that were no longer being produced.

This could mean eight of the 16 trainers were out of service at any given time.

Often, students had to work in teams of two or three, making it difficult for those who learned at slower paces. We looked into upgrading the total hard trainer system, but that would have cost more than 1.3 million dollars. We decided to leverage modeling and simulation technology as a way to keep costs down and improve our program; but like many military training organizations, we operate with a restricted training budget, so each new investment must be chosen carefully.

The Combat Development Division at the Engineer School allocated $250,000 for the development of an in-house simulation project for the sixteen critical tasks that we needed to teach in the course.

After we conducted extensive research to evaluate our existing resources and needs, the Director of Common Leader Training (DCLT), which has a multimedia department, contacted several vendors looking at different simulation and 3D model products. In selecting a ven-

Above An air brake axle with an air brake system board connected to provide faults and operation to the axle.

Image credit: 91L Course, Fort Leonard Wood, MO

dor, the DCLT first looked at the quality of the graphics and 3D simulations, and how the vendor would facilitate delivery of the end product. Another influential consideration was how easily we could alter the interactive 3D training simulations once they had been created, which would allow other branches of the US military to leverage the simulations we had developed. Finally, the level of customer support the vendor could provide after delivery was considered important as we wished to ensure our technology investment would meet the long-term goals of the training program. NGRAIN was chosen as our vendor.

With the vendor chosen, the DCLT and Subject Matter Experts (SME) from the Construction Equipment Repairer Course developed a training strategy

based on the school’s needs. The training strategy includes 3D interactive models, courseware, and hands on training aids.

Working with a provider of 3D equipment simulation was a new adventure.

SFC Sean Cooley, the SME assigned to the project, took six-sided pictures of every part from multiple vehicles and different types of braking systems. Once these pictures were sent to our vendor and the 3D models developed, personnel from DCLT, SFC Cooley and the vendor developed a logic tree to show each task from beginning to end using NGRAIN’s Producer software, which allows SMEs to create and deploy 3D equipment simulations. In this development, SFC Cooley built in the maintenance part logic of troubleshooting and repair using the military manuals so parts would be removed in chronological sequence. This would guide students through the proper part removal and installation with this raw application for all 16 lessons.

The 3D model was one step of the process in this development. Personnel from the Life Long Learning Center (LLLC) – which is part of DCLT at Fort Leonard Wood – worked on the educational aspects of the simulations. These lessons were developed directly out of the Army Technical Manuals so that we could teach proper troubleshooting procedures and repair. The LLLC partnered with SFC Cooley to produce these lessons using the final vendor product and flash animations. Along with Marvin McFarland, I was responsible for writing the HTML and XML code to imbed the complete project into a Web-based application. This enabled the courseware to be used on almost any computer. Each scenario was specifically designed to realistically place the soldier in the field with different brake malfunctions in an interactive environment. It took nearly a year to take the pictures, execute the logic development, create the lessons, and validate the software through trials.

We coupled this application with hands-on material (axles from Military Cannibalization points from around the country) so that the computer-based lessons could be immediately followed up with practical exercises to reinforce the lessons learned on the Web-based computer training. We then purchased airbrakes system repair boards that allowed the students to properly identify and troubleshoot air brake systems.

Above A Hydraulic Brake System interactive model showing caliper.

Image credit: 91L Course, Fort Leonard Wood, MO

Instead of spending $1.3-million on replacing the hard trainers, the government only had to spend $300,000 on the simulation and courseware development. This represented an immediate savings of $1 million in costs.

We gathered feedback from the students about the interactive 3D models and worked closely with the vendor to ensure they were as easy to use as possible. Based on the feedback, the vendor made key upgrades to ensure students could easily grasp individual components. As a result, we had a product that was easy to use.

While these models and courseware were being developed and tested, we added some training devices to the program to support the simulation training in the course. When this all started, the course only had two pieces of equipment to work on and three axels. Now the course has sixteen axels, four of which operate from an air simulation board.

Overall, the 3D brakes simulations provide a learning experience that is superior to the old brake simulators, while allowing the school to drive down training costs. By learning how to take apart brake assemblies on an interactive 3D model first, before training on the real piece of equipment, students are catching on faster, and training time is reduced.

They can freely explore the brakes at their own pace, as well as watch procedures, perform maintenance tasks, and receive instant feedback when they make mis-

takes. When students complete the simulations they are able to identify parts, know the location of these parts, understand the operations and relationships of the systems within each type of braking system, enabling them to complete practical exercises with little or no help.

The learning acceleration allowed us to shave 12 hours off the 40-hour brake system training block. With the savings in the training time, we have been able to expand the curriculum to cover new technology in the course and are providing more hands-on training for the concepts, operations, troubleshooting and repair of hydraulic, air over hydraulic, air and wet brake systems.

With an annual training load of approximately 1,200 students, this one and a half day reduction in training time translates to more than $14-million in savings per year (based on the average daily cost of $7,900 stated by the US Army Training Doctrine and Command (TRADOC) to train a soldier). Using the 3D equipment simulations, students can also access training materials outside of class hours and are more knowledgeable and time efficient when they move to the shop bays to work with physical brake systems. The result is that our maintainers are better trained than before, while allowing the school to drive down training costs. ms&t

About the Author Cecil Caldwell joined the Army as a Mechanic in 1968. He retired as a CW4 in 1991. As a civilian, he is currently Division Chief for the Maintenance Training Division, 577th Engineer Battalion. He holds a Masters Degree in Computer Management.

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Procurement

After 60 Years During the course of 2010, the formal competition to provide the replacement for the USAF’s advanced trainer, the T-38, will begin. With an estimated requirement for 350 to 500 airframes, this may be the last programme of its size for a dedicated training aircraft. Dim Jones reports.

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he T-38A Talon entered USAF service in 1961; for those with long memories, this was only 2 years after the Folland Gnat was introduced to the RAF. Following an engine and avionic upgrade, the T-38C will be retired around 2020. During that 60-year span, front-line aircraft have changed out of all recognition, from demanding airframes with rudimentary weapons systems and avionics, to successors with carefree handling and immense capability. Indeed, since the US has led the field in aircraft development, the gap between the USAF’s advanced trainer and its front line has arguably grown soonest and widest. It is odd, therefore, that the USAF has waited so long to replace the T-38, and equally strange that the US aerospace industry has not developed an indigenously-designed replacement; similar situations existed in the replacement of the T-37 ‘Tweet’ basic trainer with the T-6 Texan II, essentially a development of the Pilatus PC-9, and, before that, the US Navy’s purchase of the T-45 Goshawk, a development of the Hawk Mk 60, to replace its T-2 Buckeye and TA-4 Skyhawk. Neither of these programmes 22

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were what one would call small, 435+ T-6 and 223 T-45 to be precise.

Notwithstanding the US’s ability to underwrite design, development and manufacture based solely on the home market, the DoD is clearly open to competitive proposals from elsewhere, and is increasingly cost-conscious. This will be the first contract let under a new acquisition process, which requires clear ‘gates’ to be negotiated before approval is given for expenditure. The first of these is the Materiel Development Decision (MDD), expected this year; this will confirm the requirement for a new aircraft, but only after alternatives, such as life-extension and upgrade, have been eliminated. The MDD will be followed by an analysis of competitors, leading to a Request for Proposals in about 2011, a fly-off between at least two competitors the following year, and a decision and contract award in 2014.

So who are the runners in the T-38 replacement race, and what are the criteria by which they are likely to be judged?

The first question is easier to answer than the second. One of the contenders will be BAE Systems’ Hawk Advanced

Above The T-38C will be retired from USAF service around 2020.

Image credit: USAF/Matthew Hannen.

Jet Trainer, the latest version of which is just entering RAF service. According to Ian Reason, BAE Systems’ Business Development Director, Training and Hawk (UK), both the timescales proposed and cost considerations, militate for an off-the-shelf purchase, although there is little doubt that US industry may lobby for a delay to allow development of a new type. The Hawk has two clear competitors – the Alenia Aermacchi M346 Master (former YAK/AEM-130 joint venture), and the Korean Aircraft Industries T-50 Golden Eagle, in which Lockheed Martin has a 13% stake. There is a fourth contender, the EADS Mako/HEAT, but this aircraft has yet to make its maiden flight; it has been developed as a competitor for the Advanced European Jet Pilot Training (AEJPT) project, part of the Eurotrainer programme. This itself is a concept with an uncertain future, seeking as it does to satisfy the requirements of 9 participating nations; furthermore,

the continued involvement of two major partners – France and Italy - could hinge on the selection of aircraft.

As regards criteria, the arguments are more complex. Current and future USAF front line aircraft are all high-performance in terms of aerodynamics and systems. However, the degree to which the lead-in aircraft has to replicate them is debatable. On the one hand, simple is generally cheap; however, the simpler the solution, the less the scope for downloading training from extremely expensiveto-operate front line aircraft to the more cost-effective trainer. The debate centres around which aspects of aircraft operation should be addressed in advanced training, and which can easily be assimilated during conversion to the front line type. For instance, all front line aircraft are supersonic, but does the trainer need to be? While aircraft and engine handling in the supersonic, and particularly the transonic, regimes used to be significant issues, in modern aircraft they are a non-event. This is reflected in the lack of a supersonic sortie profile in the current T-38 syllabus.

Modern fighters can sustain high G; equally importantly, the onset of G, when computer-controlled through a fly-by-wire control system, can be near instantaneous, and the ability of the pilot to operate effectively under these conditions is a firm requirement. However, realistic training – sufficient to demonstrate this ability – can arguably be achieved in a centrifuge; does the training aircraft need this level of performance? All USAF fighters are highly agile, an attribute associated with advanced wing design and the relaxed stability, which requires computer control. How agile does the trainer need to be?

Turning to systems, a trainer’s airframe systems should, by definition, be less complex than those of a front line type. However, they do not of themselves enhance the capability of the aircraft, and the principle of reducing workload by maximising automation and cockpit ergonomics holds good for both.

This increases residual aircrew capacity to operate sensors, and avionic and weapons systems, and it is here that the trainer can really prepare the trainee for the front line. Where a training aircraft feeds a single operational type, its avionics can be tailored to suit, but the young aviator of today comes from a generation

Above The Hawk T2 has been recently introduced to RAF service.

Image credit: Crown Copyright 2009.

raised on advanced computer systems, and is well able to adapt generic training to a specific application. That being so, to what degree should the trainer aim to replicate the front line aircraft? Is it necessary to employ costly weapons, or do advanced recording and debrief systems render this unnecessary? Is training at this stage in the use of defensive aids and sensors, such as radar, a requirement and, if so, must these be real or could they be emulated?

The relative weight given to these factors will determine the profile of the T-38 replacement and this, in turn, will drive the acquisition and operating bill.

The degree to which front-line training can be downloaded to the training system is the final factor in overall value for money; however the cost of providing an aircraft that meets this need in the latter sorties will have to be carried through the whole course. So, how do the competitors stack up? All three aircraft offer some light attack capability; however, this is unlikely to be a determining factor in the USAF choice and, for the purposes of comparison, the pure trainer variants are compared.

The T-50 and M346 are the newer designs, both just entering service; the Hawk is the latest development of an extremely successful and proven family of training aircraft. They are roughly the same size; however, the T-50 is significantly heavier than the other two. All have an 8G limit, although the T-50 and

M346, being fly-by-wire, will probably have the edge on G-onset and agility.

The M346 is twin-engined – potentially greater reliability, but also greater cost.

The Hawk and M346 are subsonic and cold power only; the T-50 has an afterburner and is supersonic. All aircraft offer a modern glass cockpit, with HOTAS, colour multi-function displays, advanced navigation and comms suites and avionic architecture representative of front line aircraft. Detail on the avionic capabilities of the T-50 and M346 are hard to come by, but the recent introduction to RAF service of the Hawk 128, aka T2, provides a yardstick, and one that Ian Reason believes will be hard to match.

Although the airframes thus far delivered are not yet to the final operational standard, and the first ab-initio student course will not start until the end of 2011, the opportunity for a markedly different approach to advanced pilot training is evident. The T2 course will provide the final link in the new fast-jet pilot training pipeline, part of the UK MOD’s Military Flying Training System (MFTS). As important as a seamless transition to the front line types will be a blending of input and output standards between T2 and the new basic trainer, yet to be selected; this should allow downloading of training from advanced to basic in the same way as from the Operational Conversion Units to AJT. In the interim, the Hawk T1 will provide a bridging capability between the Tucano and the T2.

Whereas earlier versions of the Hawk 100 Series gave the familiar feeling of being in a T1, albeit with a HUD and MFD, the 128 cockpit definitely feels like a different aircraft – indeed, a prevalent MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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Procurement

opinion is that it is a mistake to call it a Hawk at all. Map and stopwatch have given way to GPS-fed IN with moving map display; safety is enhanced by TCAS and GPWS. However, more significant than the systems themselves is what you can do with them. In the past, Hawk instructors have been obliged to employ devious ruses to increase the student’s workload artificially. This is no longer necessary; more importantly, the cockpit tasks involved are a direct read-across from the front line. The legacy mantra of ‘Aviate, Navigate, Communicate’ gives way to ‘Aviate, Assimilate, Disseminate’.

In addition to navigation and weapons systems management, the radar and threat warning emulators provide an operational training environment at low cost. The radar emulator is fed by a data link with other T2s and generates a realistic radar picture, including engagement solutions for active, semi-active and IR weapons. The threat emulator takes data from the mission planning system, and accurately represents the selected threats, including assessment of the effectiveness of evasive tactics and defensive aid employment. Squadron Leader Dan Beard, OC T2 Development Flight at RAF Valley, believes that the

new aircraft, together with a comprehensive suite of simulators and computerbased ground training aids, will change the face of advanced FJ flying training for the RAF and RN. There is a sense of eager anticipation among those entrusted with introducing it to service, and awareness that current plans may not yet be exploiting its full potential.

So, which aircraft will the US choose?

The stakes are high, and there are so many imponderables, that a forecast would be unwise. Bearing in mind that none of the front-runners are homegrown, teaming arrangements and the

Above Assisted by BAE Systems’ Test Pilot Nat Makepeace, the author examines the Hawk’s modern glass cockpit.

Image credit: BAE Systems.

impact on, and opportunities for, US industry will be key. The rules of the game are as yet untried and, despite the added complication, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that, in a programme of this size, a mixed-type solution could prove the most cost-effective, providing maximum capability at one end and maximum economy at the other. ms&t

Same place, new look.

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R re U t fo YO un be ve co er ei is st ec D gi o r ing Re il t ok r o Ap B 5 arly E

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Rear Admiral Joseph F. Kilkenny, Commander, Naval Education and Training Command, US Navy, United States

Future Challenges In Training / Next Generation Warfighter Modelling Cities In The Virtual World Environment Simulation & Training for Medical and Casualty Handling Training the Generation Spectrum

Brigadier General Volker Barth, Deputy Commander Armed Forces Office, Commander Bundeswehr Schools and Director of Joint Training, Germany

Training for Civic Emergencies The quality of papers are outstanding, no one involved in military and civic training can afford to miss this conference

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Show Report

I/ITSEC 2009 Immersive environments, serious games and small unit excellence: some of the trends that MS&T’s editors observed. “

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rain to Fight – Fight to Win,” the motto of this year’s event, was a recurrent theme as the military simulation and training community converged at the usual time, the first week after US Thanksgiving, Nov 30 to Dec 3, and the usual place, the Orange County Convention Centre, in Orlando, Florida. I/ITSEC really is representative of the MS&T community. You had to be there. There were 19,000 registrants, including 4,000 conference delegates, 7,000 exhibit personnel, and 8,000 exhibit visitors. 50% of the registrants were from government and 2000 international registrants represented 61 countries. 607 companies and organisations welcomed visitors to 491 exhibits.

In his keynote, General James N. Mattis, USMC, Commander US Joint Forces Command, emphasised that simulator training has measurably contributed to superiority over any conventional enemy; an advantage that is, however, irrelevant when faced with an adversary practising irregular warfare. Mattis called for more quality immersive training, especially for small units such as are currently fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. The 26

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focus on the small unit remained evident throughout the conference.

Later on in the General/Flag Officer Panel, Major General Stephen R. Layfield, Director, Joint Warfighting Center, US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM), reinforced that view and he highlighted the National Program for Small Unit Excellence.

The technology, the exhibits, and the sheer size of the show are daunting, and in this report we can only touch on some of the many items that caught the eye of MS&T editors.

Government The US Air Force Air Force Training Systems Product Group demonstrated the new My Base Second Life portal.

The online portal allows new Air Force recruits to explore the resources at a virtual base, take classes and experience game-based simulation for training.

At the Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command exhibit, human-sized virtual Sergeant Starr interacted with I/ITSEC attendees, responding to spoken inquiries. Aimed initially at recruiting duties, the SGT hopes to grad-

The M-346 ground-based training system demonstrator, which Alenia Aermacchi and CAE jointly developed.

Image credit: W Ullrich.

uate to virtual instructor, health screener and therapist as he develops.

Integrating the Quality of Training Effectiveness (QTEA) system seen at the NAWCTSD exhibit last year, the F-18 simulator-based Sensor-based Training Effectiveness Evaluation in Live-VirtualConstructive Environments (STEELE) recorded simulator pilot physiological data during networked exercises with an actual M-29 jet trainer aircraft equipped with the same monitoring equipment.

This approach provided for a true LVC study while the actual aircraft went through training exercises.

Other NAWCTSD training devices being demonstrated included the P3 Aircrew Tactical Team Trainer (PACT3); the Naval Seamanship & Shiphandling Conning Officer Virtual Environment (NSS COVE), the-next-generation COVE ship bridge simulator; and the Multimission Tactical Trainer Tactical Action Officer Intelligent Tutoring System.

New driver and operator trainers had a prominent place at the primary PEO STRI exhibit space, including the Construction Equipment Virtual Trainers (CEVT) Wheel Loader Level-1 and those based on the Common Driver Trainer (CDT) concept, which include the Common Driver Trainer (CDT) Tank Variant (TV) and the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Variant Mobile Training Facility. Also on display was the Virtual Route Clearance Trainer. One of the most prominent and largest new trainers at the exhibit was the MRAP Egress Trainer. The demonstration area for the Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTC) displayed the PC-based Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) system.

The NATO exhibit, the largest seen in recent memory, emphasized LVC training and advanced distributed learning (ADL). Two of the highlights were the Live Urban Operations Simulator and the NATO Education and Training Network Demonstration ADL Capability.

New to I/ITSEC was the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. The JIEDDO functions to coordinate US Department of Defense (DoD)

and international military agency efforts to detect, defeat and train for the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (www.jieddo.dod.mil).

Both the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) and US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) prominently featured the Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT). The online game-based VCAT provides training scenarios for civil affairs, security operations and humanitarian assistance for personnel who are to be deployed to Horn of Africa countries.

The VCAT is available through the Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability (JKDDC)’s Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) portal. The JFCOM exhibit also focused on the National Program for Small Unit Excellence effort.

The Medical Simulation: Solving Today’s Needs with Promising Technologies session drew a considerable crowd of over 500 attendees. Presenters said that the medical community needs human physical and human tissue models, better simulation across the board, and help in developing standardized curricula and team training.

Serious Games Challenge Developed and validated by a multi disciplinary team (2009 I/ISEC Paper No. 9477), the award winning Vessel Damage Control Trainer provides significant results for the US Navy, demonstrating significant learning benefits and transfer of learned skills. Errors in situational awareness, decision-making and communication were reduced by 50% for recruits who spent only one hour with the trainer. The results of this validation are being used to define enhancements that will strengthen the challenge for players. (See the sidebar for Serious Games Challenge results.)

The Industry Participation by governments and agencies were supported by industry. Both sides of the Atlantic, and then some, were represented at the show.

• Boeing announced that Australia had become the first country outside the US to acquire the C-17 Aircrew Training System (ATS) The trainer wasformally commissioned at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, Queensland on 18 Nov. • CAE maintained its usual strong

RUAG provides sophisticated training solutions tailored to its customers’ requirements.

Products range from virtual simulation systems for driver and gunnery training, to crew training for light armoured vehicles, main battle tanks and howitzers, to tactical training.

Live simulation systems include laserbased precision training for gunnery and anti-tank weapons, small arms, improvised explosive devices, and urban operations, as well as complete combat training centres.

Your Partner for Live and Virtual Training Solutions RUAG Electronics Ltd Simulation & Training · P.O. Box · 3000 Berne 22 · Switzerland Tel. +41 31 376 66 00 · marketing.electronics@ruag.com · www.ruag.com

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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presence at the show, showcasing the M-346 ground-based training system demonstrator, which Alenia Aermacchi and CAE jointly developed.

• RUAG brought along three “Combat Heidis” – attractive dancing girls who performed in front of a large screen that demonstrated RUAG’s capacity in stateof-the-art training.

• The Swedish MSE Weibull AB, a newcomer to I/ITSEC, shipped big equipment to Orlando. Swedish tank crews ran full combat exercises on a Leopard MBT Turret Trainer, the result of a cooperation between MSE and the German KMW. • KMW showed the PROGRESS CAR Simulator and the virtual simulator for the new anti-tank missile Saab Bofors (NLAW) that was displayed simultaneously at both the KMW and the Saab stands.

• The Saab Group also showcased its Deployable Instrumented Training System, which allows the military to train at home and abroad. Another attraction at the Saab booth was the Gripen Tactical Combat Simulator, which performed close air support with the Forward Air Controller simulator produced by the Danish company IFAD. • Cubic and Thales unveiled their new Reconfigurable MRAP Vehicle Trainer in a joint announcement and off site demonstrations.

• At the Presagis booth, the French HPC Project delivered cutting-edge technology. HPC’s high-performance multi-core Wild Systems product demonstrated in a complex scenario simulation around 10,000 systems entities at runtime within Presagis STAGE. • The Turkish Havelsan, an I/ITSEC novice, highlighted a broad spectrum of integrated simulation solutions, ranging from part task trainers to turn-key simulation training centres.

• Israel Aerospace Industries’ new Air Defence Training System (ADTS) stood out among the many live, virtual and constructed (LVD) solutions presented at I/ ITSEC. It is dedicated to the training of air defence units, using the real weapon system jointly with aircraft and helicopters.

• MetaVR’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) featured a new Afghanistan 3-D geospecific virtual terrain.

• ELBIT, the second Israeli company present at I/ITSEC showcased TARGO, helmet-mounted avionics (HMA) tech28

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Above RUAG’s “Combat Heidis” attracted even non Live Training experts.

Image credit:W Ullrich.

nology for trainers. It offers the benefits of prior helmet mounted displays (HMD) with extraordinary helmet-based functionalities, including a vivid and compelling virtual mode, all using the pilots’ personal helmets.

• Christie, in partnership with Renaissance Sciences Corporation (RSC), demonstrated a new capability in NVG training consisting of two Christie Matrix StIM projectors. In addition to the standard RGB components Christie Matrix StIM offers a separate near-infra-red (NIR) illumination source that directly stimulates actual NVGs. • If the growth of their exhibit size can be considered a proxy, the VBS2 community is growing by leaps and bounds, as is that of ISM (Industrial Smoke and Mirrors).

• SAIC presented Evocative Training methodology to build up Warfighter psychological resiliency around issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and sexual assault prevention, and leadership development • VT MAK showcased COTS solutions for terrain generation, including VR-Vantage, a tool for quick scenario specific terrain database development.

• Rockwell Collins launched two new light weight, (less than 1 pound each) high-resolution helmet-mounted displays that use organic light-emitting diode (OLED) micro technology. ms&t

Serious Games Challenge Best Business Entry: Vessel Damage Control Trainer - BBN Technologies (a Raytheon company): Developed using the open source game engine Delta 3D, it provides training on vessel damage control skills while reinforcing decision-making, communication protocol, situational awareness and shipboard navigation.

Best Student Entry: NihongoUp - Lycee Francais de Prague: A Japanese language reviewing tool, that allows you to practice typing correct letter combinations and improve Katakana and Hiragana typing recognition speed, as you review Kanji vocabulary.

Best Government Entry and Peoples Choice: Computer Based Corpsman Training System - RDECOM-STTC: CBCTS creates an immersive training environment for medical corpsmen.

During the mission a corpsman must balance triage, treatment, and safety to successfully keep his patients alive and prepare them for evacuation.

Remaining Finalists:View all the finalists in the Serious Games Challenge at http://sgschallenge. com/Contest/2009Contest.html

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world news & analysis

Seen&Heard Edited by Lori Ponoroff.

For daily breaking S&T news - go to www.halldale.com.

DT MEDIA SELLS TO ROYAL SAUDI ARMED FORCES DT Media won two major contracts with the Royal Saudi Air Force and Navy in conjunction with its Saudi partner, Rahaden Trading and another with the Royal Navy of Oman.

The Air Force will use DT Media’s ‘Insight’ recognition training system to maximize accuracy in combat identification. The King Fahad Naval Academy in Jubail will use Fleetman Bridge Trainer for interactive training in ship handling and bridge procedures.

The Royal Navy of Oman ordered a bridge trainer for interactive training in ship handling and bridge procedures; a radio communications trainer to sharpen communication skills and a recognition training system to maximise accuracy in combat identification.

Above The Royal Navy of Oman has ordered DT Media’s Fleetman Bridge Trainer.

Image credit: DT Media.

SAIC WINS $10M U.S. AIR FORCE CONTRACT Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) won a U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) contract to provide requirements assessment, strategic planning, and programming support. The contract has a one-year base performance period, a one-year option, and is worth more than $10 million if the option is exercised.

DiSTI Releases GL Studio 4.1 DiSTI released GL Studio, Version 4.1 which increases fidelity and image quality and reduces the time required to generate interactive 2D panel images from photographs with the original Photoshop 30

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file importer. GL Studio users can now integrate animated schematic diagrams with speed and direction properties into a GL Studio project with the new Animated Schematics Plug-In.

DISMOUNTED SOLDIER SIMULATION PLATFORM Organic Motion unveiled OpenSTAGE, the world’s first multiple person motion tracking platform that does not require participants to wear attached devices, tags or sensors.

The OpenSTAGE technology enhances simulated training environment operations and improves the way

personnel can be prepared for operations such as Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) and Close Combat Tactical Training Dismounted Soldier (CCTT DS) simulations.

LASER SHOT LAUNCHES REAL COMBAT Laser Shot installed the first of its new Real Combat™ Mixed Reality Immersive Training Systems product line at Fort Bragg to provide close-quarters battle training for live fire and laser based training engagement. The training system combines new technologies, software and components to offer a realistic “trainas-you-fight” environment in a live-fire training exercise to improve training effectiveness and better prepare trainees by increasing their ability to achieve a true “suspension of disbelief” and feel realistically immersed in their training environment.

CMLabs RELEASES VORTEX 4.2 CMLabs, released Vortex 4.2, a new version of its physics SDK and VxSonar and a fully-featured Vortex module for wideranging sonar applications. Vortex 4.2 is designed for software developers and system integrators to produce engineering-grade simulations and simulates wheeled and tracked vehicles, machines, and robots for real-world operator training, mission rehearsal, virtual prototyping and testing.

VSTEP’S NEW SHIP SIMULATOR PROFESSIONAL Maritime Simulator Developer VSTEP released a new version of Ship Simulator Professional (a Serious Games Challenge finalist) that includes advanced functional updates and introduced Exercise Manager, a new component of the Instructor Station. An extended version of the Mission Editor, combined with a multiplayer server, it has the option to assign trainees to the vessels in the exercise, and manage the exercise while one or more trainees are active.

GenesisRTX – HIGHER PERFORMANCE, LOWER COST Cogent3D, Inc. and Diamond Visionics launched GenesisRTX – the GenesisIG replacement – which takes the “build directly from source concepts” of the previous generations GenesisIG and makes it more powerful, more flexible, easier to use, and less expensive to operate.

$2.7 BILLION IN 2010 PREPAREDNESS GRANTS Grant opportunities are available to help emergency response organizations obtain Environmental Tectonics Corporation’s (ETC) ADMS, the Advanced Disaster Management Simulator. Grants information is available at the FY2010 Preparedness Grants website: www. fema.gov/government/grant/index.shtm.

PRESAGIS Presagis™’s tools were included in a Boeing-developed solution – including four F-15C Visual Systems Trainers – for the U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle tactical fighter training program. Presagis Lyra and Lyra Sensors COTS Visual Runtime software were integrated into the training system to provide realistic out-thewindow, infrared sensor, and night vision goggle views for the fighter jet scenarios.

$6.5M SHIP BRIDGE SIMULATOR CONTRACT Kongsberg Maritime Simulation & Training won a $6.5 million contract to supply the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with ship bridge simulation systems to upgrade the Navy’s training centre at HMAS Watson in Sydney, Australia. The ship bridge system will have two fullmission simulators, four part-task simulators, ten desktop systems, instructor and debrief stations, and extensive visual systems.

GESTURE-BASED TRAINING INTERFACE Raytheon BBN Technologies will be using Softkinetic’s iisu™ middleware to develop a gesture-based interface for its virtual world training systems that lets military users train in immersive, highly visual, 3D environments before

facing real combat. It recognizes and captures gestures and movements in by a 3D depth sensing camera and is being used in large-scale applications for gaming, multimedia systems and fitness and rehabilitation systems.

GLOBALSIM TRIPLES FORKLIFT SIMULATORS FOR U.S. ARMY GlobalSim installed 11 MasterLiftT 3000 advanced training simulators for the new ATLAS II 10,000 lbs rough terrain forklift used by the US Army. The containerized simulators can be transported via rail or truck to remote sites, giving the Army more flexibility in providing realistic training on site. The Army bought five simulators for the new forklifts after a GlobalSim crane simulator installed at Fort Eustis in 1997 resulted in fewer accidents and less training time.

A Performance Story What started as an RAF Mildenhall idea has saved the Air Force more than 600 manhours and hundreds of thousands of dollars since its inception earlier this year.

Former 100th Maintenance Group commander, Michael Saville, realized the mission-capability rate had serious problems and determined isochronal inspections - periodic aircraft inspections -were the biggest factor. A target was then set to reduce ISO inspection times. Staff Sgt. Christopher Klaus, 100th Maintenance Squadron ISO dock controller masterminded the purchase and research of new mobile platforms.

Seven mini high-reach platforms were purchased, replacing the wing stands which only go under the wing, said Klaus. For other areas on the aircraft, different stands are used, and it takes time to pull each one out and position it in-place. The old stands also have nowhere to keep tools or equipment.

“Each [of the older] stands takes an average of 20 minutes, and four people, per wing to set up,” Klaus said. “With the new mobile platforms, an individual can be in-place with their tools in less than five minutes.”

Klaus explained the new stands can be used to reach all over the aircraft - including under the wings, tail and nose. They reach up to a height of about 3 meters, and are electric, so the maintainers just hop on board, load up their equipment, and quickly move around the hangar, going up and around the aircraft as needed.

Inspections originally took 10 days from start to finish. With the new mobile platforms, that process was reduced to seven days. It’s been projected that 1,000 manhours will be saved per year - an equivalent of 24 extra days annually that the aircraft will be mission-ready, said Maj. Kelly Bolen, 100th ARW AFSO 21 deputy director.

“Before, everyone was buying tail stands at a cost of about $1.5 million [per base],” said Bolen. “The seven mobile platforms we purchased cost less than a total of $100,000.”

The 100th MXG was the first unit in the Air Force to come up with, and implement, the idea of using these stands for the KC-135.

“Considering all of the manpower cuts that have happened over the last few years and the high operations tempo since 9/11, AFSO 21 and LEAN thinking have become key tools for survival in the maintenance community,” said Col. Charles Westgate, 100th MXG commander. “These mobile stands are just one of the many examples of what our innovative maintainers are coming up with to ensure success of the wing’s mission.”

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IberSim Premieres in Madrid Europe has a new regional simulation and training event. On 27 and 28 October, IberSim 2009 was held in Madrid, Spain, at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos – a great venue for an inaugural event.

The S&T complex on the Iberian Peninsula is - even for insiders - a rather unknown quantity. While military and governmental users might very well live with such insularity, for the regional industry this is, in longterm, a competitive disadvantage.

No wonder that it was the majority industry representatives that promoted the IberSim group, the organisation behind the event. One goal of the IberSim training and simulation initiative, which is a non-profit organisation, is to show the world that training and simulation is continuing to develop in Spain and Portugal. “The main objective of IberSim is to develop collaboration between Iberian training and simulation players to share experience towards the eco-system,” explained Gaël Ramaen, from Antycip Simulation, on behalf of The IberSim Group. To that end, IberSim brought together industry experts to talk about projects and technologies available on the market, and invited companies to exhibit and showcase their latest innovations.

The conference covered topics that foster the role of Iberian actors; that depicted Iberian technologies, innovations and trends; and that showed M&S user applications, including case studies from air, sea and land. One keynote came from Dr Juan J. Ruiz Pérez, Spanish Navy, Head of the Modelling and Simulation Coordination Office (MSCO); another was held by Warren Katz, CEO and founder of VT MÄK, who spoke about major trends in M&S and C4I. Presenters represented system integration companies specialising in training and simulation, technology companies and institutions. Antycip Simulation, Indra, and Thales presented, as did the European Training Simulation Association (ETSA). Richard Curtis, Executive Director ETSA, depicted the role of and possibilities

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FIRST FRENCH ARMY SIMULATOR NETWORK Thales completed the first simulator network between the French Army simulation facilities in Le Luc (EALAT army aviation training centre) and Canjuers (1st armoured regiment).

Three exercises coordinated by Thales tied together the EDITH helicopter crew tactical trainer platform at Le Luc and the Leclerc main battle tank crew simulators at Canjuers and included a patrol of two Tiger helicopters and an armoured platoon of three Leclerc MBTs and three VBL light armoured vehicles. The event showed how remote simulation facilities can be coupled in a distributed multi-site network configuration to let different elements with different operational functions cooperate in a combined forces exercise.

VEGA SUPPORTING MARITIME COMPOSITE TRAINING SYSTEMS VEGA Consulting Services Limited won a £2m contract from the UK MOD to support the Maritime Composite Training Systems (MCTS) programme for the next five years. The MCTS programme delivers warfare operator career training for Royal Navy warships, provides generic and platform-specific training in a fully synthetic environment, and offers shore-based continuation training for platform warfare teams to participate in realistic synthetic exercises.

STOTTLER HENKE WINS $9M NAVY CONTRACT The U.S. Navy awarded Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. a $9 million contract to develop simulation software to train helicopter cockpit operations, which will help lower the Navy’s training costs and increase the availability of helicopter training. Because it is PC-based, crew members can run it on laptops to stay proficient while at sea or anywhere in the world.

OASIS FIRE TRAINER CONTRACT Oasis Advanced Engineering won a contract from PEO STRI to manufacture and field Conduct of Fire Trainer – Situational Awareness (COFT-SA) synthetic gunnery trainers.

The COFT-SA trainer duplicates the

performance of the M2/M3A2 ODS-SA Bradley Fighting Vehicle so the crew can operate a BFV entity in a synthetic environment. The devices will be used to train the Bradley Gunner and Commander in critical gunnery coordination skills required for direct fire engagements. The baseline contract of $10.5 million could reach $47 million if all the options are exercised.

MSC SOFTWARE IMPROVING HELICOPTER DESIGN AgustaWestland chose MSC.Software Computer Aided Engineering tools and simulation management technologies to power its “Advanced Simulation and Process management (ASaP)” project, an initiative to deliver optimally performing products faster while maintaining reliability and quality. The project cornerstone is the “Helicopter Portal,” a process management environment for simulation and Virtual Product Validation.

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BOEING WINS WEDGETAIL Boeing won a $600 million, five-year In-Service Support contract for Project Wedgetail, Australia’s 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) program from Australia’s Defence Materiel Organization.

Boeing will provide acquisition, program management, integration and engineering services; Boeing Defence Australia will support the program with engineering, maintenance and training services and supply chain management for the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) fleet of six Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft and ground segments. Northrop Grumman, as a subcontractor on the Boeing-led program, will support the aircraft’s Multirole Electronically Scanned Array radar.

L-3 LINK $11.2M NAVY AIRCREW TRAINING CONTRACT L-3 Link Simulation & Training won a one-year $11.2 million contract option to support the U.S. Navy’s E-6B Aircrew Training System (ATS), with annual options that could extend the contract through 2015. L-3 Link provides E-6B TACAMO pilots; navigators; and flight engineers with instructor-led computerbased simulator training, maintains legacy courseware, and operates and maintains all program training devices.

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Medical Technology, Training and Treatment (MT3) Conference Renaissance® Orlando Hotel at Seaworld® May 6-8, 2010

Exploring the Future of Medicine Day 1 - Cognitive Issues in Military and Civilian Healthcare • PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • TBI - Traumatic Brain Injuries Day 2 & 3 - Five Issues Facing Medical Technology, Training and Treatment • Simulation Based Systems for Medical Applications • Medical Curriculum and Simulation Standardization • Virtual Worlds and Human Coaching • Medical Devices and Simulation Technology • Live Tissue for Research, Education and Training New in 2010: CMEs - in partnership with the American College of Surgeons Returning in 2010: CEUs - offered by University of Central Florida

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world news & analysis

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for Spanish and Portuguese companies. A presentation by ITEC, given by Nina Bushell, Show Director ITEC, pointed out customised solutions for companies based in Spain and Portugal – Iberian companies have up until now been underrepresented at Europe’s premium S&T event.

The IberSim exhibition, which ran alongside the conference, displayed the latest products and innovations from Amper Programas, Antycip Simulation, Chemring Defence, Defensa.com, DI-GUY, DiSTI, Nextel Engineering, projectiondesign, Scalable Network Technologies, Thales, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and VT MÄK. Originally intended to bring together under one roof the Spanish and Portuguese training and simulation industry, the conference attracted some 200 experts from 12 countries. They all praised IberSim as a great networking event.

There are plans to run the event for longer than a day and a half next time, and to attract more users and representatives from the Ministry of Defence. The majority of those who attended this year’s event would also like to see more exhibitors at IberSim. The noticeable interest in IberSim shows that the role of Spain, Portugal and Latin America as regards simulation and training is increasing quickly across the S&T community. – Walter F. Ullrich IberSim 2009 Industrial Sponsors and Partners • Amper Programas, a joint venture between Amper (51%) and Thales (49%), specialises in communications focused in the defence market, with some activities in training simulators (SIACOM and SIMBAID).

• Antycip Simulation, a subsidiary of ST Electronics Pte Ltd., is a European leader in the distribution of virtual reality software tools and integration of innovative projection solutions.

• CHEMRING DEFENCE Germany GmbH provides battlefield simulation, minefield breaching systems, and illumination & signalling.

• DI-Guy is COTS software for adding life-like humans to realtime simulation. DI-Guy SDK allows realistic characters to be embedded in existing simulations.

• DiSTI is a global leader in the development of humanmachine interface software for businesses, governments and the military.

• Indra is a global company that has been providing its simulators to armed forces and commercial airlines around the world for over 20 years.

• Nextel Engineering is providing IT and engineering solutions in the civil, safety and defence sectors.

• projectiondesign designs, manufac¬tures and markets a range of high-performance projectors for pro¬fessional, business and consumer applications.

• Telvent offers maritime authorities and operators a set of solutions for global port management and a wide range of maritime and fishing simulators.

• Thales is a world leader in electronic-based systems for defence and civil markets. Thales Training &Simulation (TT&S) has been delivering training solutions for over 50 years.

• VT MÄK, a company of VT Systems, develops software to link, simu¬late and visualise the virtual world.

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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

AROTECH WINS $3M IN FEDERAL CONTRACTS Arotech Corporation’s Training and Simulation Division’s IES Interactive Training unit won more than $3M in federal contracts; the most significant was a $1.6M award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 55 Judgmental Shooting Simulation Trainers (JSST) systems and options for the purchase of an additional $2.9M worth of systems.

Aerotech’s other orders included 25 IES Firearms Diagnostic Units (FDU) to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 14 upgraded MILO Range Pro HD use-of-force simulators for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and multiple simulation training systems to a wide number of other prominent agencies.

INDRA SIMULATORS TRAIN SOLDIERS FOR PEACE MISSIONS Indra sold two simulators to the Spanish army that will be used to train the security corps and forces assigned to United Nations (UN) international peace keeping missions. The simulators virtually reproduce situations the forces could encounter and allow instructors to customize exercises to meet operation-specific requirements.

WATER BOMBER FLIGHT TRAINING Mechtronix Systems Inc. delivered its second Bombardier 415 Flight Training Device (FTD), developed in cooperation with Indra Sistemas, to Indra in Madrid. The Spanish Ministry of Defense will use the FTD to prepare pilots for its fleet of forest firefighter aircraft.

AERIAL TARGET MIRACH INTO SERVICE QinetiQ brought the Mirach advanced sub-sonic aerial target into service as part of its £308 million, 20-year Combined Aerial Target Service (CATS) contract for the UK’s armed forces. CATS meets all the UK MOD’s unmanned sub sonic aerial target requirements worldwide, including ground-based air defence (GBAD), aerial target services, and an air-to-air service. Mirach targets manufactured by SELEX Galileo were enhanced to offer a variety of sophisticated new payloads to meet MOD training requirements.

L-3 LINK $11.2M NAVY AIRCREW TRAINING CONTRACT L-3 Link Simulation & Training won a one-year $11.2 million contract option to support the U.S. Navy’s E-6B Aircrew Training System (ATS), with annual options that could extend the contract through 2015. L-3 Link provides E-6B TACAMO pilots; navigators; and flight engineers with instructor-led computer-based simulator training, maintains legacy courseware, and operates and maintains all program training devices.

SENSOR SIMULATION TransLucid, Inc. announced the successful integration of its Falcon sensor simulation into the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Environment (SE) Core Data Sets. Falcon was integrated into SE Core DVED’s common rendering and visualization application to demonstrate the sensor capability of the SE Core data sets for imaging sensor simulation (infrared, night-vision, etc.). Falcon performs the physics calculations, shader based rendering, and image post processing effects required to visualize the sensor data sets in real-time.

RAF BRIZE NORTON GROUND BREAKING RAF Brize Norton broke ground to begin construction of its synthetic and ground training facility for flight, ground engineering, and support personnel for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program that will replace VC-10s and TriStars with 14 Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

The new aircraft will be owned, supported and operated by AirTanker, who will provide all support services. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2011.

CAE WINS C$100 MILLION IN MILITARY CONTRACTS CAE won military contracts with the Netherlands, Germany, and other global defense forces worth more than C$100 million. Under the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) contract, CAE will expand CH-47 Chinook helicopter training at CAE’s Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility (MSHATF) in the UK. The second contract is with Germany’s procurement office for information technology and management and calls for CAE Gmbh to provide product enhancements to the CAE GESI command and staff training system for the German Army.

$6M AIR FORCE CONTRACT FOR CUBIC Cubic Defense Applications, Inc. won a $6 million contract to continue providing full services and support for air combat training systems at U.S. bases in the Asia-Pacific region under a contract option exercised by the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). The support includes more than 30 technicians who will perform training system mission planning, pod loading, maintenance and post-mission debriefing support.

ETC TO DELIVER ADMS SIMULATORS TO ROSENBAUER USA

PLEXSYS to Design NATO Mid Term E3A Mission Training Center

Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC) won a contract to deliver multiple ADMS Stinger High Reach Extendable Turret (HRET) training simulators to Rosenbauer USA. The devices will simulate Rosenbauer‘s HRET for Airport Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicles called Stinger, a vehicle-mounted penetrator nozzle on a joystick-controlled hydraulic boom arm that is used to penetrate the aircraft fuselage to apply agent to fires.

PLEXSYS Interface Products, Inc.® won a contract to design, develop, and deliver a NATO Mid Term E-3A Mission Training Center (MTC). The MTC will be a mission simulation facility emulating mission crew positions on board the NE-3A Early Warning and Control aircraft in Geilenkirchen, Germany. The Advanced Simulation Combat Operations Trainer (ASCOT) will be the entity generator for the MTC.

QinetiQ GETS £37M TYPHOON CONTRACT QinetiQ won a £37m, three-year contract from the MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support operation to continue supporting the Typhoon programme.

The agreement continues the Typhoon contract signed in 2006 covering release to service recommendations, crew protection and performance, mission system software support, technical and business support plus airworthiness and safety clearance.

XPI’s TEMPEST for DSALT XPI Simulation Ltd (XPI) won a contract from QinetiQ to supply a solution developed around its “Tempest” simulation graphics software as part of an upgrade to the MoD Distributed Synthetic Air Land Training (DSALT) facility at RAF Waddington. The DSALT facility is primarily used for pre-deployment training for HQ level fire planning cells and fire support teams who are going to the Afghanistan front line.

PC based image generators with XPI’s Tempest software will be integrated into the QinetiQ-run DSALT facility to deliver greater availability and system robustness.

WAR GAMING SUPPORT Cubic Defense Applications Inc. won a five-year, $6.5 million contract to research, design, execute and analyze a series of war games for the U.S. Naval War College. The college’s War Gaming Department conducts seminars, workshops, conferences and war games supporting the President of the Naval War College, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy fleet commands and other Department of Defense and inter-agency organizations.

PLEXSYS WINS AWACS CONTRACT PLEXSYS Interface Products, Inc.® won a $5.3 million, 55 month contract from QinetiQ to provide an AWACS E-3D simulator mission Crews. The win adds to PLEXSYS’s portfolio of Airborne Warning and Control System Mission Training Centers (AWACS MTC) around the world that allow the potential of advanced distributed simulation to complement live flying training.

PIXEL RESOLUTION REACHES NEW HIGH projectiondesign® introduced its F35 series DLP® projector, the first to feature Texas Instruments’® WQXGA DLP® chip that offers 2,560 x 1,600 pixel resolution.

WQXGA features 78% more pixels than WUXGA resolution (1,920 x 1,200), and offers more than five times the resolution of a standard XGA display.

The company also debuted its first image processing, geometry correction and blending engine, the MIPS WB2560.

Capable of processing display data at speeds of up to 6.25Gbps and performs full 2560x1600 pixel processing, the MIPS WB2560 completes color, blending, and geometry correction on a per-pixel basis.

CAE SIMULATION IN HEALTHCARE APPLICATIONS Titan Medical Inc. signed an agreement with CAE Healthcare for development services for Titan’s Amadeus® clinicalgrade robotic surgery platform that could be used to perform surgery at a distance and train surgeons via simulation. CAE Healthcare President, Guillaume Herve says the agreement marks a significant step for CAE Healthcare – applying its simulation and modeling expertise to help analyze, research, and develop the world’s next generation robotic surgery platform.

ELBIT ACQUIRES BVR SYSTEMS Elbit Systems Ltd. completed the acquisition of BVR Systems it announced this summer, acquiring BVR’s assets fir approximately $34 million. BVR Systems (1998) Ltd., in Rosh HaAyin, Israel, develops and produces training, simulation and debriefing systems for air, sea and ground forces.

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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world news & analysis

U.S. ARMY GETS DONATED C-17 FUSELAGE Boeing donated a C-17 Globemaster III fuselage to the U.S. Army that will be transformed into the Army’s newest air-load trainer, replacing the concrete platform and metal shell that previously stood in for an aircraft cargo bay during loadmaster training exercises.

The U.S. Air Force’s C-17 Program and Boeing transferred ownership of the fuselage to the Army during the relocation of the Army’s Transportation School from Fort Eustis, Va., to Fort Lee as part of the military’s Base Realignment and Closure initiative. Then Boeing transported the 170-foot-long fuselage from its facility in Long Beach to Seal Beach, Calif., first by tractor-trailer., and then by ship to Fort Lee, Va.

ERYX SYSTEM COMPLETES FIRST INTERNATIONAL EVALUATION The new, enhanced Eryx infantry shortrange fire support weapon developed

by MBDA successfully completed its initial international evaluation during a test firing campaign of eight shots, four of which were carried out at night. Eryx features NETS (New Eryx Training Simulator), a new generation technical training simulator that is based on a modified firing post and a PC serving to program ground engagement scenarios. MBDA is jointly held by BAE SYSTEMS, EADS, and FINMECCANICA.

MARTIN-BAKER PARTNERS WITH REISER SYSTEMTECHNIK Martin-Baker, manufacturer of ejection seats, and Reiser Systemtechnik, designer and manufacturer of mechanic and electronic components and systems for aerospace and automotive simulation and training, formed a partnership to offer advanced simulated seats of all MartinBaker products. Seats offered will range from low-spec up to high-spec seats with g-cueing capabilities.

NEW THALES FACILITY OPENS IN CRAWLEY Lord Mandelson, UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills officially opened Thales’ new facility in Crawley bringing together all the Thales businesses and 2,500 employees in the area on one 63,000 square-meter site.

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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

Left The donated C-17 fuselage being transported from California to Virginia.

Image credit: The Boeing Company.

customer in Asia to provide a full range of aircrew training and tactical flight simulation devices including ETC’s Authentic Tactical Flight Simulator-400 (ATFS-400) and the Gyrolab GL-4000 Spatial Disorientation Trainer. The contract calls for delivery of the devices starting in early 2012 and includes installation, training and maintenance support.

BOEING, NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OFFER MAINTENANCE TRAINING Almost 80 percent of the Crawley staff is employed in high-value, high-quality manufacturing activity, or on research and development work for future business.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the main customer for Thales’ Crawley activities and the new facility – a centre of excellence for defence in military flight simulation and training, force protection, avionics, communications and surveillance systems. After opening the new site, Lord Mandelson said, “The UK needs companies like Thales and the government is committed to creating the best possible business environment to support investment, skills and jobs.”

NASA UPGRADING NEURO-ENGINEERING LAB NASA chose Display Solutions, Inc. to upgrade the NASA Ames Research Neuro-Engineering Lab Visual System, a test and evaluation facility that supports the development, evaluation and demonstration of aircraft modeling, adaptive control and flight management technologies.

The visual system upgrade will be compatible with the existing rear-projection screen site infrastructure and support geometry correction, edge-blending, color correction, rapid re-configurability, and the Open Scene Graph API running on Linux legacy image generators.

The Boeing Company and World Class Aviation Academy (WCAA) of the Netherlands are teaming to provide military maintenance training on fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. The companies will develop courses meeting the needs of the aviation industry in the Netherlands and of the ROC West-Brabant, a regional training center under the Dutch Ministry of Education. The courses will train aircraft maintainers annually at a new WCAA maintenance training facility at Aviolanda in Hoogerheide in the Province of Noord-Brabant beginning the second quarter of 2010.

TWO TRAINERS FOR JAPAN Boeing delivered the first Apache Avionics Maintenance Trainer (AMT) to Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) for use in its Apache Maintenance Training System (MTS) at Japan’s Kasumigaura Air Base.

The AMT is the first Apache maintenance trainer built by Boeing that is able to simulate flight, so it can be used for operator-training missions such as taxi and flight checks.

Together with its development teammate, ACME Worldwide Enterprises, Boeing also delivered the first Remote Aerial Refueling Operator (RARO) Trainer to the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) in October. The RARO II trainer supports the Boeing KC767J Tanker aircraft.

ETC WINS $40M TRAINING SIMULATION DEVICES CONTRACT

MILITARY SKILLS TRAINING SIMULATOR ORDER

Environmental Tectonics Corporation’s (ETC) Training Services Group won a contract worth more than $40 million from a

VirTra Systems, Inc. received an order for a five screen, 300-degree IVR-300 4G military skills training simulator from

the 819th Global Support Squadron. The firearms training system includes recoil kits, M-4/M-16 tetherless recoil kits, a flashlight system, a shotgun insert, M9 tetherless recoil kits, Threat-Fire belts, heavy weapon kits for the M240 and M249 firearms and a full library of training scenarios.

Used to prepare U.S. Air Force personnel before overseas deployment, VirTra’s 300-degree training system can safely “shoot back” at the trainee via the Threat-Fire belt, which delivers a splitsecond electric stun, adding real-world pressure during a simulated exercise.

ness, key elements in the preparation for a large scale international event.

A team of 3D modelers, texture artists, and geographic information system (GIS) analysts built accurate and detailed models for the large and varied Vancouver landscape – including the tall, downtown Vancouver buildings within a dense, urban area and the seaside docking areas with giant cruise ships and container vessels and the Whistler ski resort models featuring intricate buildings and ski lifts.

NEW OFFICER SURVEILLANCE AND TRAINING COURSE

Boeing and its partner Bell Helicopter delivered two MV-22 Osprey Containerized Flight Training Devices (CFTD) to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar in California and got a contract from the U.S. Navy to upgrade the CV-22 Cabin Part Task Trainer (CPTT), a full-fuselage device used to train flight

The Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre (MMWC), a UK based, non-profit counterpiracy organisation, introduced a training course that allows private security personnel from a wide variety of backgrounds to apply their skills to counterpiracy aboard merchant vessels. The Surveillance and Training Officer (STO) course is a mix of simulator, on-water and classroom training.

NEW MILITARY DESKTOP TRAINING FROM CH PRODUCTS CH Products LLC introduced new High Fidelity Controllers for Military Desktop Simulation applications, including the A-10C HOTAS and Reaper GCS Console. Both high fidelity solutions feature driverless USB connectivity and awardwinning reliability.

CHRISTIE’S HUGE HD VIRTUAL REALITY CAVE Christie® designed and built one of the world’s largest HD virtual reality CAVE™ systems for the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM). The CAVE™ is fiberglass structure that delivers high-definition images on five integrated screens (or walls) using 16 Christie Mirage HD6 stereoscopic DLP® projectors that supply 32 million pixels of resolution.

OLYMPIC 3D DATABASE Since its selection by Digital Globe in 2009, AEgis Technologies has built a three dimensional (3-D) database for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics to support security and logistical agencies in operational planning and situational aware-

HELICOPTER TRAINING DEALS

engineers on the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.

The two trainers in California increase warfighter availability and allows the Marines to train more crew members at once. The CFTD trains aircrew on aircraft familiarization and handling qualities, systems/sub-systems operation, communication, malfunctions, day and night flying, use of night vision goggles, formation flying, aerial refueling and landing on ships The CV-22 Cabin Part Task Trainer (CPTT) modifications include an Aircrew Flight Simulation (AFS) that integrates real and virtual environments in an image processor which allows students to view the interior cabin environment and the simulated outside world in a composite picture sent to the student’s helmetmounted display. The upgrade will be delivered to Air Force Special Operations Command at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.

NATO Symposium Addresses Fight against Terrorism The 2009 symposium of the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG) addressed a key problem: irregular warfare. Ninety experts from NATO countries, Partners-for-Peace (PfP) nations, and invited nations met 15-16 October 2009 in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the “Use of M&S in Support to Operations, Irregular Warfare, Defence against Terrorism, and Coalition Tactical Force Integration”.

The NATO keynote presentation was RADM Christian Canova, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Future Capabilities, Research and Technology, Allied Command for Transformation (ACT), and focused on the use of M&S within NATO in general and within ACT in particular. The two host nation keynotes emphasised the use of M&S within the Armed Forces of Belgium and the use of new technologies.

Military tasks are changing. New tasks focus on reconstruction, crisis prevention, police tasks and many other efforts that are conducted in collaboration with or in support of civil agencies and organisations. The challenges of these tasks require a new view on M&S support, and a “whole of society” approach is needed which focuses on human, social, cultural and behavioural modelling. For a “whole world” approach that is no longer dominated by technical defence questions but includes all aspects of human, social, cultural, and behavioural (HSCB) models and methods, close collaboration between all panels is needed, in particular between MSG, the Systems, Analyses and Studies (SAS) and Human Factors and Medicine (HFM) panels.

The symposium gave an excellent overview of how much the NATO M&S Community has evolved in recent years and what new trends are starting to emerge. Using M&S in support to operations, irregular warfare, defence against terrorism and coalition tactical force integration is a complex endeavour, but the papers presented at this conference provided clear evidence that MSG experts are starting to work on solid foundations. What is needed is a clearer “landscape” of challenges that helps to place the different solutions into a context that makes it easier to learn from one another and to identify a common way forward. Knowledge management and transfer needs to be extended and is more important than ever before. This, however, is a task for the MSG, which is ultimately in charge of all technical activities and their results.

The next Modelling and Simulation Group Conference will be held from 16-17 Sept 2010 in Soesterberg, Netherlands. The topic will be “Blending LVC Simulation to Better Support Training and Experimentation”. – Walter F. Ullrich MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

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world news & analysis

INTEGRATED IMMERSIVE DISPLAY SYSTEMS 3D perception AS won a contract to provide two fully integrated simulation display systems to Environmental Tectonics Corporation’s (ETC) Polish subsidiary ETC-PZL Aerospace Industries Ltd. (“ETC-PZL”). One of the systems will support ETC-PZL’s contract with the Polish Government to develop and produce a high-level, motion-platform mounted simulator for bus and truck driver training being developed in conjunction with Warsaw Technical University. The device will simulate the experience of driving a bus or truck with multiple cab and trailer options and will help students improve their driving skills for almost every terrain and weather condition. 3D perception will provide the 180-degree field of view, immersive display system for the simulator.

agement (TLCSM) predictive modeling capabilities simulate weapon systems and produce such metrics as fleet availability, achieved operating hours, the number of maintenance actions and parts needed, and life-cycle costs.

ROCKWELL INTRODUCES EP-8000 IMAGE GENERATOR Rockwell Collins has introduced the EP™-8000 advanced image generator that features near eye-limited resolution; sub-meter out-the-window and sensor imagery; and real-world scene density and depth complexity, correlated lighting, atmospherics and special effects. It is the first image generator to apply software programmable technology to a visual solution, making it possible to add new features and performance enhancements to the system with simple software updates versus changing out graphics cards. ms&t

FORUM – M&S IN THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES The Centre for Studies and Conferences (SGW), an affiliate of the German Association for Defence Technology (DWT), is organising a symposium and exhibition on modelling and simulation (M&S) in the German Armed Forces 10 - 11 March in Bonn-Bad Godesberg City Hall.

The DTW, a non-profit organisation, is considered a neutral platform for open dialogue between the military and industry, as well as politics, science and research. Chaired by BG Erich Pfeffer of the MoD, and BG Klaus F. Veit from the Armed Forces Office for Information Management and Technology, the objective of the forum is to provide insight into current M&S status and future perspectives

Index of Ads Boeing www.boeing.com

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CAE www.cae.com

OBC

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Gametech www.teamorlando.org/gametech

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IQPC www.helicopter-conference.com

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ITEC 2010 www.itec.co.uk

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Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace

Alion Science and Technology won a $6.3 million task order to enhance tools for decision support for the Marine Corps Systems Command and implement Total Life Cycle Management (TLCM) associated programs.

The Alion-developed and hosted SOE Decision Support Tool gives the Marine Corps data on system performance and availability, process efficiency and life cycle costs for its critical ground equipment. Total Life Cycle Systems Man-

MT3

MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 1/2010

27-29 April 2010 WATS 2010 – World Aviation Training Conference & Tradeshow Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Orlando, Florida, USA www.halldale.com/WATS 14-15 September 2010 APATS 2010 - Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok, Thailand www.halldale.com/APATS 9-10 November 2010 EATS 2010 - European Airline Training Symposium Istanbul, Turkey www.halldale.com/EATS 10–11 March 2010 DWT - Modelling and Simulation Conference and Exhibition City Hall, Bonn – Bad Godesberg, Germany www.dwt-sgw.de

DWT-SGW

ALION $6.3M ORDER FOR DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS

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Calendar

www.kongsberg.com www.mt3.bz

Advertising contacts

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Business Manager: Jeremy Humphreys [t] +44 (0)1252 532009 [e] jeremy@halldale.com

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SAIC www.saic.com/ausawinter IBC WATS 2010 www.halldale.com/wats

14–18 June 2010 Eurosatory 2010 Paris, France www.eurosatory.com

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RUAG Electronics www.ruag.com

9-10 June 2010 Spring 2010 Flight Simulation Group Conference London, UK www.raes.org.uk

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RGB Spectrum www.rgb.com

18–20 May 2010 ITEC 2010 ExCel, London, UK www.itec.co.uk

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Business Manager, North America: Mary Bellini Brown [t] +1 703 421 3709 [e] mary@halldale.com

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is a leading developer of composable systems across the live, virtual and constructive domains. Our solutions and services are focused on preparing the Warfighter for mission success.

From OneSAF® to the Common Driver Trainer, from SE Core to our MILES and range instrumentation solutions, our live, virtual and constructive training and simulation products provide a complete range of capabilities to enable Warfighter readiness across the full spectrum of mission requirements.

Stop by the SAIC booth 2335 at AUSA’s ILW Winter Symposium and Exposition to see these composable solutions in action. To learn more, visit us at saic.com/ausawinter

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