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www.halldale.com THE INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE TRAINING JOURNAL
TRAINING TECHNOLOGY
Military Training Aircraft Review TRAINING TRANSFORMATION
US Army Aviation ACTT Program TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
Hampton Roads CONFERENCE REPORT
IITSEC 2005
ISSN 1471-1052
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US $14/£8
Issue 1/2006
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EDITORIAL COMMENT
EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Chris Lehman chris@halldale.com Managing Editor: Jeff Loube jeff@halldale.com Contributors Rick Adams - Technology Editor Walter F Ullrich - European Editor Tom Slear - US Military Affairs Chuck Weirauch - Training Procurement Fiona Stoddart - News Editor +44 (0)1252 532004 fiona@halldale.com ADVERTISING Sales Manager: Jeremy Humphreys +44 (0)1252 532009 jeremy@halldale.com Marketing Executive: Gabby McKeown +44 (0)1252 532008 gabby@halldale.com
Training and Education
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The I/ITSEC event, held every December in Orlando, Florida, is often seen as the “Mecca” of the military training and simulation world. While I am occasionally labelled – incorrectly I think – as a technocrat, my impressions this year were not overwhelmingly in the technical arena. I had the age-old dichotomy between “training” and “education” implanted firmly in my mind as a result of my few days at the event. A generally accepted and historical definition of “training” is that training seeks to impart a set of established facts and skills and, as a result, obtains a uniform predictable behaviour from trainees. This same definition does not normally include any need for trainees to understand why they should act in the prescribed manner. To a varying extent, such learning is often oriented towards conditioned reflex action within a time constraint. Education, on the other hand, seeks to stimulate the student in the learning of skills and to understand why actions are taken, or indeed, why not taken. It is assumed that a student who is “educated” has learned how to observe, analyse and question, can formulate hypotheses and arrive at conclusions, and then act according to these conclusions. Of course, education must also augment training – especially in the military context – and particularly in the acquisition of factual information. If training is built around the principles of rote memory, repetition and conditioning, then education is built on the organisation of knowledge, mastery of the detail and active analysis. At I/ITSEC many presentations stemmed from the accelerating ‘Training Transformation’ initiatives, and the associated winds of change that are reshaping much of America’s armed forces. Some discussion was focussed on the need for optimizing the education of the officer corps, particularly the need for second language skills, cultural awareness and sensitivity, media skills, even political acumen. With asymmetric warfare and the “three block war” becoming the norm, deployments in culturally unfamiliar lands, as well as high levels of media and political scrutiny throughout any deployment, it is clear that today’s military leaders need to not only have the best multi-disciplinary education possible, they need to be “life-long learners.” In fact, many military educational institutions have fashioned themselves well beyond the kind of cadet undergraduate schools that Hollywood is fond of profiling, and have comprehensive post graduate programs in a variety of disciplines, many of which are prerequisites for higher rank. The days when some military cultures frowned on higher education because it was seen as less relevant than direct tactical training “with the troops,” clearly are over. Does that mean that continued officer education need be at the expense of the direct warfighting skills needed to lead and win the battle? Of course not, but the nature of current operations does mean that more than ever before we will be relying on the intellectual ability of individuals at a relatively junior level to ensure a desirable outcome. The promotion of “critical thinking” in the military context is a direct example of the kind of intellectual initiative that will harvest dividends for the deployed military leadership. Out on the I/ITSEC exhibition floor, I found it interesting to observe what various manufacturers chose to exhibit. A renewed focus on the direct needs of the soldier on the ground was evident, with less emphasis on capital-intensive simulation mega-projects with their multi-year development timeframes. Whether it was a PC-based Arabic language and cultural trainer, or the many inexpensive convoy simulators and devices with commercial gaming engines, the thrust was the optimization of available technology to give the soldier on the ground what he needs to win in an asymmetric environment. Never before has the balance between military education and training been more subject to the immediate operational and tactical reality. Continuing to fine tune the balance demands our utmost attention.
Circulation audited by:
Chris Lehman MS&T Editor-in-Chief chris@halldale.com MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006 3
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CONTENTS
COVER CREDIT USAF / JEFFREY ALLEN
3:02 PM
3 EDITORIAL COMMENT Education and the Changing Times. Editor-in-Chief Chris Lehman notes that training is not enough – education is essential in changing times.
6 TRAINING TECHNOLOGY
6 TRAINING TECHNOLOGY Military Training Aircraft – Turboprop Review. In the first of a two part series, Ian Strachan overviews the world supply of turboprop training aircraft and discusses characteristics which differentiate the types and their utility in primary military flight training.
12 TRAINING TRANSFORMATION US Army Aviation Trainer Interoperability Challenges. MS&T’s Chuck Weirauch describes the Air Combat Tactical Trainers (ACTT) approach to meeting interoperability challenges and identifies major issues.
12 TRAINING TRANSFORMATION
16 PROCUREMENT PFI Apache Training in the British Army. Aviation Training International Limited is providing Apache training to the British Army under a long term PFI arrangement. Ian Strachan reviews the programme.
20 TECHNOLOGY CENTRE Hampton Roads. MS&T’s Tom Slear visits the Hampton Roads region during a three day media tour sponsored by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).
24 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION e-Learning and the Defence Academy. The UK Defence Academy is easing itself into the world of e-learning for a variety of training applications. Martin Mackain-Bremner and Dr. Bernard Scott describe current initiatives.
27 CONFERENCE REPORT
16 PROCUREMENT
NMSG 7th Symposium. The symposium focussed on ways to demonstrate M&S cost effectiveness. Walter F. Ullrich reports on the October conference.
28 TRAINING TECHNOLOGY A Simulator of a Different Sort. JAKUB KOLOSEUM provides a low tech, low cost, helicopter simulation delivering high tech results. Michal Zdobinsky describes this unusual training rig.
32 SHOW PREVIEW ITEC 2006. Walter F Ullrich previews Europe’s only dedicated conference and exhibition for defence training, simulation and education.
34 SHOW REPORT I/ITSEC2005. MS&T’s senior editorial staff report from I/ITSEC 2005 in Orlando, Florida. 28 TRAINING TECHNOLOGY
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37 ACQUISITION NEWS Contract News and Opportunities. In this issue MS&T highlights the award of a large scale nautical simulator to Transas by the German Navy.
38 NEWS Seen & Heard. A round-up of developments in simulation and training. Edited by Fiona Stoddart. MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006 5
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Military Training Aircraft
Turboprops This is the first of two articles scanning the military training aircraft scene. The focus of these articles is on aircraft for training new military pilots to the standard at which they can go to an Operational Training Unit or Operational Conversion Unit (OCU). In this issue Ian Strachan overviews turboprop training aircraft. A survey of jet trainers will follow in MS&T Issue 2.
The Pilatus PC-21 - a developement of the PC-9 - first flew in July 2002. Image credit: Pilatus 6
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hen I was an instructor in the Royal Air Force, on "Black Flag" days (bad weather, no flying), we used to argue about the characteristics of the ideal training aircraft. At the time, we were flying the Jet Provost (JP) aircraft. The Mark 4 JP had a maximum speed at low level of about 300 knots (556 kph) and could climb to 35,000 ft (10,670 metres) where we would demonstrate transonic effects on aircraft handling. Endurance was over two hours at altitude. We took student pilots through general handling, first jet solo, stalling and spinning, navigation at high and low levels, aerobatics, formation flying, and various levels of Instrument Ratings. A pretty good basic training aircraft, you might say. And yet, my own view is that the Jet Provost was not a particularly good training aircraft for the basic stage. Why? I thought that the "JP" was too easy to fly, at least on pre-solo exercises. We were always able to send solo even the least promising student (on a good day for him, with the wind down the runway). And once solo, we were committed to more flying with him (they were all male in those days). This was a problem, because experienced instructors who assessed a particular student as not having the qualities required for a front-line military pilot, were unable to fail him on the course, maybe until he came up to pre-graduation check rides and sometimes not even then. I recall a student who took 28 flying hours to solo, but it was done because we kept on being told by "higher authority" to persist with his training. The average to solo in the JP was about 12 hours, and the "28 hour man" later rightly failed the course and did not graduate. This illustrates one desirable characteristic of an aircraft for the basic stage of flying training. It must be easy to fly safely (to avoid accidents), but should not be easy to fly well (to enable students to be easily assessed for ability and potential). Costs are important. Operating a jet for basic training is always going to be expensive. A jet is justifiable for pre-OCU work, depending on the type of front-line aircraft for which the training is designed. However, for basic training a cheaper aircraft is clearly required. The most important cost figure is the Through Life Cost (TLC) of the aircraft programme. This is sometimes also called "Life Cycle Cost" or LCC. In addition to the TLC for the aircraft this should include necessary ancillaries such as maintenance and logistic support costs and training aids such as simulators and rigs; maybe also airfield facilities unless these are assessed as a constant factor in any training programme. Downloading of training can reduce LCC. Since cost increases progressively from basic to advanced and then to OCU training, any exercises that can be "shed down" to an earlier phase will be a cost saving within the overall training system. This is sometimes called "downloading" of training. It not only applies from one aircraft type to another but also from aircraft to simulation devices because the latter are always much cheaper to operate than anything but the most basic types of aircraft. Downloading is particularly important at the advanced trainer and OCU stage because these are the more expensive phases. Aircraft hours at the OCU on the front-line aircraft and hours on front-line squadrons will cost a similar amount. If techniques and systems can be taught at the advanced training stage rather than at the OCU (or transferred to simulators), a large overall saving will be made. It is generally worthwhile incorporating some operational systems into the advanced training aircraft in order to achieve this and also using modern simulation technology at all stages from basic to advanced training, OCU and front-line squadron. Furthermore, if aircraft flying hours can be reduced, the life of the aircraft fleet can be extended. That can be a massive saving in the long term since fleet replacement is not only very costly but is almost always politically sensitive, increasing with the complexity and capability of the aircraft involved.
W
Above 130 Shorts Tucano T Mark 1 aircraft were built for the Royal Air Force. Image credit: Crown Copyright
Turboprop Training Aircraft Turboprops have the potential to train pilots in basic flying techniques right up to early weapon work before jet conversion. The ideal turboprop training aircraft is one that is safe for relatively inexperienced students to fly solo. This includes in clear air and in cloud, in turbulence and in smooth air, in good and bad weather, at low level and
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at altitude. The aircraft must react safely to typical student mistakes such as flying slightly out-of-trim or flying with less than perfect accuracy - such as on the downwind leg in the circuit, in the critical "final turn" before landing, night flying or flying at low level. Also when making predictable gross errors such as in aerobatics, in which students can do the most amazing things! In such an aircraft, natural aerodynamic stability and ease of trimming are requirements rather than, say, having a training aircraft that flies like a neutrally stable fighter and is therefore difficult for student pilots to fly. When I was flying and assessing turboprop training aircraft, I remember one type that was favoured by senior officers who flew it, because "it flew like a Spitfire" (not that these people had flown one, but it is easy to realise what they meant). Indeed, the flight envelope of some turboprop trainers is similar to that of the historic "Spit". The turboprop in question was also said to be "ideal for the Wright Jubilee trophy", the annual award for aerobatics flown by the flying instructors. These thoughts showed a cavalier attitude to the essential characteristics of a training aircraft for the basic stage of training. The priority in choosing the characteristics of any training aircraft is always how students will fly it, not how instructors and senior officers will enjoy flying it. The latter is important for instructor motivation, but teaching the student is the primary aim. Although this is perhaps obvious, it is often forgotten because the pilots who assess training aircraft before purchase will naturally be very experienced. It is difficult for an experienced pilot to put himself back "in the shoes" of an inexperienced student unless he is a current instructor with a real feeling for the failings of student pilots. It is the difference between
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an instructor with both experience in the role and a mature attitude to instruction, and one merely with "hours on type". Or the senior officer who likes "flinging the aircraft round the sky", which is undoubtedly a relief compared to his usual deskwork!
The Aircraft There are many aircraft types available for the diminishing size of the world defence market, perhaps too many. Many have only achieved small production runs and have yet to achieve economies of scale. Aircraft listed below have tandem seating, a straight wing and a light weapons capability unless stated otherwise. Some but not all have ejection seats. Maximum speeds given below are in terms of True Air Speed (TAS) and Maximum Take-Off Weights (MTOW) are quoted. Mach effects are not generally significant and limiting Mach numbers are not quoted for these turboprops.
Brazil Embraer Tucano (Toucan). This has a Pratt and Whitney (Canada) (PWC) PT6A-25C engine giving 750hp. The original version first flew in 1980, had an MTOW of about 3200lb and a maximum speed of about 245 knots at 10,000 ft. In later versions, MTOW has risen to about 5600lb clean and 7000lb with stores on four hard points. Martin Baker ejection seats are fitted. Some 350 Tucanos have been built, about 125 for Brazil, 130 for Egypt, 80 for France and 14 for Columbia. Shorts built 160 of a more powerful version in the UK, see later under UK. Super Tucano. This has a PWC PT6A-65 engine of 1500hp and the fuselage
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Flight) has a 960hp PTC PT-66A-62 turboprop engine. First flight was in 1995. MTOW is about 7300lb with stores on four hard points. Maximum level speed is about 280 knots at 15,000 ft. 105 aircraft were produced for Korea and seven for Indonesia with an option for a further 15.
Poland PZL-130T Turbo Orlik. This is a development of the piston Orlik and has either a Motorlet M610E engine giving 750hp or a PWC PT6A-62 with 950hp. A basic version has a 550hp engine and no ejection seats. First flight was in 1986. MTOW is up to 5950lb and maximum level speed about 300 knots at 20,000ft. Ejection seats can be fitted and seat designs from Poland, UK (Martin Baker) and USA (Minipac) are available.
Switzerland
Above The Embraer-built Super Tucano Image credit: Embraer
is lengthened. First flight was in September 1991. MTOW is about 7100lb and maximum speed is increased to 310 knots at 20,000 ft. This was the Embraer entry in the USAF/USN Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) that was won by the Beech Texan/Harvard II, a version of the Pilatus PC-9 (see below under USA).
Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer. This has a 650hp PWC PT6A-25A engine and first flew in August 1978. MTOW is 5950lb and maximum speed 270 knots at sea level. When I first saw the PC-7 displayed at the Farnborough Air Show, I thought that it would make a better trainer than the Jet Provost on which I had instructed. This seems to have been right, because over 500 are in service in 20 countries and the type is still available. Pilatus PC-9. This was developed from the PC-7, has a PWC PT6A-65 turboprop engine of up to 1150hp and two Martin Baker ejection seats. The PC-9 first flew in 1984 and over 270 have been sold, including 67 to Australia, 50 to Saudi Arabia, 36 to Thailand, 20 to Iraq, 17 to Croatia, 14 to Switzerland, 12 to Oman, 10 to Myanmar (Burma) and also to six other
Chile Enaer Turbo Pill獺n. This has a Rolls-Royce/Allison 250 engine giving 420hp and first flew in February 1986. It has broken a number of speed records for its class and has been described as "a more economical Tucano". MTOW is about 3000lb and maximum speed 230 knots at sea level Build numbers have not been revealed but are understood to be low.
Finland Valmet L-60TP RediGO. See now under Italy, Aermacchi.
Italy Aermacchi M-290 RediGO. Originally manufactured by Valmet in Finland, this has an RR/Allison 250-B17F engine rated at 450hp and first flight was in 1986. Some 40 are understood to have been built. MTOW is about 3000lb clean and 4200 with armament. Maximum speed is quoted as 290 knots at 10,000ft. Aermacchi SF-260TP. Originally manufactured under the Siai-Marchetti name, this is a turboprop development of a piston trainer. It has a 350hp RR/Allison 250-B17D turboprop engine and first flew in 1980. MTOW is about 2870lb and maximum speed 230 knots at 10,000ft. Some 60 have been built and are in service in Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the UAE (Dubai).
Japan Fuji T-5 and T-7. Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha makes the T-5 trainer with an RR/Allison 250-B17D engine delivering 350hp. The T-7 has 450hp. First flight of the T-5 was in June1984. MTOW is about 3980lb and maximum speeds 195 knots at 10,000 ft for the T-5 and 205 knots for the T-7. Some 50 of these types have been built for the Japan Defence Force.
Korea (South) KAI KT-1. The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KT-1 Woong-Bee (Great MS&T MAGAZINE 覺 ISSUE 1/2006
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countries. Six hard points are fitted; MTOW is up to 7100lb and maximum level speed 320 knots at 10,000 ft. Pilatus PC-21. This is a development of the PC-9 and has a PWC PT6-68B engine with 1600hp. First flight was in July 2002; MTOW is up to 9300lb and maximum level speed 340 knots at 10,000 ft.
UK Shorts S312 Tucano. This is a UK-designed and built version of the Embraer Tucano (see above under Brazil) and has a more powerful Garrett TPE331 turboprop engine of 1100hp. First flight was in July 1986 and 130 were built for the UK Royal Air Force under the name Tucano T Mark 1, 18 for Kuwait and 12 for Kenya. MTOW is about 6500lb and 7900lb with weapons on four hard points. Maximum level speed is about 280 knots at 10,000ft. In 2005, Shorts offered an updated version for sale with more power, more speed and digital avionics.
USA Beech Texan/Harvard II. This is based on the Pilatus PC-9 (see above under Switzerland) and is manufactured by the Beech division of Raytheon. It has a PWC PT6A-68 turboprop delivering up to 1700hp. Its selection for the USAF/USN Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) was announced in June 1995 and this guaranteed a large production run. Some 410 aircraft have now been built, mainly for the USA but 24 are operated in Canada in the NATO Flying Training programme and 40 in Greece. Six hard points can be fitted, MTOW is about 6500lb and maximum level speed is about 315 knots at 10,000 ft.
Above Over 400 Texan II aircraft are in service as the primary trainer for USAF pilots. Image credit: USAF/Jeffrey Allen
About the Author Ian Strachan holds an A1 Instructional Category from the UK RAF Central Flying School, the world-famous "CFS", first formed in 1916. He is also a Qualified Test Pilot (ETPS Graduate) and has over 100 different types of aircraft in his flying logbook including many modern training aircraft such as the PC-9, Tucano and Hawk.
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PC-21
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Keeping Up Has Its Challenges Interoperability in combat: interoperability in training. Chuck Weirauch looks at how PM ACTT is providing a training capability that reflects the changing nature of air-ground operations.
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n the west side of the exhibit floor at the 2005 Interservice/ Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC), the US Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) demonstrated how it is meeting one of the key challenges of the service’s goals for training transformation. That challenge? Achieve interoperability between air and ground training systems in order to provide a realistic combined operations training environment. This interoperability challenge is of particular concern in that most operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are of a combined air and ground nature. Consequently, PM Air Combat Tactical Trainers (ACTT), a part of PEO STRI’s Program Manager for Combined Arms Tactical Trainers (PM CATT) is focused on providing the Army with a training capability that accurately reflects the new nature of air-ground operations.
O
Air and ground interoperability One of the aviation flight training devices that PM ACTT has responsibility for is the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT), the system that provided the air element of the I/ITSEC demonstration. The AVCATT provides reconfigurable manned training modules for the AH-64A Apache, AH-64D Longbow, CH-47D Chinook, OH-58D Kiowa and UH-60A/L Black Hawk helicopters. Also included in the demonstration linkup were both versions of the Army’s Virtual Combat Convoy Trainer (VCCT), the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) and the Call for Fire Trainer (CFFT) - all managed by PM CATT. According to ACTT Product Manager Lt. Col. Wil Riggins, the interoperable AVCATT, VCCT, CCTT and CFFT linkup demonstrated a significant training capability for the Army and left behind a combined arms virtual training capability. In order to achieve interoperability for the demonstration, some software modifications had to be made to each of the training systems so that they could work together. However, for the first time in such an I/ITSEC demonstration, these modifications will remain in the various systems to facilitate future interoperable training exercises and were not just put together for show. Although the software modifications allow the systems to share data, and more of them will be linked together in the future, such modifications are only a stopgap measure, Riggins pointed out. “This is a challenge, because we are dealing with different architectures,” Riggins said. “These devices are not inherently interoperable with each other. What we are trying to do is get to a point where our devices by definition are inherently interoperable.” The next step is to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into the mix. Riggins’ organization has already started communications with the Army program manager for UAVs to add those simulators to the AVCATT combined arms training capability. “That’s where we are going near term, since UAVs and armored vehicles are being used extensively in theater,” Riggins said. “Since UAVs are a huge component of the fight over there, we will have a gap in our combined training capability until we add them.”
Common Databases To achieve interoperability, users of training systems must be looking at the “same piece of digital dirt,” Riggins emphasized. He was referring to the concept that terrain and semi-automated forces (SAF) databases must be space and time coherent. The Army and PEO STRI are working with contractors to further develop and integrate the Synthetic Environment (SE) Core and One SemiAutomated Forces (OneSAF) Objective System (OOS) initiatives. The SE Core is the Army's Common Virtual Environment (CVE) effort to link simulations into a fully integrated virtual simulation architecture. The OOS is in essence
Above AVCATT - a computer illustration. Image credit: Link Simulation & Training Opposite AVCATT UH60. Image credit: Link Simulation & Training
an advanced war game that employs standardized visual and behavioral models to generate friendly and enemy computer-generated forces (CGF) in a simulated environment. Riggins considers SAF and environmental databases, as well as visual system architecture, to be the “long poles in the tent” when it comes to the challenge of getting simulators to interoperate, particularly in simulated combined air and ground operations training. Since separate air and ground simulators are developed with different users in mind, they often do not share the same perspective, with less terrain detail in the flight simulator, for example. He considers the answer to this challenge is environmental databases with more detailed terrain, which in turn calls for higher resolution and fidelity provided by the visual systems employed in the training devices. The widespread adoption of the OOS and SE Core products could help solve interoperability problems not only for Army combined operations training but also for joint forces training as well, said ACTT Deputy Product Manager Jeff Browning. He pointed out that his organization’s AH-64-A Combat Mission Simulator (CMS) program is currently participating on joint training exercises with the Air Force through that service’s Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON) training network. Although the ACTT organization advocates the development of training devices that specify SE Core and OOS capability and advises customers MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006
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of their benefits, it cannot mandate requirements that call for their use in all virtual systems at the present time. However, contractors are being put on notice that PEO STRI will be requiring the integration of OOS and SE Core into its training devices to help the Army solve its interoperability problems, Browning stated. “Part of our value added is that we coach and mentor our clients and customers,” he added. “It’s up to us to inform them about SE Core and OneSAF as being the best approaches for designing, developing and sustaining interoperable training solutions.”
Upgrade activity In order to resolve the resolution and fidelity issues with the AVCATT system, PEO STRI is beginning initiatives to upgrade both the visual display systems and image generators for that trainer. The AVCATT is produced for the Army by L3 Link Simulation & Training, who will be responsible for the upgrades. Work has begun on the visual display systems, and includes an image generation upgrade scheduled to begin in 2006 and higher fidelity Helmet-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Improved visuals for the AVCATT are important not only from an interoperability standpoint, but also to meet the requirements to train in the complex combat operation of high-speed helicopters. The upgrades are also necessary to ensure that the training system can accurately replicate the new digital avionics systems that are increasingly found in new and updated Army helicopters. The Army is planning to incorporate digitized avionics systems to replace analog systems throughout its helicopter and fixed-wing fleet in the near future. These aircraft will be equipped with the Rockwell Collins International Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS). The problem with the current AVCATT visual display system is that it does not have the resolution to display the highly detailed information on the types of advanced digital displays featured in the CAAS glass cockpit, Riggins said. The need to improve the trainer’s fidelity will increase with time as more Army helicopters become equipped with the CAAS system. He pointed out this will happen within the next five years, as the number of helicopters with glass cockpits changes from 20 percent of the fleet to 80 percent. First up for the upgrades are the MH-47G Chinooks, MH-60M Black Hawks and MH/AH-6M Little Birds of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). “We are upgrading the AVCATT visual capabilities so that we can keep up with where the Army is going in terms of cockpit configurations,” Riggins said. “Having the most up-to-date, mature technology in terms of the AVCATT visual systems. Both displays and image generator, enables us to do that.”
ACTT responsibilities In addition to the AVCATT, the ACTT organization is responsible for the development, procurement and total life cycle management of the bulk of the regular Army and Army National Guard helicopter flight simulators, as well as providing support for Army fixed wing and maritime programs. Currently, modernization and upgrade efforts are making up the bulk of this work. Current efforts include the procurement and installation of additional Black Hawk flight simulators, upgrades to the AH-64A Apache Combat Mission Simulator (CMS), the modernization of existing UH-60A/L Back Hawk and CH-47D Chinook flight simulators and the definition of training requirements for the Army’s new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) and Future Cargo Aircraft (FCA). Also being considered for funding by the Department of the Army is the refit of Army National Guard helicopter hydraulic motion systems simulators with electric motion systems. 14
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While it is important to develop requirements to provide the latest upgrades for training devices and procure the means for their installation and support, it is also vital to make sure that every available similar device remains current and receives the same new hardware and software functionality of operational aircraft in the army’s fleet. This is so wherever a pilot goes for training, there is a consistency in training device capabilities that matches the operational equipment in the field. For example, PEO STRI awarded the $1.1 billion Flight School XXI simulation services contract to Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) in late 2003 to provide, manage, operate, maintain and upgrade an eventual total of 57 helicopter flight simulators at the Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Included in the total are 18 reconfigurable cockpits based on the AVCATT hardware and software architectures. Along with providing advanced, additional simulator capability to enhance training, the contract includes a concurrency provision to facilitate keeping the FS XXI simulators current with operational aircraft. Although PEO STRI’s Program Manager for Field Operations & Support organization has direct responsibility for the Flight School XXI contract and not PM ACTT, the two organizations work very closely together to ensure that all relevant latest concurrency upgrades can be leveraged across the entire PEO STRI aviation product line, Browning said. The intent of this synergy is to provide a consistent training capability to the same standards so that pilots can train on FS XXI devices and get the same level of training anywhere they go after going through the program at Fort Rucker, he explained. The PM ACCT and the FS XII teams are keeping close tabs on any changes to their respective training devices so that a concurrency synchronization matrix can be established, he added.
Gaming technology Along with the aviation training element of PM ACTT’s responsibilities, the organization also works to develop training solutions on the command and control side. The most recent efforts in this area have made use of gaming technology. The organization recently teamed with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Army’s 10th Mountain Division to provide site licenses and systems for the use of the DARWARS Ambush! PC-based convoy trainer. Gaming Ambush! teaches convoy commanders key strategies that include coordinating combined air and ground operations. Other gaming partners advancing game-based technology are the Army’s Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Simulation Technology Center to, working on developing a massively multiplayer capability, Riggins said. “The emphasis on games right now is to focus on quickly being able to inject lessons learned from the contemporary operational environment in theater, or what’s happening in the fight over there right now, into training,” Riggins added. “This is a way to bring that back and integrate it into a game scenario and the let soldiers who are getting ready to deploy train on that.” The need for such up-to-date training and the means to facilitate it has increased dramatically as insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan shift their tactics and procedures. Gaming technology is important to meet this need, since new gaming scenarios can be quickly added to PC-based training programs, Riggins explained. “Soldiers on rotation report that they are seeing a different enemy and different tactics, techniques and procedures being employed by the enemy than the last time they were there,” Riggins said. “Using gaming technology is a good way for them to get smart about different ways the enemy is fighting before they go back into the field.”
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Apache Attack Helicopter Training in the British Army The PFI arrangement for training services was awarded in 1998. Ian Strachan brings us up to date.
The British Army has ordered 67 WAH-64D Apache helicopters. Image credit: AgustaWestland 16
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he order for 67 WAH-64D Boeing Apache aircraft for the British Army was announced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in July 1995. The D model has the Longbow radar and Hellfire missile fit and the British version has two 2100 shp RollsRoyce/Turbomeca RTM-322 turbine engines instead of the two1900 shp GE T-700 fitted to other models. Manufacture is at the Westland factory at Yeovil some 180 km west of London under the UK name Apache AH Mark 1.
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The ATIL company Aviation Training International Limited (ATIL) - a joint venture company of Westland Helicopters Limited and The Boeing Company - was selected in 1998 to provide training services to support the British Army's Apache training. The contract with the MoD, let under the Private Finance Initiative ( PFI ), is for 20 years with provision for an extension to 30 years. Following contract award, ATIL built training centres at four military bases. ATIL HQ is at Sherborne, near the Westland HQ at Yeovil. The company has about 120 employees. Finance for the training centres, training aids and personnel was provided by owners Boeing and Westland, and by no less than 12 banks from several countries that are still involved in the enterprise today. The involvement of banks in providing finance for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects is expected. For instance, at a recent conference in London on defence PFI matters, it was revealed that 14 banks were involved in finance for the Thales PFI-based contract with the MoD to operate and maintain the simulators at 13 bases and military airfields. The Thales contract, signed in February 2004, involves 22 existing flight simulators and 59 other training devices covering 11 aircraft types.
company profits. The "other side of the coin" is that private companies do not have the overheads of a military organisation. They may be able to operate using less staff numbers and at non-military pay rates because contractor's personnel have no obligation to deploy to conflict areas, to carry weapons and to fight. So it all depends on the contract and on the company concerned.
Training Service Elements ATIL provides some 23 Training Service Elements (TSE) that are delivered to UK Army Aviation (AAvn) for pilot and maintenance training. The pass rate on ATIL training courses is said to be 100% because remedial packages are provided as part of the contract. Courseware used by ATIL is mainly supplied as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) as part of the aircraft contract and is mainly from Boeing with some developed by ATIL.
PFI advantages
Deployments and Locations
A significant point for government financial planning is that the immediate direct costs incurred by ATIL are "off the balance sheet", that is, not included in the official finances of the MoD. Payment from the MoD to ATIL is on the basis of time on each training device and this is on the MoD balance sheet. This shows the advantage of PFI programmes to any government. That is, the initial peak spending on buildings and equipment is by the contractor, not by the government, which has a levelled spend profile based on services provided by the contractor. However, over the whole period of a PFI programme, the government may spend more than in conventional procurement because the costs of the PFI contractor have to be paid for, also bank interest on borrowings and finally,
Each of the four ATIL training centres has a Local Area Network (LAN). All are connected by a high-capacity Wide Area Network (WAN), which it is intended to expand to other training and operational areas in the Army and Air Force for integrated training and war gaming. Amongst others, connections are planned to the Army's Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (UK CATT) at Warminster with its 98 simulation devices under one roof, and to CAE's PFI-based Support Helicopter simulation facility at Benson, near Oxford, with its sophisticated Tactical Control Centre (TCC) for tactical exercises and war gaming. The centres: • Middle Wallop airfield, north east of Salisbury, about 110 km south west of London: This is the HQ of British Army Aviation and is its training
Above ATIL CBT Classroom. Image credit: ATIL
airfield. The ATIL Training Centre for Apache conversion is located here with its trainers and Full Mission Simulator; • Dishforth airfield, east of Ripon, about 310 km north of London: Here, the ATIL Training Centre includes one Field Deployable Simulator (FDS) and trains 9 Regiment Army Aviation which has obtained Combat Ready status; • Wattisham airfield, north west of Ipswich, about 120 km northeast of London: The ATIL Training Centre here includes two FDS and trains 3 Regiment Army Aviation which is currently working up with 4 Regiment to come later. • Arborfield, south of Reading, about 60 km west of London: This is not an airfield but is a British Army base specialising in technical training. It is the main base for ATIL training of Apache maintenance staff of the British Army’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).
Part-Task Trainers Part-Task Trainers (PTTs) for cockpit procedures and switching were obtained from Boeing and are described as Multi Purpose Display Trainers (MPDT). They cover both the gunner and pilot cockpits in an open-plan layout with both cockpits side-by-side in one room and with two large screens in between. The system is PC based and runs the aircraft Operational Flight Program (OFP). The complex Multi-Purpose Displays (MPDs) in both cockpits are included, as are the stick-tops (control columns/hand grips). The case for such a trainer is evident: 54 switches and buttons are said to be on the sticktops and the consequences of mis-switching in an armed aircraft in flight are obvious. Pilots MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006
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progress directly from PTTs to the Full Mission Simulator (FMS).
Full Mission Simulator The Full Mission Simulator (FMS) is at Middle Wallop, the HQ of British Army Aviation and its main training base. The FMS has separate modules for the front and rear cockpits, a configuration similar to the US Army Apache Combat Mission Simulators (CMS) that were produced by Link Simulation. In the ATIL design, each cockpit has an electrically driven 6-Degree of Freedom (DoF) hexapod motion platform by the FCS company of the Netherlands. Visual display for the FMS uses the Evans and Sutherland (E&S) VistaView system. This has two visual channels consisting of a background channel and a higher resolution channel with 40 x 60 degree cover, projected on the inside of a dome. The ATIL system uses a 17 ft diameter dome. Image Generation is by the high-resolution E&S Harmony system with databases for southern UK, Desert, European wooded and Arctic. The mission simulator is reported to train for about 3,600 hours per year. This translates to 15 hrs/day for 240 days per year. FMS sorties start
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at 07:00 hours and are generally for two hours "in the box". These are preceded by two hours of preparation and followed by a one hour debrief. Debrief uses the CAE Interactive Tactical Environment Management System (ITEMSTM) system to present different eye-points.
Field Deployable Simulators Field-Deployable Simulators (FDS) are installed at the UK Apache squadron bases of Dishforth and Wattisham. The deployable requirement came out of the first Gulf War (repelling the invasion of Kuwait), where the US Army tried to deploy an Apache Combat Mission Simulator intheatre, but without much success because the design was not made with deployment in mind. After this, a number of mobile and deployable training aids have been developed for the armies of the world. These are mounted either in large commercial designs of road-worthy trailers pulled by prime movers, or systems based on standard containers that can be transported by road and air. The ATIL design of FDS uses five containers for all of its equipment which not only includes the simulator but also brief/debrief facilities, Instructor Operating Station (IOS),
Wide-Area Network (WAN) connections and so forth. Movement times built in to the contract include a maximum of 12 hours to load and 12 hours to set up again at the new site. In a recent exercise a set-up was achieved within 7 hours. Part of the simulator container opens up after transportation to form an 8 ft diameter dome for visual display with Head Tracking. With portable simulators there is a difficulty in incorporating full-size hexapod motion platforms with all six Degrees of Freedom (DoF). Solutions include the use of many of the smaller electric hexapods that are on the market, platforms with less than 6 DoF, specially designed compact platforms, or no platform at all. The ATIL solution has been the latter, instead using a motion-based seat giving vibration cues and 3-axis motion.
Database Updates The MoD contract did not require a database editing capability to develop updates to the database without going back to E&S in Salt Lake City. As David Figgins of E&S pointed out in his keynote address at ITEC 2005 in April, US import/export procedures and officials can delay even simple and uncontentious database
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changes. This was said to be through a combination of bureaucracy, an unrealistic approach to data security and a general lack of understanding of simulator database issues. The problem was said to be in the US export authorities, not in the Pentagon. Delays of a year were said to be not unusual. This could be a serious problem in reacting to future contingencies and should be addressed now by the UK MoD (and others who might also be affected). This issue seems to have been solved at the CAE PFI facility at RAF Benson near Oxford and in training for deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq appropriate databases have been added quickly to their E&S Harmony system. Such solutions ought to be applied to Apache training as well.
Pilot and Groundcrew Training Sequence Pilot trainees arriving for Apache conversion at Middle Wallop have their army helicopter "Wings", awarded at the end of the UK Defence Helicopter School (DHS) course. This includes 40 hrs basic fixed-wing flying, 68 hrs basic helicopter training, and 80 hrs operational helicopter flying, for a MilitaryLib_Latus2_outlined_final.ai total of 188 hrs. Apache Conversion to Type (CTT) at Wallop takes 6 months and con-
sists of 58 hrs on the aircraft and 75 hours simulator, a simulator-to-aircraft ratio of 1.29-toone. The course length of 6 months was said to be "tight". The end-of-course qualification standard is to operate in either front or rear seat (gunner and pilot) by day and night, pass an Instrument Rating Test (IRT) and qualify on the weapons (30mm cannon, 70 mm rockets). Apache Conversion to Role (CTR) is carried out at the front line bases of Dishforth and Wattisham. CTR takes 19 simulator sorties and the same number of aircraft sorties. Groundcrew from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) are trained by ATIL in the classroom, on CBT and also on fullsize mock-ups or rigs. Rigs are provided for the fuselage and weapons. Training incorporates Integrated Electronic Technical Publications (IETP). REME trade groups include an Aircraft Group, Avionics Group, and an Armourer Group. The ATIL facilities at Arborfield and Middle Wallop have training halls that contain many PTTs and rigs.
Effectiveness 1/12/2006 12:58:08
PM
Colonel Paul Edwards, a recent Chief of Staff of
British Army Aviation, observed that the younger the student, the better. He pointed out "young people have digital and simulation skills as second nature". The Apache itself was easy to fly, "an absolute joy", but had complex systems and the challenge was "fighting such a complex aircraft". Edwards concluded that, in Apache training, "the simulation advantage is huge" and that "ATIL provides very comprehensive and successful training facilities". It sounds as if, in this type of training, the customer thinks that the PFI arrangement is working - at least so far in these early days of its 20 to 30 year contract with the military. Time will tell, but one thing is certain, any contract for a PFI arrangement between the military and its contractor has to be very carefully drawn. The database issue is but an example. PFI arrangements must allow for future contingencies that may arise and changes that may have to be made, as well as steady-state training in predictable conditions at the start of the contract period. Downstream events may prove critical in assessing the effectiveness of these PFI arrangements in supporting our front line soldiers.
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TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
From Novelty to Necessity M&S: an economic lever? - The Virginia Economic Development Partnership seems to think so. MS&T’s Tom Slear observes the scene in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region.
t looks as if it should be surrounded by water and topped by a rotating light. A proper location would be near one of Maine’s rocky shores, or a channel in the Chesapeake Bay. In fact, it stands on firm ground in southeastern Virginia. Lockheed Martin’s hope is that the lighthouse architecture serves as a beacon for the expanding modeling and simulation market in the Hampton Roads region. The company completed the hexagonal structure early in 2005. It fits in with the surrounding landscape about as well as an ocean liner on a highway, and that is exactly the point. Lockheed Martin wants to signify a new era, one of seamless electronic collaboration. Engineers in California stay in touch with project managers in Virginia as casually and as easily as if they were sitting around a lunchroom table. The common language is simulation. All initiatives, whether a counter-terrorist contingency plan or a piece of software for a jet fighter’s avionics, are rigorously tested within the safe – and relatively inexpensive – confines of a computer before they see the light of reality. The Center for Innovation, as Lockheed Martin has dubbed this experimentation and analysis facility, was a stop on a three-day media
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tour organized by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. A dozen or so journalists were moved from place to place at a brisk pace, all for the purpose of convincing us that modeling and simulation have found a home
Above The Virtual Operating Room concept, with three live participants, the patient simulator, and the virtual operating room assistants. Image credit: VMASC
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within Virginia’s boundaries, particularly the southeastern portion of the state, where the Hampton Roads region and its 16 localities, all clustered around the city of Norfolk, are located. Not only did Lockheed Martin’s unique architecture metaphorically summarize the Partnership’s message, Mike Upson, the Center’s director of operations, provided the punch line. “Why Hampton Roads?” he asked. “This is a dense area for the Department of Defense. The warfighters who generate requirements in modeling and simulation are here.” The density Upson speaks of is provided by the U.S. Joint Forces Command, which is headquartered in Norfolk with satellite offices throughout the Hampton Roads area. Nearly every stop on the tour in someway exposed a lifeline to JFC. The Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center served as a case in point. JFC’s Training and Analysis Center provided the impetus for VMASC and remains its primary customer. But VMASC has evolved into more than an operation subsidized by the Department of Defense. In conjunction with Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VMASC has elevated modeling and simulation to academic legitimacy. Currently, 54 students are in a Masters’ program. A doctorate program, which was started in 2000, has 45 candidates enrolled. VMASC claims the program awarded the first PhD in modeling and simulation (in 2002 to a retired Navy captain). The hope of JFC and Virginia boosters is that VMASC will provide the academic underpinning that any high-tech region needs to produce the technical workforce and to bring in the research dollars. Silicon Valley had Stanford. Boston’s technology loop (Route 128) had the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hampton Roads has VMASC and Old Dominion. In 2004, VMASC captured $10.5 million in funded research. When the audience of journalists raised its collective eyebrow at such a meager sum, the prompt rejoinder was that the dollar amount is growing steadily and VMASC along with it. Plans are for VMASC to double in size over the next three years, with the number of faculty members increasing from 12 to 24. By that time, VMASC will be out of its temporary quarters and in a 60,000 square-foot building constructed from the ground up with modeling and simulation in mind. VMASC’s reach will extend well beyond military markets. Transportation and medicine are two fields likely to feel its push. Eastern Virginia Medical School, which is located on the campus of Old Dominion University, is pioneering a “flight simulator” model, according to Don Combs, the school’s
Above SAIC’s Public Safety Integration Center - laboratory, test bed, and prototype demonstration center. Image credit: SAIC
vice president for planning and program development. For now that consists primarily of trained humans conveying to medical students the symptoms of various ailments. The “patients,” some of whom work for the school full-time and evolve into very good actors, provide an excellent feel for doctor-patient interaction but, as Combs conceded, there is one glaring shortfall: They aren’t actually sick or injured. The vision for 10 to 15 years hence is a virtual patient in the form of a holograph. The students will then see whatever the instructor has in mind, just as pilots in a flight simulator experience the conditions supervisors would like to test. In the meantime, Combs emphasized, medical education needs to move away from the traditional model, which, in essence, reduces to using real patients as training aids for residents with little experience. To make his point, Combs arranged for the demonstration of a virtual operating room, with a doctor performing a procedure on a virtual patient while software monitored each step and offered immediate feedback. “People don’t want someone in training treating them and that is their right,” the doctor remarked. “How do you get the number of patients residents need to work on? Through simulation.” Of course, the tour eventually led to Joint Forces Command, or, more specifically, the Joint Warfighting Center, the complex in Suffolk, Virginia, that provides the modeling and simulation impetus for JFC and, to a large extent, the American defense establishment.
The briefings at the Joint Warfighting Center covered a well-traveled path. The Joint National Training Capability dominates the landscape. JNTC is the Defense Department’s initiative to dismember the parochial mind-sets of the officers within the individual services and imbue an instinct for joint operations, whether in training or combat. As one briefer explained, the Warfighting Center’s primary mission is to provide a common operational picture for a mixture of live, virtual and constructive training for all of the services and coalition forces and civilian agencies as well. The simulation hubs and communication links are rapidly coming on line. The scope of the exercises that the Center has a hand in now are orders of magnitude wider and deeper than just three years ago. The goal that no major unit goes into combat without a high-fidelity rehearsal is much closer to fruition than anyone would have thought when the JNTC came into existence in 2002. “It was the first time in war or peace where I was on an objective and felt like I had been there before,” a Marine Corps colonel mentioned of his experience as a battalion commander during Iraqi Freedom. But performance invariably brings higher expectations. Everyone, it seems, now wants to rehearse proposed operations in a simulated environment that has the look and feel of the real thing, right down to a rush-hour traffic jam. The demand has exploded for bigger and more complete databases. Briefers explained that fully 80 percent of time and cost is now consumed filling data bases to create viable simulations. Keeping the data current is an ongoing problem. Once a simulated environment is created, such as the thousands of buildings of a mid-size city, there is no automated method to update it when a new road is built. “We have a lot of organizations (within the Defense Department) developing these data bases,” one briefer said, “but they are working independent of one another and they don’t necessarily share what they have. Today, there are 47 databases on Baghdad.” Forty-seven data bases on Baghdad – an obvious waste, but not necessarily the indication of a worrisome trend. Within recent memory there wouldn’t have been one, and commanders would have entered the battle space with little more preparation than that provided by static images. The redundancy will sort itself out, and before too long, because of the work done in places such as Hampton Roads, modeling and simulation will evolve from novelty to necessity, if it hasn’t already. MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006
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Reforming the Netherlands Military Training Capacity Altered strategic conditions forced the Dutch military to rethink their training doctrine, training organisation and training facilities. A new concept, modular use of training for the single soldier up to training at brigade level, was chosen. It asked the utmost of the training facilities. New facilities were in order. But how would they look? Industry has come up with an answer… a consortium, made up of several companies, offering a solution that could enable a flexible way of training with standard equipment. In that way, life-cycle costs could be reduced, but more importantly, instructional and developing capacity could be concentrated on the tasks for which they were intended. This article will show how this solution came about.
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General Smit, commander Training Command of the RNLA: “Within the Army the main priority is to maintain the high quality of military training…”.
CHANGES After the fall of the iron curtain, western armies began to wonder how to prepare for future conflicts. All the ingredients for reform were present. There were budget cuts, the size of the army decreased, there were no more heavy Atlantic logistic tasks, levies disappeared, less skilled people were available for duty, garrisons closed and new and highly sophisticated material was introduced, in short, the old ways didn’t suffice. The Royal Netherlands Army was no exception. A common new strategic doctrine was developed. It meant a new type of army. It meant a rapid reaction force for the Netherlands, and along with it came a new set of difficulties. Soldiers had to be trained better and more rapidly than ever before, they had to be battle ready faster, they had to be trained with more sophisticated material ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY NEWSLETTER
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Brigadier General Rosengarten, special officer for the reorganisation of the whole of the Dutch Royal Army and father of the solution: “In the face of the most fundamental reorganisation since the second world war, we had to come up with a good solution to maintain our training capacity and quality”.
then ever before, the instructors had to perform better, the waiting lists for training had to be reduced, etcetera. And then there were the overall spending cuts. The question was how to
overcome this new set of problems in the face of the fundamental challenge of reorganisation and spending cuts? In the light of the current governmental budget cuts, General Rosengarten, the special officer conducting the reorganisation, said very clearly: “We are not just responsible for a mere reduction within the ranks because of the cuts. We are primarily responsible for quality impulses that will trigger such a movement. Technology offers new perspectives”. More important, General Piet Smit, commander of Training Command, said that the quality of the training itself must not be lost in the course of the reorganisation: “Rather then losing, we are aiming for more training quality. Especially during times of reductions all the lessons learned should not be forgotten, indeed they should preferably be applied directly in new training doctrine and training facilities. We are maintaining what we’ve already got, for example by keeping up the quality of our instructors”. Both the instructors and the common soldier himself feel a need for high tech training. ADC Adjutant Ron Huijzer said: “A new generation of young people are used to a different way of learning, they like to see attractive and stimulating training. The old ways of training have had to change rapidly. The new training doctrine and new training facilities will help”.
THE ORGANISATION The Royal Netherlands Army comprises five brigades, i.e. the 13th and 41st mechanized brigades, the 11th airmobile brigade, the 101
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ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY NEWSLETTER battle support brigade and the 1st logistic brigade. They all make up part of the rapid reaction force and make contributions to the NRF, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Balkan and Iraq. They all have highly motivated and well trained personnel and are equipped with the latest material. The training takes place within several military complexes situated in various parts of the country. Some training will take place within the operational units and some within the special training centres of the army. These training centres have limited resources and must rely on the main garrison for further training. More often these training facilities are not made up of standard equipment. Now we are still in a hurry to get men to ‘run’ after they’ve ‘walked’. In the past it often didn’t come to that, with devastating results. Time to ‘crawl’ is even more restricted with the pressure to get troops available for missions. To make matters worse, the boundaries between training to fighting should disappear. Therefore, the answer was that new technology should be adapted. Only recently it became clear where and how adaptations could be made to fit a soldier’s training. But the answer, for those who are designing it, is not that simple; and for those who have got to implement it, is even harder. On the other hand, for those who have to train and be trained it should be simple. So ‘crawl, walk and run’ can be done as well and as quickly as is necessary.
Garrisons and the RNLA network in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
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Main garrisons for which the solutions are aimed for: Schaarsbergen, Oirschot, Havelte, Ermelo, ‘t Harde, Stroe, Assen, Roosendaal, Amersfoort and Wezep.
Central serverpark
network
Locations and dislocations on the RNLA network
THE TECHNOLOGY What should the answer look like? Staff Training Command (OTCO) asked industry to come up with an answer. And it did. A consortium, made up of several companies, JGP Consulting Ltd, Flagship Training Ltd and Claremont Training Interiors have come up with a concept suitable for the needs of modern military training. Their concept consists of a federated digital repository and cached surroundings with a standard ‘virtual’ schoolboard for all the facilities connected to the central network. This concept is intended for ten garrisons in the Netherlands. All of them are connected on the central network and all of this is built upon standard COTS equipment. There is not one piece that is ‘dedicated’, so replacement can be done without any difficulty. Furthermore, lifecycle costs can be brought down because of remote and central control. Captain Bart Kronshorst, a special staff officer in the Training Command who is charged with the implementation of this concept, explains that this concept is independent to the content - gaming, CBT and such - as long as it is SCORM-compliant. Maintenance by any content supplier can be done without any difficulty on the federated database by remote control.
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The main storage is to be found in one consolidated serverpark. Distribution is done from within a cached environment then transmitted through a closed network. At the end of each node there is another cached surrounding.
Federated Repository
L(C)MS Tools
Players Schoolboard
THE FUTURE Is this the end? No! Although future technology is hard to adapt to any given training doctrine, with this standard and central infrastructure things might get easier. Dr. Andre Van Ree, head of Section 5 from the Training Command, says: “New challenges are to be found at the end of the ‘crawl-walk-run’ spectrum. Unravelling the subconscious skills and consequently training each individual fighting skill can raise fighting awareness. In this fashion, common soldiers can train their insight into their own fighting skills so that they are almost in a near battle situation. Again, technology can provide us with good solutions”.
▲
Data and other various files, suitable for ADL, are stored in a federated repository that works like a hive. The data is then transmitted by a data exchange to an L(C)MS. From that point on, it will reach the student, teacher, developer or management in their own particular account.
ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY NEWSLETTER
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e-Learning Projects at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham The UK Defence Academy is leveraging Defence e-learning policy and technology to meet their mission. Martin Mackain-Bremner and Dr. Bernard Scott describe the state of play. he UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the single largest supplier of training and education in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. It operates a sixth form college, a university and a considerable variety of defence colleges and training establishments. Individual training and education employs 29,000 people – 9% of the MOD work force – and consumes over £4 billion a year. The quality of this training is respected around the world, but there is no room for complacency and reviews of effectiveness and efficiency are a constant feature of MOD training and education. In 1999 work started on the Defence Training Review (DTR), initiated by the Secretary of State for Defence in the previous year as a ‘wide-ranging, fundamental study of education and training’. The DTR took forward key themes from the earlier Strategic Defence Review, including the shift to joint and multi-national operations, and aimed to ensure training is provided to meet the operational and business needs of the 21st century. The DTR also responded to the wider UK government agenda for modernising government and lifelong learning as well as the challenges of new technology; it was designed to look at every aspect of the way men and women in the Forces are trained
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Career Management
OCD Career Structures
and carry on lifelong learning throughout their careers. The aim was to enable the implementation of a training system that is better integrated between the Services, civilians and the wider community, better aligned to corporate Defence needs, responsive to a rapidly changing world and cost-effective. The DTR was completed in 2001 and is being implemented across Defence. See www.mod.uk/issues/training/contents.htm.
Officer Career Development Within the Army, a companion to the DTR was the Review of the Officers Career Courses
Education & Training
(ROCC), completed in May 2002. The ROCC recommended that officer education and training be based on a new career development framework, underpinned by a thorough training needs analysis and linked to a career competence framework to provide throughlife coherence. ROCC has resulted in the Officer Career Development (OCD) programme, which is more progressive and provides continuous development. OCD encourages greater personal ownership by officers of their careers and much of the allied education and training.
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Defence e-Learning The DTR recognised the potential for e-learning to deliver benefits for Defence training and education through the exploitation of existing and emerging technologies. Defining e-learning as a collective term used to describe training delivered by electronic means, including web-based systems, and computer and communications technologies, anywhere and at any time on demand, the DTR spawned the Defence eLearning Strategic Vision and Policy, the aim of which is: To provide coherence to the Defence-wide exploitation of e-learning as a cost effective training and education method and medium that will improve operational output by bringing the learner in contact with the wider world of knowledge in a more timely manner. The vision for Defence-wide e-learning is to provide the opportunity for individuals to gain access to supported learning for both professional training and personal development purposes as appropriate. The strategic change of emphasis is the shift from predominantly institutionalised, residential, classroom based training towards a more distributed learner centric approach. The Defence e-Learning Strategic Vision and Policy recognised that e-learning will never maximise its full potential if it is delivered through a number of discrete, stove-piped Learning Management Systems (LMS) and describes how a Defence-wide learning delivery and management capability is critical to realizing the full benefits of e-learning. This Defence capability is being delivered as a collection of services known as the Defence Learning Portal (DLP), the key enabler of which is the provision of a technical solution to enable user access to courseware, to provide effective content management, and to track learning activity. The technical solution is the Defence E-Learning Delivery and Management Capability (DELDMC), being delivered to the MOD by BT, in a 10-year contract. The DLP will be available to MOD learners on Internet and Intranet from January 06.
E-Learning at the DA The mission of the Defence Academy is to deliver high quality education and training, research and advice in order to sustain and enhance operational capability and advance the defence and security interests of the United Kingdom In conjunction with its academic partner (AP), Cranfield University, the Academy provides education in: • The management of Defence at government level; • Leadership at the corporate and strategic level across Defence;
• Command and staff training; and • The management and exploitation of military technology, for all four Services (Army, Navy, Air Force and the Civil Service). By the end of 2005, the Defence Academy delivered three distance-learning products to external MOD customers: • Military Knowledge (MK) 1 - an on-line mandatory OCD course for junior Army officers, stemming from the ROCC; • MK2 - an on-line mandatory OCD course for Army captains, also based in the ROCC; and • e-DW - an on-line learning package that is the baseline teaching medium for Defence Writing. (http://da.mod.uk/eDW/edw_welcome_01.htm). The development of these products has required the establishment of a Defence Academy e-Learning Capability (DAEC), consisting of: • People - both MOD and staff with the appropriate skills and expertise across a wide range, from subject matter expertise and authoring, through learning design, graphics, programming, testing and infrastructure support to quality assurance and project management. • Process – a robust, shared process that covers all aspects of the design, development, delivery and maintenance of on-line learning material. • Pedagogy – a practical model and set of tools for the design of effective learning materials. • Platform – a platform of infrastructure, applications and system support that enables the development, delivery and maintenance of online learning material. All three products have been developed on the Defence Academy eLearning Platform (DAEP), consisting of the HarvestRoad Hive Content Management System (CMS), the BlackBoard (Bb) LMS and the QuestionMark (Qmark) Perception assessment engine plus supporting infrastructure networked facilities. The DAEP is owned by the MOD and operated/maintained by the academic partner, Cranfield University.
Figure 1 MK Lesson Introduction Screen
Figure 2 MK Lesson Interactive Activity
learning and revision. The materials are designed to be an effective on the job 'just-in-time' training and reference tool. Content maps are used to aid non-linear navigation through the course down to the level of individual 20-40 minute lessons. The maps provide learners with a conceptual view of content at course level (Knowledge Map) and lesson level (Lesson Map).
Figure 3 MK Course Knowledge Map
Military Knowledge Courses MK1 and MK2 provide in total some 200 hours of self-directed learning, covering knowledge of military doctrine, service functions and organization and military operations, together with coverage of relevant science, technology and project management topics. The MK learning materials are a multimedia and interactive activity rich resource. Input from instructional designers has ensured that there are clear statements of learning outcomes, activities that support learning and summaries to support content and that there is formative assessment questions that support self-directed
Non-linear access to particular topics within individual lessons is also supported, together with the ability to track progress down to intra-lesson topic level. Evaluation studies of how the MK courses are being received are underway. Initial results are very favourable, although there are some important cultural issues surrounding the adoption and embedding of e-learning throughout the organisation. It is planned that, in due course, the MK courses will migrate from the Defence Academy delivery platform to the DLP, on which students MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006
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rich training materials are flexible - adaptable to a variety of training and assessment regimes, including blended and distance learning. Topics include effective writing, writing formal and informal memos and letters and taking minutes at meetings. The eDW website resource also serves ‘just-in-time’ training needs. There is ready access to quick guidance, examples, document templates and self-assessment exercises. Figure 4 MK Lesson Map
will have access to other e-learning courses, also, through a ‘licence for life’.
e-Defence Writing (eDW) Course Across all three Services and the MOD, personnel at all levels are required to know the proper forms and procedures that govern written communication. This represents a massive training need affecting some 300,000 individuals. The Defence Academy has delivered an e-learning based solution to this problem - eDW. A dedicated website with training materials has been constructed, supporting 20 hours of selfdirected learning. The multimedia and activity
Figure 5 eDW – Writing for Effect
Summary and Next Steps Using a joint, integrated approach and exploiting all aspects of the Defence Academy’s e-Learning Capability, the MOD and the Cranfield University
production team has created sophisticated and effective products that are unsurpassed for quality and quantity in the e-learning field, reaching an audience across the whole of the Defence arena. These products, and the experiences of the joint production team, are having profound effects on the Army’s Officer Career Development Programme, Defence e-Learning and Defence Training and Education generally. The next steps for the Defence Academy’s e-learning programme is the design and development of a Modular Master’s Degree Programme (MMP) to be delivered as online distance learning, commencing September 2006. As with the MK courses, work is also being undertaken to investigate how the MMP might be delivered via the MOD’s DLP. We hope to report on the outcomes of these activities in the not too distant future.
The Authors Martin Mackain-Bremner is the Distance Learning Programme Manager, and Dr Bernard Scott, a Senior Lecturer in ElectronicallyEnhanced Learning at Cranfield University/ the Defence Academy, Shrivenham.
www.halldale-directories.com Find Modeling, Simulation and Training Suppliers Products Industry Data Worldwide Events Trade Associations Regulatory & Standards Groups Archived S&T articles Contact: US Hanna Politis Tel: 301 869 6610 ROW Jeremy Humphreys Tel: +44 1252 532009
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Measuring M&S Effectiveness in NATO The search for substantive evidence of M&S effectiveness goes on. Walter F Ullrich reports on the NMSG approach to these issues or a number of years, NATO has recognised the importance of Modelling and Simulation (M&S) for its own as well as national activities. However, much of the early evidence that promised costeffective M&S was sketchy and subjective. In the light of ongoing transformation, force reductions and shrinking budgets, there is an increasing requirement to provide substantive evidence of the cost-effectiveness that M&S can provide. The 7th Symposium on ‘The Effectiveness of Modelling and Simulation From Anecdotal to Substantive Evidence’ of the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG), conducted in Warsaw, Poland 13 and 14 October 2005, aimed to provide fresh ideas for the furtherance of NATO M&S in addressing NATO’s increasing demand for effectiveness and value for money. The conference gave examples that M&S capabilities are maturing and that M&S has stabilised within NATO. However, there is still no common understanding or even a common methodology to measure the value of M&S using objective criteria. Psychology and human sciences contribute very relevant insights into how to structure interviews and – even more
F
importantly – on how to conduct interviews and collect data without “annoying” the users or unnecessarily disrupting an exercise. The conference confirmed that there is still a lot to be done; the M&S community is far from being able to measure substantive evidence in a generally accepted or even standardised manner. While many practitioners know through experience what M&S applications are effective, there are no guidelines for newcomers or decision-makers in this area. A NATO Code of Best Practice for M&S Selection and Value Estimation – in particular when using the effect/capability-based approach recommended during the symposium – could be a valuable effort within NATO’s MSG. It was also stressed that cost is not the only measure for M&S values: risk analyses and M&S should also be included. Risk/benefit-based assessment matrices similar to those recommended for verification and validation must be evaluated. Moreover, the influence of new infrastructures such as the Global Information Grid (GIG) must be taken into consideration. In the future, M&S applications will most probably share infrastructure components with other applications. The M&S community must be prepared
to justify the use of these resources, or they will not be able to participate. It is very likely that in the future the resource net bandwidth will be as important as funding is today. Finally, according to the experts, NATO must agree on applicable and mandatory core standards to enable the reuse of products developed in technical activities, thus contributing to an overarching programme such as Pathfinder. While Internet and Web technologies like the Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) and Web services constitute the technical backbone of feasibility, a common taxonomy (shared class and relation hierarchy) or ontology (shared formalisation of a specification) is required as well. Experience with the Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) shows that national extensions are not only likely but also necessary. In sum, the conference provided evidence that NATO’s MSG, although far from being mature, is on the right track. However, the willingness of participating nations to commit to common findings and recommendations and to apply them in the national context will be the real touchstone for MSG’s technical activities. MS&T MAGAZINE ı ISSUE 1/2006
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A Simulator of a Different Sort JAKUB KOLOSEUM provides a low tech, low cost, helicopter simulation with high tech results. Michal Zdobinsky describes this unusual training rig.
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nusual, Unique and Cost Effective
The aptly named KOLOSEUM, a huge, 70-tonne training rig, replaces helicopters in much military training. It is now in a routine service with the Czech Army. Besides Slovakia no other nation has equivalent equipment, not only in Europe, but probably the world over. Michal Zdobinsky explains. The JAKUB KOLOSEUM training rig simulates the slow flight/hovering of transport/utility, rescue or other helicopters to train and rehearse practically all activities that could be possibly carried out in these flight regimes. Despite the fact that the KOLOSEUM is owned by the Army, from the very beginning the intent was that it be utilised by all of the components of the integrated rescue service of the Czech Republic – i.e. by rescue teams, fire brigades, and police including the élite antiterrorist unit. It is suitable for training of both the individuals and the tactical teams of up to ten-member strength. ‘
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Left & Opposite The 70-tonne KOLOSEUM training rig is now in routine service with the Czech Army. Image credit: Michal Zdobinsky
The KOLOSEUM is located at the Czech Armed Forces (CzAF) training base at Vyskov. Virtually all newly recruited members of the CzAF shall be trained on the device, with stress especially on: • Airborne and reconnaissance units, • Rapid deployment units and special forces, • Members of the peace forces, chemical, engineer and communication units, selected members of the medical and logistic units, members of the military police, • Air Force’s search and rescue (SAR) and combat search and rescue (CSAR) teams, • Pilots and crewmembers of the transport and combat helicopters, • Members of the territorial defence forces and rescue battalions. v
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The Training Rig The patented KOLOSEUM training rig can be simply described as a modified single-boom tower crane suspending a training cabin by a double steel cable and a special parallelogram steadying device. In case of the CzAF, the training cabin is the fuselage of a Mi-17 helicopter with the main rotor and the tail boom removed.
The total weight of the cabin is 2800 kg; the useful load is as much as 1200 kg. Any existing helicopter or aeroplane fuselage could be used as the training cabin. Travelling along a pair of 50 m long rails (to be extended to 80 m) at a velocity of 32 m/min the crane rotates in a full 360° sweep. The
cabin can be lifted to 15 metres above the ground at a velocity of 30 m/min, and traverse the full length of the crane boom at a velocity of 60 m/min. If the helicopter cabin is at the end of the 20-metre boom and the crane rotates at 0.6 rpm, the cabin speed is 10 km/h. The cabin can be tilted in roll and pitch. In order to achieve the truest-to-reality simulation, the designers have provided a strong fan, blowing via a duct across the cabin door from above, to simulate the rotor downwash and the interior of the cabin is made realistically noisy by a sound system that plays the original sound of the helicopter. A number of activities can be simulated utilising these capabilities: It begins with meeting the most basic training needs such as speedy enplaning and deplaning of fully-outfitted troopers, handling stretchers with a casualty, exit of the troopers from a landed helicopter and exits during a low and slow pass immediately above
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S E C U R I T Y I S O U R G O A L , Q U A L I T Y O U R S TA N D A R D
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the ground. All new recruits of the CzAF (with a few exceptions) will complete the basic training programme of some 30 hours duration during the three-month primary all-troop drill period at the Vyskov training base. Within the framework of higher (specialised) training the Czech Army will train troopers to deplane using a single thin (mountain-climbers’) rope, multiple ropes and the Fast rope system. This will include rappelling onto the various surfaces and objects that are part of the KOLOSEUM training compound. Currently there is grass, loose sand, concrete and mud surfaces, a water pool, a small house and a section of funicular with space for building more features. The rig is also suitable for training the operation of the helicopter onboard winch, both for airborne delivery of personnel and material the evacuation and recovery of persons. The device is further suitable to train safe suspension and release of loads carried by the helicopter in a sling. Also, the suppression fire against the ground targets could be trained, using the MILES laser system, and the opposite – ground troop fire against low-flying and landing helicopters. These and other activities can be carried out without the noise and costs of the actual helicopter operation, under any weather and lighting conditions and at any time. The only limiting factor of the device is a wind velocity above 70 km/h. v
Military and rescue units training, of course, requires the eventual use of the real helicopters as the trainer is so far not able to simulate the vibrations, the swaying during the hovering flight and the like. According to the Staff Colonel Jan Neplech, the commander of the Vyskov garrison, it is possible, using the KOLOSEUM, to complete up to 90 % of the training syllabus procedures, with the remaining 10 % being carried out during check training on the real helicopters. Training on the KOLOSEUM is not only safer and without the negative environmental/neighbourhood effects, but also at incomparably lower operational costs. The flight hour of a Mi-17 helicopter in the CzAF is about 70,000 Czech crowns (about 2850 USD), while the operational hour of the KOLOSEUM simulator rig is a mere 600 Czech crowns (25 USD). The initial investment into the rig itself and the related objects and surfaces of 24 million Czech crowns (almost a million USD) should be returned, according to the Army estimate, in a single year. The KOLOSEUM system is a part of the JAKUB – GO training complex of the Czech Ledic v
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Effectiveness
Above The JAKUB KOLOSEUM training rig simulates the slow flight/hovering of helicopters. Image credit: Image credit: Michal Zdobinsky
company. The training rig was patented in 1999, and a year later, together with the army, it started development of a technology demonstrator that began testing in 2001. Based on the testing, the demonstrator was modified to the current configuration and a training ground/facility was built nearby. In January and February 2005 the KOLOSEUM passed the troop tests and on 20th July 2005 its operation was officially begun. Despite the fact that the device has only been operational for a half-year the CzAF has already used the rig for urban warfare training attack on a building held by terrorists, saving a hostage, the recovery of a downed airman, placing and recovery of a special force’s squad, and rappelling of tracking teams with dogs. In September 2005 over 400 soldiers took training on the rig. In addition to troops who had a relation to the Mi-17, there were also troops with a relationship to the assault/transport Mi24V type. Thanks to the reliability, easy maintenance and the minimum limitations from the weather the rig utilisation exceeded the 80 % mark
2005 deployed with the CzAF. This type differs from the earlier Mi-17 mainly by its hydraulically actuated rear loading ramp and by the large sliding door on the starboard fuselage side, which can accommodate the 300 kg capacity retractable personnel/cargo hoist. Currently there are plans underway to complete the KOLOSEUM compound to make it a full simulation training area. The plans envisage, besides the training rig; a universal climbing facility, an obstacle ground/course, a rappelling/rope climbing course, a parachute training facility, a roofed laser and live firing range with a multitude of rooms and corridors, an outdoor laser firing range, a close-in (self defence) fighting facility, a training swimming pool, a grenade throwing training facility and a village “hamlet” for training in anti-terrorist warfare with the use of live ammunition and laser simulators. According to Col. Neplech an investment of about 90 million Czech crowns (about 3.7 million USD) would be required to complete the plans. Given financing, the compound could be built by the autumn of 2006. The new training rig has aroused interest abroad, too. According to Vladimír Jaros, director of Ledic, the Swedish MoD has expressed interest, as has Norway and Finland. As there is no similar facility in Europe (the rig supplied to Slovakia is so far used only in a limited way for the special forces), the possibility of using the Vyskov rig for training of foreign allies or partners is being considerd. According to Lt. Gen. Pavel Stefka, Chief of Staff, CzAF, the Czech Army did not consider this possibility at first, but “once we became sure of the capabilities of this training rig, we are going to consider the idea seriously.” v
v
Future plans The KOLOSEUM is designed as an open system to facilitate upgrades, improvements and development. For example, few difficulties were encountered in modifying the cabin to correspond to the Mi-171Sh helicopter, which was in
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UP TO 30% DISCOUNT
Early Bird discount - register before 1st March 2006 Military/Government personnel discount ■ ETSA members discount ■ ■
ITEC is Europe’s Only Conference and Exhibition Dedicated to Defence Training, Education and Simulation
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN? ■ Delivering
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ITEC 2006: Emphasising Synergies Walter F. Ullrich looks forward to ITEC 2006. urope’s prime event for defence training, simulation and education - now in its 17th year - will be returning to the UK. From 16 to 18 May 2006, the ExCeL London will host the old continent’s only dedicated conference and exhibition for defence training, simulation and education. Reed Exhibitions, the event organisers, have stated that their intention is to emphasise last year’s promising attempt to create synergies between the conference and the exhibition. Conference themes are indeed practice-oriented. E-Trainers for Technical Personnel will not only examine training needs and media, but also provide advice on how to specify and contract for standard conforming computer-based trainers. Electronic On-the-Job Performance Aids for Technical Personnel will address new methods and applications of electronic tools developed to provide technical staff with appropriate on-thejob support. Network Enabled Capabilities Simulation and Training will provide an overall view of how the future battleground will look and how training concepts evolve in parallel. Simulation Standards and Interoperability will allow customers, acquisition personnel, practitioners and managers to gain a better understanding of the standards to which they should be adhering. The Science of Learning topic will provide the opportunity to explore a variety of exciting innovations, including resilience training for civil disasters and developing leadership training. Multi-level training will address coalition training, deployable training and collective combat gaming. Procurement Future will focus on the potential procurement of modelling, simulation and training solutions to support existing
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and emerging defence systems for a number of armed forces. e-Learning will explore pedagogical issues concerning if and when to use e-learning and how to manage content in distributed environments. Training in the Live Environment will draw on examples from recent operations to explore the way in which nations use live training to create, sustain and confirm operational capability prior to, during and after deployment. Delegates and visitors leaving the conference will find their themes reflected in what they find on the exhibition floor - that's what ITEC officials really want. Given the diversity of ITEC, it should be possible for every Jack to find his Jill! For example, the Learning Zone stand, new in 2006, will highlight the industry’s participation in military training and education solutions. Moreover, the tradeshow regularly hosts international companies that showcase the latest training and simulation products. By means of product briefings and other demonstrations held on the exhibition floor, visitors will be able to hear practical solutions from a broad range of experience in education, training technology and simulation. Furthermore, and this is added value for participating exhibitors, ITEC has an excellent reputation in terms of visitor quality. In 2005, almost 95% of exhibitors rated the quality of ITEC attendees either equal to or above their expectations. ITEC 2006 will run parallel to the ILA Berlin, a pan-European aerospace trade show that traditionally attracts visitors from the East. It remains to be seen whether this will affect ITEC attendance figures. Despite all its other qualities, ITEC’s further success also depends on stable attendance. For more information http://www.itec.co.uk/
The Chairman’s Word
“ITEC 2006 promises serious opportunities for business development. Building on the success of other years the 2006 conference is focused upon creating a closer synergy between the exhibition and conference. Already main players attend ITEC for the exceptional network opportunities it offers. Now in 2006 they will find a new learning zone that aims to highlight companies who are involved in cost-effective training, courseware or instructional aids. The intent is to give such companies a higher profile with branding and signage so that delegates to the conference can easily identify this area between conference sessions. The conference themes range across the key areas of interest to defence training and offer once again stimulus and debate on both new topics and profile topics of e-learning and multi-level training. The European emphasis of ITEC is no better illustrated than the senior officer panel, with representatives for 2006 drawn from 5 leading nations. ITEC 2006 promises to be interesting, explorative and dynamic.” Colonel Chris Caswell, the ITEC 2006 Conference Committee Chairman, is responsible for the delivery of training technical advice to the British Army and to defence.
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Interservice / Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference 4 December - 7 December, 2006 Orlando County Convention Center • Orlando, Florida
TRAINING the 21ST CENTURY JOINT FORCE...
...MISSION FOCUSED to ACHIEVE WARFIGHTING EXCELLENCE WHY YOU SHOULD BE AT I/ITSEC 2006! • 130 Technical Papers covering 6 educational tracks • 480 Exhibitors showcasing current technologies in training • Industry & Service Keynote Addressee's • Multiple Special Events (First M&S Congressional Caucus held at I/ITSEC 2005) • Over 16,000 Corporate, Academia & Government professionals from 46 countries
CONTACTS: Conference Information Barbara McDaniel 703-247-2569 bmcdaniel@ndia.org Exhibit/Sponsorship Information Debbie Dyson 703-247-9480 ddyson@ndia.org
www.iitsec.org
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SHOW REPORT
I/ITSEC 2005 Orlando, Nov. 28 – Dec 4, Orange County Convention Center, I/ITSEC 2005. Managing Editor Jeff Loube, with files from Rick Adams, Chuck Weirauch and Walter F. Ullrich, reports.
he hall seemed filled with the ratatatatat of small arms fire infantry, convoys, helicopter gunships - by contrast with prior years where the dominant sounds were the whoosh of fast jets and the reverberating explosions of precision bombing. The contrast marked a shift in focus from the operational level to the tactical level - individual and small group training with jointness providing the backdrop. Individual, small group and joint training - all clearly a reflection of military needs rooted in current world trouble spots. • USJFCOM – The US Joint Forces Command hosted the Joint Virtual Special Event epitomising the conference’s theme of “One Team, One Fight, One Training Future.” The live, networked demonstration of joint warfare operations included more than 50 participants, including the Swedish Defense Wargaming Centre and
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the Land Synthetic Environment for the Canadian Army. Describing joint interoperability as “a work in progress,” USJFCOM Director for Joint Training Major General Jon Gallinetti stated that, so far, the services have “bought in very well” to the concept of joint training and have given USJFCOM a priority list of training programs they want to have accredited and certified as having joint readiness capability. Such accreditation and certification efforts will instill a permanence and continuity for joint training, an improvement over today’s expensive and sporadic joint training exercises. There is potential for expansion of join training by tying USJFCOM efforts into the services’ existing training networks, such as the Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) program and the National Guard’s GuardNet XXI system. Gallinetti expects that such linkups
“will expand our persistent training sites dramatically.” Through such networking, Gallinetti also feels that in the future USJFCOM can play a major role in helping provide training for other US governmental agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security. • America’s Army – The America’s Army Game Project is having a significant training impact through the “serious application of America’s Army Game Technology”. The America’s Army game platform has and is being repurposed for training simulations and applications because of its ability to render exceptionally realistic environments and player interactions An example: the PC based Common Remote Operated Weapon Station (CROWS), which allows gunners to engage targets from within the protection of a moving Up-Armored Humvee.
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• PEO STRI – The lead service organization for I/ITSEC 2005, the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation linked training systems, a key Training Transformation capability. Providing a common simulated battlefield and operating environment were the Virtual Convoy Combat Trainer (VCCT), the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT-A) and the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT). Also tied into the network was a Call for Fire Trainer (COFT). PEO STRI demonstrated the new Stryker variant of the Common Driver Trainer and the prototype Reconfigurable Vehicle Trainer as standalone exhibits. Program Executive Officer Dr. James Blake reported that fiscal year 2006 funding has risen to more than $1.8 billion. He expects the upward trend will continue at least through $2 billion in FY2008. Much growth can be attributed to the increasing direct support of soldiers actively engaged in the Global War on Terrorism, Blake said. This includes the rapid development of training devices to meet operational needs based on lessons learned from the field.
PEO STRI goals include implementation of faster, more streamlined and innovative acquisition processes; the seamless integration of live, virtual and constructive (LVC) solutions for the interoperability of training and testing systems; and the total life cycle management for Army Training Aids, Devices, Simulators and Simulations (TADSS). • RDECOM – The Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command featured an urban combat augmented reality training system developed by one of its partners, the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California. • DARWARS – The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded DARWARS program brought together “nine vendors, one booth, one vision”. The common aim is to get new technology, especially web-based experiential training into the field quickly. Products included the DARPA Technical Award winner, Tactical Iraqi, a tactical language training system for Iraqi Arabic, and DARWARS Ambush! A networked, multiplayer, PC-based Convoy Trainer. • NATO – NATO and the US Joint Forces
Command presented the NATO MSG-027 Pathfinder Integration Environment, the central component of the NATO Modelling & Simulation Group’s Flagship Programme. Centrepiece is a common web portal designed to support the use and reuse of national M&S resources for NATO education, training and operation support. The VMASC (Virginia Modelling Analysis and Simulation Center) booth demonstrated the results of a feasibility study. The web portal is designed to become the heart of other NATO activities, among them the NATO Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) activity. • The French – An I/ITSEC first, France set up a national pavilion where “bleu-blanc-rouge” companies could demonstrate S&T products. Kynogon, a specialist for Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) software of real-time behaviour simulation, presented Kynapse, an out-of-the-box solution to challenging pathfinding issues. EADS is to integrate Kynapse into the NetCOS (Network Centric Operations Simulation) simulation environment, which will deliver simulation solutions for the ongoing transformation process to France, Germany and the UK.
Micro Pyrotechnic For Indoor Training Realism and Safety at Shortest Distance
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Comet GmbH Pyrotechnic Defence Systems Phone +49 (471) 393-0 Fax +49 (471) 393-210 defence@comet-pyro.de www.comet-pyro.de
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• Forterra System – The OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) Platform, presented by FORTERRA System Inc., allows customers to rapidly generate interactive, persistent 3D virtual environments that enable organisations to train, plan, rehearse, communicate and collaborate just as they would in the real world. The company has been awarded a grant by the US Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) to develop an application using multiplayer game technology for training of medical first responders to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high explosive events. • COMET – Battlefield effect simulators must comply with the changing battle space, which is getting more urban and more personal. The Micro Pyro Launcher developed by the German company COMET scales down the energetic effect of pyrotechnics without reducing its reality. Effects – flash, bang, smoke, light and whistle – can go off in a room with few safety constraints. The Micro Pyro Cards are initiated by the COPAS MP, a launcher developed by another German Company, C.O.E.L. The US Army TACOM is currently testing the Micro Pyro Launchers. • Elbit – The Israeli company Elbit Systems Ltd demonstrated BEST2 (Battlefield Enhanced Smart Tactical Training), a set-up that enables platoon level to battalion/battle group and brigade-sized operation training in C4I systems for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and armoured vehicles using virtual and real environments and systems. BEST2 is used for training in the Israeli Armed Forces. • Boeing-Cubic Alliance – Boeing’s Training Systems and Services and the Cubic Defense Applications Group shook hands on an alliance to pursue integrated live, virtual, and constructive programs. Cubic president and CEO Gerry Dinkel said, “We essentially don’t compete.” Boeing’s forte is in the virtual world; Cubic’s strengths are in the live and constructive environments. Boeing VP Keith Hertzenberg described the agreement as “very, very flexible.” The two companies have put together an extensive list of opportunities, which they will jointly evaluate “on a case by case basis.” The alliance’s initial L-V-C demonstration effort is the Alaska Training Range Evolution Plan (ATREP) program, which will exercise threat suppression scenarios using live Air Force F-16C aircraft out of Elmendorf AFB, as well as Army ground combat vehicles and dismounted infantry. The ATREP program was initially a Boeing-Cubic investment with no government funds. v
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• Modeling & Simulation Caucus – “There are two vulnerabilities in the U.S. – one is terrorism; the other is a lack of math and science students,” stated J. Randy Forbes, Representative from Virginia and chairman of the Congressional Modeling & Simulation Caucus, established in 2005. Since 1990, he related, there has been an 8% drop in engineering degrees and 20% in math graduates. Half of American engineers are over 40, so in two decades there will be a huge retirement crisis. Meantime, in the next three years, India will produce 100,000 more engineers and China 300,000 more. Aside from NASA, Forbes views modeling & simulation as a magnet to draw young people into math and science fields. Forbes said the education job needs to begin with CEOs of major companies. • Windward Mark Interactive – Sometimes it seems as if most of the people in the simulation industry have been around forever, so new blood is a welcome sight. A pair of 2003 Harvard grads – Asi Lang and Chris Colosi were showcasing WindLight, a new shader system for rendering visual scenes with physically correct lighting. Optimized for off-the-shelf hardware, WindLight is claimed to render 150,000 polygons at 115 frames per second. “WindLight was built for speed,” Lang emphasized. Cost? Under $10,000 per system. • Engenuity – Engenuity Technologies announced it has acquired Dr. Paul Kruszewski’s BioGraphic Technologies, a leading developer of artificial intelligence (AI) software for the gaming, entertainment and visual simulation industries. Engenuity will use BioGraphic’s “AI Implant” program to expand the simulation capabilities of its STAGE suite of synethetic environment products. Robert Kopersiewich, Engenuity director of product management, said AI implant provides the capability for hundreds and even thousands of entities in a simulation to be “independent in terms of behaviour.” • L-3/Link – Extraction of a SEAL forward observer team from a potentially hostile Middle Eastern city provided the crowd draw to demonstrate L-3/Link Simulation and Training’s new production version Advanced Helmet Mounted Display. The helmet display provided 360-degree out-the-window computer-generated imagery and symbology to a UH-60 helicopter pilot as well as a seethrough capability for a view of cockpit controls. Company spokesman Rick Oyler said the AHMD can support both virtual training and “augmented operational reality.” Users can even wear eyeglasses with the helmet.
• Concurrent, Atlantis, and Diamond Visionics – collaborated on a helicopter vocational trainer, a technology claimed to be applicable as well to tilt-rotors as well as the Joint Strike Fighter. The Atlantis HVT on the stand is currently reconfigurable between a Westland EH-101 and a Bell 206, and uses a Concurrent ImaGen image generator and Diamond Visionics GenesisRT “on the fly” worldwide database. • SGI – SGI’s booth featured the ultimate home media theater – the equivalent of four HDTVs – an astounding 8 million pixels. Actually, the “ultra high resolution” display is a little pricey for home use at the moment: it uses a Sony projector costing more than $150,000 developed for commercial cinemas. SGI’s Graham Beasley calls it “the biggest, most powerful video switch in the world.” The military training application is a huge single-screen command-and-control “common operating environment” display with multiple image sources, whether battlefield views or intelligence sources such as TV news reports. The target market includes federal, state, and local government agencies moving to shared data formats for making critical decisions. • Quantum – Boeing and L-3/Link announced their selection of Quantum’s Independence image generators – Boeing opting for an Independence 2500 for the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter Block III engineering development simulator and an Independence 2000 for the X-45C Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) pilot training device, L-3/Link choosing a 2500 IG for the US Navy’s P-3C tactical operational readiness trainer. • IAI and CAE – Israeli Aircraft Industries and CAE highlighted a Concept of Operations Research and Analysis Laboratory (CORAL) for development, experimentation, and evaluation of network-centric warfare environments. The system uses CAE’s STRIVE “war in a box” simulation framework. CORAL incorporates the ability to integrate live systems with virtual and constructive simulations. CAE also announced the Medallion-6000 (6th generation) series of its high-end image generator with three flavors. The 6100 level with one graphics processor per IG channel is for stealth-view displays and cockpit procedures trainers. The 6200 offers dual graphics processors for traditional flight training applications. And the 6400 packs four graphics processors using ATI’s Crossfile compositor technology for “ultra-high-end” mission simulators. CAE’s Phil Perey says this “fulfills the full transition toward commodity graphics and processors.”
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Contracts & Opportunities his section of MS&T monitors changes in procurement practice, opportunities and trends in military training. It is a compilation of reports by MS&T’s international correspondents on items that we deem significant to the S&T industry. In this issue we look at the Transas AANS simulator for the German Navy.
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Transas Simulator for German Navy Transas Europe GmbH, the European representative office of the Transas Group, has been selected to supply a new large-scale AANS (Ausbildungsausstattung Nautische Schiffsführung) simulator for the Marineschule Mürwik (MSM). The MSM, the German naval officers training academy in Flensburg, is where all potential Navy leaders are prepared for their demanding career as an officer. The simulator contract has been awarded as a result of a competitive European tender by the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) in November 2005 to replace the existing system provided by STN-Atlas, now Rheinmetall Defence Electronics GmbH, in 1986. The main objective of the simulator regeneration was to incorporate new Navy training requirements, including ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) and AIS (Automatic Identification System) procedures, in the teaching syllabus. Transas will also deliver Navi-Sailor ECDIS and AIS-Transponders to the entire German Navy fleet based on a recently signed contract, which has already begun and will be completed in 2009 with the last retrofit. The Navigational Simulator Navi-Trainer Professional 4000 will be used by the German Navy to train officer cadets, senior officers, naval ships crews in Bridge Team Management, as well as civilian German pilots. It will consist of one 250° Cylindrical Visualisation System for the Full Mission Main Bridge, based on a motion platform, six own ship cubicles with radar, ECDIS, AIS and a 120° visualisation system. One blind bridge, acting as an additional Radar Operator Station to simulate a navy CIC (Combat Information Center) room will also be included. All bridges will be linked with a Transas GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) Simulator TGS 4100 to allow realistic external and internal communication. Five instructor stations will provide a very flexible training configuration to adopt the complex requirements of simultaneous training for various groups and to act jointly or separately from other own ships in the same or different training scenarios. The simulator will include Transas’ new TEAS (Transas Evaluation and Assessment System) as an integrated module to provide objective training result assessment and will also be fitted with the latest version of the comprehensive Model Wizard and Ship Motion Editor to allow the MSM to produce and edit new exercise areas and ship models in order to meet naval mission fleet demands. Specific functionalities for Naval Officer tasks are included in the contract, such as underway replenishment, flag signals and fleet manoeuvring. Since navigation equipment onboard Navy ships and inside the simulator will be of the same type, data exchange is feasible to prepare new mission
planning data between the simulator and the ships and to do advanced analysis of real recorded data from the ships to the simulator in realistic playback. A comprehensive training plan has been established to support a seamless transition from the outdated to the new system, allowing the MSM crew to start new training courses by May 2006. At the same time,Transas Europe has received an order to upgrade the MSM classroom CBT Trainer (12 trainee stations) installed in 2003 analogous to the technology used in the AANS.This will enable the MSM to avoid a gap in the training hierarchy, to benefit and create synergies from procedure training and equipment familiarisation starting in the classroom basic training by CBT to Bridge Team Management Training on the AANS up to real operation on board their ships – all with the same navigation equipment from one supplier. – Walter F. Ullrich
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Seen & Heard COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER SYSTEM Hybrid Learning Systems of Lemont Furnace, PA, USA, has been awarded the contract for development of a computer based training (CBT) system for the GEN-4 Communications Receiver System developed by Argon ST, Inc. for a foreign military sale. Each lesson, which may be deployed either through a web browser, over an intranet or on a CD-ROM, will be tied to an electronic copy of the Operators Manual for continuity and easy reference. The SCORM compliant training system will provide students with a complete learning platform that is delivered in half the time of the existing training program. President and CEO of Hybrid Learning Systems, Kris Rockwell commented: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase the flexibility of our CBT interface and work with a well respected industry leader in the C4ISR community. We are looking forward to helping Argon ST continue to provide their customers the high level of support they have come to expect.”
NIMCIS TRAINING CONTRACT AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has recently been awarded a training contract by General Dynamics UK Limited, for the New Integrated Marines Communications and Information System (NIMCIS). NIMCIS is a two-year programme to equip the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (RNLMC) with the BOWMAN C4I system, which is currently being rolled out to the UK Armed Forces by General Dynamics UK Ltd. The contract requires AgustaWestland to develop and conduct “Train the Trainer” courses in the Netherlands for the Royal Netherlands Navy’s instructors, provide Bowman Phase 2 Training Needs Analysis and development of a Conversion Training Plan, classroom equipment including Interactive Electronic Training Delivery System (IETDS), network servers, projectors and screens, all courseware and applications, and training management and instructors.
CAPABILITY CONCEPT DEMONSTRATOR Having fought off strong industry competition, the QinetiQ-led ‘ACTIVE’ team has secured a £7.8m, 30-month contract to undertake a Capability Concept Demonstrator (CCD) for the UK MoD’s Mission Training through Distributed Simulation (UK MTDS) programme that will enable pilots to train in multi-aircraft combat engagements and ‘fly’ with coalition and other services in a realistic virtual combat environment. Team ACTIVE (Aircrew Collective Training through Immersive Virtual Events) is led by QinetiQ with other members comprising Boeing, cueSim Ltd., Evans & Sutherland, Aviation Training International Ltd. and HVR Consulting Services Ltd. The UK MTDS CCD facility will be located at RAF Waddington with links to other training simulation facilities in the UK and in the US. It will comprise four Tornado GR4 and four Eurofighter Typhoon simulators to be built by cueSim, a seven-seat Airborne Warning and Control System 38
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Above BVR Systems will deliver the two upgraded MB339A simulators to the Italian Air Force during 2007. Image credit: BVR Systems (AWACS) simulation, plus a comprehensive exercise management and analysis suite and appropriate planning, briefing and debriefing facilities. The first event for the UK MTDS CCD is scheduled for mid-2006.
SIMULATOR UPGRADE BVR Systems (1988) Ltd. has been contracted by Aermacchi S.p.A. to upgrade two flight simulators of the MB339A aircraft for a total value of US$4.5 million. The program will include development and manufacture of all components of the simulators, except for the cockpits of existing MB339A simulators in service for the Italian Air Force, which shall be reused and upgraded. The systems will simulate the training aircraft in its Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) configuration and will include BVR Systems’ advanced simulation software, a modern visual system providing a 170° horizontal field of view, and a highresolution visual database, all of which is optimized for real-time performance and realistic simulation. The two simulators will be delivered to the Italian Air Force during 2007.
WAR IN A BOX MÄK Technologies has been awarded the networking component of the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) War In a Box program.
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Under the contract MÄK will provide the wide area and local area HLA communications for the program, as well as associated visualization tools at eight DND sites across Canada. War In a Box is a definition phase activity for the Canadian Advanced Synthetic Environment (CASE) program, which seeks to provide a synthetic environment capable of meeting DND’s needs for joint concept development, experimentation, requirements definition, operational test and evaluation, and training and mission rehearsal. As part of the contract, MÄK’s newest product, the VR-Exchange interoperability portal will be used by DND to bridge existing HLA federations that have different Federation Object Models (FOMs) and RTIs. VR-Exchange is a “Universal Translator” for distributed simulation allowing users to link together simulations using different HLA (High Level Architecture) RTIs (Run Time Infrastructure), different FOMs (Federation Object Model), and different protocols.
PREDATOR TRAINING SYSTEMS L-3 Communications’ Link Simulation and Training division has been awarded a $7.3 million contract option from the US Air Force’s Aeronautical System Center to build seven Predator Mission Aircrew Training System (PMATS) production units and three brief/debrief systems. This award has increased Link’s total PMATS program funding to $10.6 million. Under the PMATS contract originally awarded in June 2005, Link is developing one trainer and one brief/debrief system that will be delivered with initial operational capability in late 2006. The system will be upgraded in early 2007 to a full operational capability. This first unit will be housed at Link’s Arlington, TX facility to support ongoing training system development and modification. PMATS will provide high fidelity modeling of the Predator MQ-1 aircraft platform, sensors and weapons. The MQ-1 is used by the Air Force to meet armed reconnaissance and interdiction requirements. The simulated synthetic environment will take into account time of day, winds, adverse weather and thermal effects. A detailed urban environment will also be simulated. Plans also call for PMATS to be enhanced to provide simulation of the newer MQ9 Predator unmanned aircraft system.
training system suppliers into one convenient and efficient contract vehicle for current and future US Army simulation and training requirements. It offers the US Army the availability of one entity with the capability to support all three simulation and training disciplines – live, virtual, and constructive. “By working together as part of the Alliance, we will be able to provide an integrated team option that is more efficient by eliminating redundancies and allowing the leading providers of live, virtual and constructive support to leverage cross-functional capabilities,” said Larry Retta, senior group vice president, simulation and training at Anteon. “The operational efficiencies gained from the alliance will ensure that projects are completed at lower costs, and streamlined contract management will allow the Army to focus more contract dollars on “hands-on” work, and less on management.”
DISPLAY SOLUTION UPGRADE At I/ITSEC 2005 SEOS signed a contract with Indra Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Indra Sistemas, S.A., for a visual display solution upgrade for the MH-53E helicopter operational flight trainer. The system will be installed at Naval Station, Norfolk, VA, in 2006. The 11ft. motion-compatible PANORAMA® display will provide a 210°x60° (+25°/-35°) field-of-view. Comprising five CRT channels, this unique configuration will also use four Zorro® 1410 projectors to provide two chin window displays and two rear view window displays – all NVG compatible. The upgrade will include SEOS’ Mercator digital distortion correction, Navigator reference alignment and Odyssey control facility.
PURPOSE BUILT PROJECTOR Christie has introduced its newest projector, the Christie Matrix S+2K, a flexible and feature-rich solution for use on its own or as part of a Christie TotalVIEW™ simulation display system. As an ideal replacement for existing CRT-based displays, the 2500-lumens Christie Matrix S+2K provides superb contrast ratio for realistic image reproduction and clarity. With its Xenon® illumination system and purpose-built simulation features such as RGB color matching, full control of gamma curves and less than one frame of propagation delay, this product is ideal for applications that utilize complex projector arrays. The projector can be used in a range of applications, including military and civil flight simulation, ground vehicle driving and heavy machinery simulation, ship bridge simulation, air traffic control, architecture, engineering and construction, research and development, and entertainment.
WARFIGHTER ALLIANCE Anteon International Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Saab have announced a joint effort to provide a fully integrated capability tailored to address US Army simulation and training requirements. The resulting entity, the Warfighter FOCUS (Field Operations CUstomer Support) Alliance, combines the complementary strengths of these companies. The primary objective of the alliance is to bring together four leading simulation and
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The MH-53E is the western world’s largest helicopter and is used primarily for Airborne Mine Counter Measures (AMCM), with a secondary mission of shipboard delivery. It also has the ability to perform Vertical Onboard Delivery (VOD) missions as well as transportation of personnel and cargo.
COUNTER TERRORIST TRAINING The Swedish Counter Terrorist Unit (SCTU) has chosen Saab Training Systems as its partner in development of a counter-terrorism training concept. An important part of the collaboration has been further development and adaptation of technologies for the requirements of CTU teams. As a part of the partnership, Saab has supplied its portable training system Gamer Manpack, and solutions for training in urban environments. Moreover, integration with command systems and other complementing simulation systems is underway. For Saab, this entails entry into the very expansive civil security market and the opportunity to offer comprehensive solutions for first responders. The systems are installed at the Swedish Counter Terrorist Unit facility in Sweden.
COMPUTER-BASED WAR GAMES The US Air Force has engaged Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. to develop a software toolkit that for the first time will enable instructors rather than programmers, to create content for computer-based war games. The software, called WarCon™, is a visual authoring tool designed to simplify and streamline the development of high-quality war game simulations. WarCon moves away from the traditional text-based programming interface. It is ‘adaptive’ and can change based on the preferences of the individual user. Games will feature a consistent presentation style, so students can focus on the substance of each game and scenario they encounter, rather than on the mechanics of how they interact with the game. Along with the war game construction toolkit, Stottler Henke is using WarCon to build games for four schools at Air University. WarCon will support the development of training simulations for a wide range of missions, not just traditional war games.
SUPPORT TEAM Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) plans to compete for the US Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) Support Team (JST) procurement. This five-year program, expected to begin in September 2006, supports USJFCOM’S Joint Trainer responsibilities by planning and 40
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conducting exercises, crisis rehearsals and other training events, from inception through execution. “Our goal for the JWFC program is to improve contractor responsiveness and efficiency in the near term and help JWFC achieve training transformation to meet tomorrow’s missions, “ said Bill Lay, SAIC’s JWFC program manager.
BDAR TRAINING The US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is using NGRAIN’s interactive 3D training solution to deliver training on Battle Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR) procedures on the Stryker armored vehicles to soldiers in-theater using distributed techniques. As a result of feedback from soldiers in Iraq, TRADOC and the Army Training Support Center (ATSC) identified the need to provide troops with more extensive BDAR training on the Stryker. TRADOC and ATSC decided to deliver the mission critical training via distributed learning technologies, leveraging NGRAIN’s unique interactive 3D solution. Traditionally, the distributed learning development process would take 12 to 18 months to complete, however, NGRAIN worked closely with the Army, Camber, C2 Technologies, and CollabWorx to complete the project in an unprecedented 90 days. “The NGRAIN team worked with us as a partner, providing exceptional training, mentoring and support,” said Jim Threlfall, Deputy Division Manager of C2 Technologies and project manager. “The resulting courseware, which has already been field tested in Iraq and the US, is enabling soldiers to get the latest information and techniques to survive on the battlefield.”
SUBMARINE COURSEWARE 3Dsolve Inc., The Simulation Learning Company, has completed the development of the first phase of simulation-based courseware for the Submarine On-Board Training Department (SOBT) of the US Naval Submarine Learning Center (SLC) in Groton, Connecticut. The simulation-based e-learning materials were created to instruct Los Angeles-class attack submarine personnel in Force Protection and Anti-Terrorism procedures for in-port security. Using the laptop computers already deployed on US submarines, students are now able to review and practice critical security procedures while still at sea. In this first phase of development, 3Dsolve has delivered a set of simulation-based scenarios that provide instruction in security procedures for the exterior environment around the submarine. In the next phase of development, already under-
way, new scenarios are being developed that take place inside the submarine itself.
OPERATING SYSTEM Lockheed Martin Space Systems has selected Concurrent’s RedHawk™ Linux operating system for their United States Army Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program. Lockheed Martin will use RedHawk realtime Linux in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation testing of strategic missile defense subsystems. HIL simulation is a critical product development process that provides for thorough testing of components in a virtual environment in which other subsystems are replaced by mathematical models. Components to be tested are inserted into a closed loop that is reproducible, systematic, fast and more reliable than actual bench testing. Lockheed Martin selected RedHawk for the THAAD program due to the precision and guaranteed response time of Concurrent’s RedHawk Linux real-time operating system. Only RedHawk Linux was able to ensure the high frame rates required in their HIL simulation without frame overruns, thereby ensuring the highest quality of system test.
DATA COMMUNICATIONS South Korea officially launched its first-ever national instrumented ground combat training range in September. The new Korean Combat Training Center’s infrastructure and instrumentation came from a unique partnership of four South Korean firms and San Diego-based Cubic Defense Applications. Cubic is part of a team headed by Ssang Yong Information and Communications Corporation of Seoul, South Korea, which equipped the center for largescale force-on-force training under a 2001 contract with the Republic of Korea’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Cubic developed the data communications network used to track individual players during combat training exercises. The network consists of RF player units that record and transmit player activities to any one of five relay radio stations. The relay stations in turn transmit the data to a central computer that distributes the information to analyst workstations in the exercise control center. The Korean Combat Training Center (KCTC) is the centerpiece of a new 16x14 kilometer training range in a mountainous area south of the Demilitarized Zone. The range can currently handle combat training exercises involving up to 2,000 participants. Future growth plans will expand that capability to 6,000 participants.
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DISTRIBUTED LEARNING Karta Technologies, Inc., the largest privatelyheld defense contractor headquartered in San Antonio, USA, has been awarded a position as a prime contractor for the United States Army’s Distributed Learning Education and Training Products (DLETP) program, an estimated $483 million indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract over the next five years. As a prime contractor on the program, Karta has assembled an experienced team of 17 innovative partners including strategic partners, CACI, SRA, and IBM, each of which has industry-leading experience in distance learning and information technology best practices. The DLETP program is part of the Army’s continuous effort to maintain high-quality training for all of its troops. The Karta Team will provide distance learning to troops whenever and wherever training is needed, meeting the constantly changing needs of the Army.
INNOVATION CENTER
key markets but will also contribute to ongoing employment in the range of 800 knowledgebased jobs per year in Montreal.”
IMMERSIVE TRAINING Barco has been selected to provide four of its SEER™ (Small Environment Enhanced Reality) mini-dome systems for immersive training for Boeing’s Virtual Warfare Center (VWC) in St. Louis. The VWC is a high-tech research facility that gives Boeing engineers critical insight into the physical and psychological reactions of the operators who use Boeing equipment in different mission scenarios. The new SEER domes will complement the existing aircraft simulator cockpits and provide more realistic, detailed, compelling flight scenarios to the pilots in war-gaming simulations. The SEER mini-dome consists of a custom 240°/270° spherical dome structure, multi-channel projection systems, sophisticated alignment and control tools and dedicated devices. The system provides constant eye relief over the entire spherical surface and optimizes out-of-window scenes.
Display Solutions, Inc. has recently completed a laboratory visual display system for BAE Systems Inc., Electronic and Integrated Solutions Division in Binghamton, NY. The visual system is located in BAE Systems’ new Steinmetz Center for Innovation. The contract included system design, selection of visual system components and installation/setup of a multiple eye-point, curved screen visual system. The system uses Panasonic PTD 7700 3-chip DLP projectors and 3D Perception video warping/edge-blend video processing to produce a 140-degree HFOV x 40degree VFOV image on a cylindrical screen surface. The visual system can switch between the two eye-points within 15 minutes allowing lab personnel to simulate various cockpit configurations being evaluated.
Boeing has selected Quantum3D® Inc.’s Independence® IDX 2000 Image Generator (IG) solution for the X-45C Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) Pilot Training Device which is located at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) Flight Test Center. The Independence IDX 2000 IG solution will provide the simulation of Nose Wheel Camera (NWC) video for the JPTD, which also provides mission rehearsal training for the entire flight test team prior to execution of each flight test. The J-UCAS pilot training device represents a new breed of aircrew training with potential application for the rapidly expanding spectrum of Unmanned Air Vehicles.
R&D PROJECT
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
CAE is to invest a planned $630 million in Project Phoenix, a research and development (R&D) program that will span the next six years, with the goal of improving current leading-edge technologies and developing additional ones. Project Phoenix will completely modify CAE’s existing product lines and its methods of design, development and production. It will have long-term applications in existing, adjacent and emerging markets for the company. “This new R&D program is vital to CAE’s continued growth and to the future of our 4,800 employees,” said Robert E. Brown, CAE’s president and CEO. “As an essential part of the restructuring plan we announced in February (2005), the program will not only enhance CAE’s technology offerings in
Engenuity Technologies Inc. has announced two strategic partnerships to help the Company expand its simulation capabilities and fuel its growth in the international military services market. Engenuity has made separate agreements with FATS, Inc. and AcuSoft as part of its plan to expand its influence in this sector, and deliver a complete end-to-end visualization and simulations solution to its customers. FATS will be taking advantage of Engenuity’s AI.implant™ to give its customers the ability to control the brains of virtual entities in military visual simulations. AI.implant will become FATS standard real-time artificial intelligence engine, which it will be rolling out to the US Marine Corps worldwide.
IG SOLUTION
Short Finals Evans & Sutherland has been awarded a contract by HAVELSAN (Hava Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.) of Ankara, Turkey, to provide EPX™-5000 and EPX-500 image generators and a database generation system for the Turkey HELSIM program. This program will establish two world-class military helicopter training centers for both the Blackhawk and Sea Hawk helicopters. Simultec S.A., and Elbit Systems Ltd. company has completed delivery to the US State Department of two full mission/full motion simulators for Mi24 and Mi8 helicopters. The simulators will be used to train helicopter pilots and co-pilots in Uzbekistan, as part of a high-priority project to enhance border security and ensure continued support to Operation Enduring Freedom. Blue Ridge Simulation, Inc. (BRS) is to deliver an MH-60R Multimode Radar Simulation System (MMRSS) to Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY. The system is a tailored version of BRS’ MMRSS previously delivered for the US Navy’s Tactical Operational Flight Trainers (TOFTs). It will be integrated into Lockheed Martin’s test bed facility for engineering evaluation and training. BRS will deliver the system in late 2005. The Lahav Division of Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. (IAI) has been selected to provide its Virtual Mission Training System (VMTS) for the Raytheon Aircraft Company’s T-6B aircraft. IAI is the subcontractor to CMC Electronics Inc., who is the prime contractor for the T-6B avionics system. The Belgian Air Force has started pilot training with AMST’s Alpha Jet FTD at Franco-Belgian Training Centre, Cazaux. The FTD will be used by both the Belgian and French Air Forces, as well as other countries. Terrain Experts, Inc. a company owned by CAE Inc. has announced the latest release of its flagship commercial-off-the-shelf database generation software suite called Terra Vista™. Terra Vista 5 now includes integrated vector and elevation editors as well as support for a range of new third-party plug-ins for imagery processing, light detection and ranging processing, and automatic feature extraction.
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In partnering with AcuSoft, Inc., a producer of high-quality visual systems, Engenuity will work to improve the functionality of its STAGE simulation toolkit. This will be accomplished by integrating AcuSoft’s Military Scenario Development Environment (MSDE) and PowerSTRIPES tools. Combined with AcuSoft’s Military Scenario Development Environment, STAGE will provide users with a simplified means of designing and developing simulation exercises. In addition, PowerSTRIPES will enable STAGE users to quickly populate Microsoft PowerPoint slides with simulation exercise data for review during or after an activity.
E-LEARNING CONFERENCE ‘Scaling Up E-Learning: Transforming Learning, Transforming Defence’ conference took place over two days in October at The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Wiltshire. Air-Vice-Marshal John Cliffe, Director General Defence Training and Education presented the keynote address. Speakers came from a wide range of educational establishments from throughout the UK. Professor Stephen Brown, Professor of Learning Technologies at De Montfort University looked at ‘Policy, Planning, Vision and Concepts in e-Learning’. He maintains the key to successful policy making and implementation lies in the understanding of environmental factors in the organizational context. Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex, Dr. Rose Luckin presented ‘E-Learning in Context’. Dr. Luckin presented a framework that aims to help educational technology designers take advantage of the potential benefits of a wide range of technologies. Darien Rossiter from Cranfield University addressed the question: “How we can ensure that e-learning is embedded into organizational practice and ideology, to bring about lasting benefits?” Professor Andy Lane of the Faculty of Technology at The Open University reported on whether students’ programme success is due to the way they are supported or through the quality of the content. Professor Lane said the challenge is how to use new technologies to offer students support tailored to individual requirements. Dr. Jim Petch, University of Manchester, using examples of e-learning design, delivery and development processes, examined the ways in which the processes help to identify, analyse and understand risk and transition issues. ‘Learning Objects: The Building Blocks for Scaling Up?’ was the subject for Professor Tom Boyle from London Metropolitan University. The presentation examined the claim that learning objects provide the building 42
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blocks for large-scale development, and outlined the approach that led to the development of a set of learning objects that won a European Academic Software Award in 2004. Professor Greg Kennedy from Kings College London asked whether e-learning offers Professional Military Education (PME) a viable form of creating an international approach to the study of warfare. The presentation explored the roles of military/civilian partnerships in the delivery of PME, both strengths and weaknesses in the areas of academic excellence, ethical concerns, military security and institutional needs for funding. To find out more information about upcoming symposia to be held at the Royal Military College of Science at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom go to www.rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk/symposia
Index of Ads 3D PERCEPTION www.3d-perception.com ................................... 39 AMST SYSTEMTECHNIK GMBH www.amst.co.at ................................................. 9 ATLANTIS SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL www.atlantissi.com ............................................. 8 CAE www.cae.com ................................................. OBC C.O.E.L ENTWICKLUNGSGESELLSCHAFT www.coel.de ..................................................... 10 COMET PYROTECHNICS www.comet-pyro.de .......................................... 35 DISPLAY SOLUTIONS www.displaysolution.com ................................. 37 EADS MILITARY AIR SYSTEMS www.eads.com ................................................. IFC HALLDALE DIRECTORIES www.halldale-directories.com .......................... 26 I/ITSEC www.iitsec.org ................................................. 33 ITEC www.itec.co.uk ................................................. 31 LINK SIMULATION & TRAINING www.link.com ....................................................15 POLHEMUS www.polhemus.com .......................................... 19 PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD www.pilatus-aircraft.com .................................. 11 RGB SPECTRUM www.rgb.com ................................................... 18 ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY ................................................................. 22 & 23 RUAG ELECTRONICS www.ruag.com .................................................. 29 SAIC www.saic.com .................................................. IBC WATS RATS 2006 www.halldale.com .............................................. 4 X-WAVE SIMULATION & TRNG. www.xwave.com ................................................ 7
Calendar 20 February 2006 APATS 2006 - Asia Pacific Aviation Training Symposium Singapore Marriott Hotel Orchard Road, Singapore USA tel: +1 407 942 0071 Europe tel: +44 (0) 1252 532000 Email: apats@halldale.com www.halldale.com
4-6 April 2006 WATS/RATS 2006 - World Airline Training Conference & Tradeshow and Regional Airline Training Conference & Tradeshow Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando, USA www.halldale.com/WATS www.halldale.com/RATS
25-26 September 2006 ViSTech 2006 - Visuals & Simulation Technology Conference & Exhibition Crowne Plaza Orlando Airport Hotel, Orlando, USA www.halldale.com/ViSTech
21-22 February 2006 Military Flight Training Conference London, UK www.iqpc.com
21-26 February 2006 Asian Aerospace 2006 Singapore www.asianaerospace.com/main.asp
27-30 March 2006 Special Operations Forces Exhibition (SOFEX) Amman, Jordan www.sofexjordan.com
28-29 March 2006 Combat ID Conference London, UK www.smi-online.co.uk
9-12 April 2006 Quad A: AAAA Annual Convention Nashville, TN, USA www.quad-a.org
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Modeling & Simulation
Training Today for Performance Tomorrow Live-Virtual-Constructive Integration
Enterprise Training
Systems Engineering
E-Learning Solutions
Knowledge Provisioning
Advanced Robotics
Gaming
Fortune favors the prepared. At SAIC we work closely with our customers to create, adapt and deliver training and simulation systems that are relevant to today’s changing battlefield. Your mission success depends on your team having the right knowledge and the right skills at the right time. Our mission is to prepare you for yours. Visit us at the 2006 Winter AUSA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 15 – 17, 2006 (Booth 1800). For more information, contact Rich Bensinger at ( 703) 676-5402 or bensingerr@saic.com.
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Essential Expertise Simulation has traditionally been used as a training tool that delivers benefits such as cost, safety, and repetition. Now, modeling and simulation technologies are finding an increasing role earlier in a system’s life cycle – from Research and Development (R&D) and System Design, to Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E) and Acquisition. Introducing CAE Professional Services. Our experts provide a wide range of professional services such as project management, capability engineering, human systems integration, emergency management, and modeling and simulation. Through our user-centred, simulation-based professional services, clients can realize a greater opportunity for success in analysis, design, and experimentation programs.
CAE – your professional services partner using simulation-based technologies to help you “See the Finish Before You Start ™”.
www.cae.com
AM042b
Tu r n k e y Tr a i n i n g / S i m u l a t i o n E q u i p m e n t a n d S e r v i c e s / M o d e l i n g a n d S i m u l a t i o n S o l u t i o n s / P r o f e s s i o n a l S e r v i c e s