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 One
of the main drivers for change in the military's training process
is the requirement for better interoperability, or 'jointness'
among multi-service and multi-national forces. A typical example
for how a simulation tool enables better performance of air
and ground forces is Joint
Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC). The JTAC is the link
between the Army and the Air Force when combat requires the
aid of close air support. A JTAC must maintain situational awareness,
know the supported unit's plans, and validate and prosecute
targets of opportunity. Training JTACs requires equipping them
with the skill sets associated with air strike control, which
includes in-depth knowledge of the capabilities and limitations
of air power and advising the maneuver commander how best to
employ it. In addition, the JTAC must determine which actions
to take to properly control the ensuing air operations and how
best to maximize support, which type of weapons to use, and
where to direct the strike. For effective close support missions,
anticipating which type of aircraft should be used, and how
best to use each one, is crucial. (more...)
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The US Air Force is currently developing
a simulator for these ground based elements, to be fully interoperable
with the A-10C Full Mission Trainers and the Multiple Unified
Simulation Environment (MUSE)/Air Force Synthetic Environment
for Reconnaissance and Surveillance (AFSERS) program. These
systems all use common, real-time 3D visualization software
developed by MetaVR.
Training Tactical Air Operations Simulation (TAOS)
aims at the creation and combining virtual theater air assets
and key human players to simulate the performance of command
and control nodes such as air and space operations centers and
other air power managers and users such as Joint tactical air
controllers. TAOS combines simulations of strike; command and
control; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets;
sensor simulations; and human performance model-based synthetic
players to provide scaleable, flexible and adaptable representations
of theater air operations with which Warfighters can interact
to perform mission tasks. The military can apply the TAOS technology
to training, test and evaluation, or mission rehearsal.
For the training of air crew, different approaches
are used in developing individual and cooperative skills among
aircrews. SAIC’s new air mission trainer (AMT) is based
on our virtual trainer product line. The AMT establishes a flexible
technical baseline that can easily support the implementation
of both fixed- and rotary-wing flight variants. The AMT immerses
the student in a rich and dynamic synthetic environment with
more than 20 specific geographic locations and 40 real-world
airfields. The AMT is a network simulator that can link pilots
together to fly in the same airspace. Ground simulators, such
as the Common Driver Trainer (CDT), also can be integrated into
the same battlespace, providing the platform to conduct mission
training in a Joint environment. The first variant implemented
in the AMT program is the rotary wing variant (RWV). The RWV
uses a high fidelity, rotary-wing cab that simulates the Bell
206/ OH-1 family of helicopters. The simulator runs on Microsoft
ESP and mounted on a full-motion, six-degree-of-freedom platform
that provides additional stimuli as participants execute their
collective and command-and control tasks.
 An
ongoing program designed to improve piloting skills of army
aviators, is AVCATT, built by Link Simulation & Training.
The system provides a virtual multiple training positions networked
in a 'multiplayer war-game' like simulator providing an interactive,
networked environment to support individual, crew, collective
and combined arms training. The system is based on virtual,
realistic training environment supported by intelligent, semi-automated
forces (SAF). Following the simulated battle exercise, aircrews
can review and analyze their mission performance through an
After Action Review debriefing process. The system uses reconfigurable
simulators supporting a full mission spectrum undertaken by
the services’ attack, reconnaissance and utility helicopters,
simulating AH-64A Apache, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, UH-60 Blackhawk,
CH-47D Chinook and AH-64D Longbow platforms.
Other capabilities are required to simulate communications between
pilots and air traffic controllers. The ability to automatically
generate speech is invaluable in situations where it is required
to represent a number of external agencies or operators within
a simulated environment. However, voice quality of synthesized
speech systems had, up until recently, left much to be desired.
Voice generation expert ASTi has introduced improved speech
generation algorithms which, backed by the increase in computing
power, have resulted in more natural sounding speech. This year,
the company integrated off-line speech message generation as
a package option to its T4 product suite – a useful feature
for Air Traffic Management and flight simulation systems. Further
improvements are now available with multiple voices and tones,
depicting different accents and language variations. The tight
integration of Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) capabilities
and synthetic speech, now allows ASTi to look toward the development
of exciting new capabilities such as Automated Air Traffic Control
systems (ATC). With this system, synthetic ATC controllers can
direct live man-in-the-loop pilots sitting in the cockpit of
a simulator through an air space crowded with CGF generated
traffic, while listening to context relevant radio chatter.
 The
soaring cost of flight simulators drove system developers to
seek alternative display systems that could minimize the space
and lower the cost of flight training. One of the latest innovations
from Link is the new Advanced Helmet Mounted Display, delivering
a 360° field-of-regard to support virtual training and augmented
operational reality. The helmet mounted display uses new optics
and illumination design, employing solid-state near-eye micro
displays, enabling AHMD to provide unmatched contrast, brightness
and vivid color for all types of imagery. The system can be
coupled with Link's Night Vision Training System assisting pilots
to practice the challenging limitations of development of situational
picture using ANVISS night vision goggles. Link's integrated
product solution couples the image generation system, NVG sensor
simulation, head tracking, NVG goggle displays and correlated
databases to provide the answer to realistic NVG simulation.
Other topics covered in this review:
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