From Naval Air Training Command
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (NNS) -- When Vice Adm. David Buss,
the Navy's "air boss," spoke at the Chief of Naval Air Training
change of command ceremony in September, he talked about the importance of
"transferability of training" from the training environment to the
fleet.
"The skills we provide our student Naval Aviators and
NFOs (naval flight officers) should be directly applicable to those skills
they'll need in the fleet," Buss said. "It doesn't help to train
someone to be successful in the training environment only to have the
equipment, systems and processes they've learned be completely different from
those used in the fleet."
One new way the Naval Air Training Command is accomplishing
this is the Virtual Mission Training System (VMTS) recently implemented at
Training Air Wing 6 aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola.
The mission of Training Air Wing 6 is to produce the highest
quality NFOs and international military flight officers in the world through a
well-rounded curriculum of academics, simulator training and flight time.
Training Squadron (VT) 86 is one of three squadrons in the wing, and they
provide the advanced level of training for student NFOs to develop the skills
they will need in the fleet.
Those skills include navigation, operating radar systems and
communications. In the past, in order to teach these skills, the wing would
require additional aircraft to serve as "red," or enemy aircraft.
This advanced training required the additional expenditure of fuel, required
maintenance and a corresponding reduction in the aircraft service life. In some
cases, the training was simply not feasible to execute in the training command,
so the students waited until they flew in the more expensive F/A-18 platform to
learn the skills.
But all this is changing with VMTS. The system is embedded
in the T-45 aircraft and contains a processor and a data link. The processor
works with the aircraft navigation system to provide a virtual radar
presentation that corresponds to where the aircraft is actually flying. Through
the data link, an instructor NFO at an Instructor Ground Station is able to
monitor the student's performance in the aircraft real-time and can control the
scenario, inserting surface-to-air and air-to-air threats into the virtual
situation.
The surface-to-air threats and enemy aircraft a student
experiences via the radar display are virtual only, but the heavy communication
environment, weather and G-loading they feel are completely real.
The VMTS syllabus is a significant update as well. It has
been modeled on the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) syllabi to develop the
exact skill sets required by 21st century NFOs. The students train on radar
systems similar to those they will operate in the fleet - in fact the radar
hand controller is based on the one used in the F/A-18F Super Hornet.
After the students land, VMTS continues to improve the
training through its detailed debriefing system. The system records the radar
display as well as all of the flight performance characteristics, radio, and
integrated communication systems. It then synchronizes between multiple
aircraft and provides playback that allows for a detailed review of radar work,
flight geometry, communications, and other fleet-relevant skills. The
instructors now have the ability to gather the significant learning points from
each flight, improving the quality of training by showing the students what
they did well and what they need to improve.
The Navy's aircraft are improving and adding more
capabilities, but they require better-trained aircrews to make full use of
these capabilities. The VMTS system and syllabus is a revolutionary advancement
in training that will ensure NFOs have the skills to operate these aircraft and
prepare them for the challenges they will face in the 21st century.
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