Simulator allows JTACs to train wherever, whenever
During Bold Quest 09, U.S. and coalition joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) had the opportunity to work with the JTAC Virtual Trainer, a system that allows them to train with their equipment without weather or flight availability holding them up.
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By Jacob Boyer
USJFCOM Public Affairs
(CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Nov. 5, 2009) -- Coalition and joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC) used a simulator to hone their skills in calling in close-air support during U.S. Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) advanced concept technology demonstration Bold Quest (BQ) 09 here and at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.
The JTAC Virtual Trainer is a system of training applications and simulators providing JTACs with an opportunity to hone their aircraft control skills in a field environment with pilots in aircraft simulators that could be located anywhere in the world, said Phil Shevis, who works in USFCOM's Joint Training Directorate's (J7) operations office.
According to Shevis, the trainer is a time-, money- and resource-saving asset.
"We are trying to enable realistic JTAC training in a field environment. Although it is preferable for JTACs to train with live aircraft and live ordnance, this is costly and oftentimes the aircraft are diverted due to weather or mechanical issues," Shevis said. "This capability allows the JTACs to get the training even when the live assets aren't available. Additionally, with simulations you can do a lot of things you can't do in the real world. You can work with coalition forces. You can use terrain that is in theater even though you're at home station."
The simulator was brought to Bold Quest 09 to give JTACs from the U.S. and its allied partners a chance to use and give feedback on the system to the development team. JTACs used a Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) - a durable laptop computer with wireless capability and a radio over a network system to communicate with a pilot "flying" an F-16 simulator in Germany. The ROVER enabled JTACs to see what the pilot saw.
The pilot simulated an F-16 flight over Lejeune's training areas. The "target" - in one case a typical SUV - was replicated in the simulation as a target for a close air support mission. Using the ROVER and a Fall-of-Shot Simulations Indicator (FOSSI), a piece of equipment on loan from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, the JTACs called in simulated air strikes on the vehicle.
According to U.S. Air Force Maj. Garret Lacy, the director of current operations at the Warrior Preparation Center (WPC) in Germany, the ROVER allows JTACs - both in real and simulated environments - to link up with aircraft and see what the pilots are seeing. They use this to assist pilots in finding the correct target in a chaotic battlespace. The FOSSI is an optical device enabling a JTAC to virtually see the "real" target - the SUV - on a simulated battlefield and know whether simulated munitions hit the target.
"We're using simulations connected over a network to feed that information," Shevis said. "In this particular instance, what we're doing is connecting through the Joint Training Experimentation Network to the Warrior Preparation Center in Germany. They're running two simulators: an F-16 simulator and a Predator simulator. Those two systems are going to generate video which we're going to transmit to the JTACs on their issued equipment."
The WPC has been working on JTAC simulations of its own for some time, and Lacy said their work came about because JTACs were often being deployed to theaters like Iraq and Afghanistan before they could train with the equipment they would be using there.
"We noticed with the Afghanistan conflict and in Iraq, some of the JTACs were going downrange without getting the chance to work with the gear that they were actually going to be using," he said. "They were using it for the first time in combat, which we thought was unacceptable."
During the demonstration, JTACs from several countries involved tried the JTAC Virtual Trainer. Norwegian Army Capt. Magnus, a special operations JTAC, said it could be a very useful tool in training his nation's warfighters.
"We think that it might be very suitable for us, because we have a simulator training program where we are based as well," he said. "It could be very useful for us to do some training without real aircraft."
The demonstration ends today.
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