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ANALYSIS: New tech changing air combat training, but revolution still ahead
31 Oct 2016 Stephen Trimble
"...Largely driven by the pending influx of hundreds of US and international F-35s, the USAF is exploring breakthrough technologies for enabling “live-virtual-constructive” (LVC) training on a grand scale.
LVC represents a new form of air combat training. It blends three elements: live assets in the form of real flying aircraft, virtual systems composed of aircraft and aircrew simulators, and constructive elements created with computer programmes.
Ideally, an LVC scenario would make air combat training more realistic by blending hundreds of platforms, weapons and sensors into a shared synthetic environment, which would otherwise be too expensive and complicated to assemble on a training range with only live assets. Imagine a training scenario with a multinational formation of F-35s, command and control aircraft and tankers flying mission rehearsals together. Arrayed against them are an assortment of accurately portrayed ground and aerial weapons systems with the full spectrum of kinetic and electronic attack options....
...LVC capabilities today are growing, but they are insufficient to meet future demand. Within a decade, Lockheed expects to have delivered more than 1,000 F-35s globally, including hundreds to the USAF alone. The introduction of a fifth-generation fighter in such vast numbers will pose a challenge to an already strained air combat training system. By combining supersonic speed, radar stealth and advanced onboard sensors, F-35s may find it difficult to train effectively against older aircraft types....
...Lockheed is now under contract with the USAF to integrate domed simulators developed for the F-35 into the DMON, Scott says. The schedule to complete that integration is still under discussion within the USAF. When that occurs, however, it will be only the first step to allowing the F-35 to participate in LVC. In addition to simulator integration, the F-35 also requires the USAF to develop a new waveform that can handle the data, latency and classification level required for LVC.
Like all previous USAF fighters since the mid-1970s, the F-35 comes equipped with a system that transmits the aircraft’s positional data during air combat training events. In previous fighters, the distinctive Cubic P5 combat training system (CTS) pod is mounted on a wing station during exercises. The podded solution does the job for fourth generation fighters, but a wing-mounted store on the F-35 would betray the aircraft’s stealth signature. So Cubic developed the P5 internal subsystem for the F-35.
Another complication posed by the F-35 is the classification level of the information transmitted by the P5 pod. In fourth generation fighters, such information is not considered sensitive and is transmitted openly without encryption. The US military has chosen to apply classification levels to F-35 positional data, which required Cubic to encrypt the signal transmitted by the P5 internal subsystem.
There are also limitations with the P5 waveform itself. Northrop’s Guy notes that the P5 has a high-capacity downlink, but an extremely limited uplink. In an LVC environment, Northrop’s LEXIOS needs to transmit volumes of positional and sensor data up to each live aircraft in order to keep everyone on the same page. Right now, the system relies on Link-16 to transmit the required information, but neither Link-16 nor the P5 is able to handle the volume of data from airborne sensors, let alone the capacity required as F-35s enter training ranges in large numbers. Moreover, neither Link-16 nor the P5 can handle multi-level security access.
So the USAF is in the early stages of developing a new waveform dedicated to LVC, says Tim Welde, a senior business development manager for Cubic....
...The cost of developing a new waveform and associated software and hardware is only the beginning. New pods must be procured and then installed and qualified on the fourth-generation fighter fleet. The P5 internal subsystem for the F-35 must be replaced with a new LVC subsystem, Welde adds. The LVC capability also requires reprogramming the fighter’s operational flight programme....
...Such technology will not be available for at least seven or eight years in any case, but industry officials are developing ways to make more use of existing LVC systems. For example, Northrop is working on a way to allow LEXIOS to handle data with multiple levels of classification. That could help integrate F-22s and F-35s more into LVC training, as well as bringing in international participants.
Cubic, meanwhile, is developing a new technology for specialised Red Air aircraft. Several private companies, such as Dynamic Aviation and ATAC, provide fleets of third-generation fighters, such as Douglas A-4s and Northrop F-5s, for air combat training with the USAF and Navy. Due to the age of these aircraft, many are not equipped with radars and other sensors. They do, however, carry P5 CTS pods, Welde says.
These pods carry the positional data of the Blue Air forces involved in the same training scenario. So Cubic is working to transmit the data from the pod to a kneeboard-mounted tablet, giving the Red Air pilot situational awareness as if the aircraft had a radar or other sensors, Welde says. The so-called Bandit Board could also be used by the Red Air pilot to command the P5 pod to emulate a radar signal, giving the Blue Air forces another training option."
Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ut-430639/
A4G Skyhawk: www.faaaa.asn.au/spazsinbad-a4g/ & www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqC_s6gcCVvG7NOge3qfAQ/videos?view_as=subscriber