More Technology on Their Horizon
Written by Marty Kauchak
CGF 2009 Volume: 1 Issue: 1 (November)
U.S. COAST GUARD INDIVIDUALS AND CREWS
WILL USE MORE HIGHER-FIDELITY TRAINING
DEVICES ATSERVICE AND PRIVATE SECTOR SITES
The U.S. Coast Guard uses an expanding array of simulators and other devices to train individuals and crews from its air and surface communities. While the representative systems described in this article deliver state-of-the-art training at service sites, Coast Guard C-130 flight crews also receive various levels of training at a private sector-operated and -managed facility.
An increasing number of more-capable training devices are contributing to two trends in service training: Coast Guard service men and women are training as they will operate—in higher-fidelity environments— and they are using these systems to complete individual and unit (team) training requirements.
Technology-enabled training will remain important to the service as new weapons platforms enter service through the remainder of this decade.
AVIATION TRAINING CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Coast Guard aviators maintain an edge on using technologies over their surface counterparts and with good reason: Higher-fidelity training systems often allow aircrews an opportunity to complete mission tasks on the ground in lieu of an actual airborne mission, or bolster other skills before stepping into the cockpit.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Aviation Training Center (ATC) in Mobile, Ala., provides initial and recurring training to service aircrews for a variety of rotary and fixed wing aircraft. Some of the aircraft supported at ATC Mobile include the fleet’s legacy HH-60J, MH-60T, HH-65C and HU-25A, and the new HC-144A. Major training devices located at ATC include: HU-25A, HH-65C and HH-60J operational flight trainers (OFTs), an HH-60J/HH-65C reconfigurable cockpit procedures trainer (RCPT), an MH-60T cockpit procedures trainer, an MH-60T Common Avionics Architecture System desktop part-task trainer, and the recently fielded CASPER sensor trainer.
“For more than 11 years, Tampa-based Aero Simulation Inc. (ASI) has provided training systems products and services to the center. As the sole contractor at ATC Mobile, ASI’s portfolio has included the delivery of maintenance, operations and modifications of training systems,” Robert Rodriguez, U.S. Coast Guard program manager, ASI, told CGF.
One ASI product of note is the RCPT. Other U.S. military aviation programs have proved the cost-effectiveness and training readiness benefits of reconfigurable trainers. With adjustments to a trainer’s cockpit hardware, these devices can be modified within minutes into one of several supported airframes to help train prospective and veteran flight crews. “The use of ASI’s RCPT has ensured training assets are available during major upgrades of the OFTs and increased student access to training systems,” Rodriguez pointed out.
ASI is completing several upgrades and enhancements to ATC Mobile’s trainers. The company is completing a major technology upgrade of the HH-60J OFT, which replaces several obsolete trainer subsystems and extends the service life of the trainer to support both the HH-60J and MH-60T aircraft. Rodriguez added, “ASI will deliver upgrades for the following trainer subsystems: digital electric control loading system; digital electric motion system; upper base frame and instructor hut; visual display system; input/output system; and host computer and instructor operator system changes. As part of this upgrade, ASI is also delivering new image generators [IGs] and visual/ sensor databases for the trainer. ASI will also be upgrading the IGs and databases on the HH-65C and HU-25A OFTs over the next few years, increasing visual realism and training fidelity on these trainers.” The Coast Guard is also stepping up its use of technology to support the introduction of the HC-144A Ocean Sentry, an EADS CASA CN-235 derivative, into the fleet. The Ocean Sentry achieved initial operational capability in April. The HC-144A acquisition project has delivered eight of 36 aircraft.
Prospective HC-144A aircrew members are completing an EADSCASA multimedia interactive trainer, a computer-based program. The crews’ transition training is supplemented with lectures from the ATC Mobile staff and hands-on practice with a Mobile-based Ocean Sentry aircraft. The current training program consists of 22 flights. “When a new simulator facility is brought online, the Coast Guard will be able to reduce that number of training flights to eight,” read a Coast Guard statement.
The HC-144A simulator building that is expected to be completed during summer 2010 will house a level-D flight simulator and mission systems operator training system. The service’s investment strategy for this training complex represents another important commitment to crew readiness: The level-D flight simulator has the highest level FAA-rating, and the simulator and mission systems operator training system will be linked together—allowing the flight crew to train as it will fly.
The initial pilots learning to fly the Ocean Sentry are transitioning from the service’s HU-25 community.
TECHNOLOGY FOR SURFACE WARRIORS
Technology is not the exclusive domain of service aviators. The surface community’s premier training project complements the introduction of National Security Cutter program ships into the fleet. The 418-foot, 4,500-ton, lead cutter of the CGC Bertholf (WMSL 750) class has been commissioned and is operating with the fleet. Two follow-on program cutters are in different stages of construction. To support the men and women reporting for duty in NSC and other class ships, the service has taken delivery of a 1,200-square-foot, high-fidelity bridge-navigation simulator and accompanying 1,650- square-foot combat information center (CIC) simulator at the Coast Guard’s Petaluma, Calif., training center.
Lieutenant Commander Randy Brown, performance consultant, Forces Command-512 Mission Support, told CGF, “The bridge simulator is actually a mock-up of the National Security Cutter [NSC] bridge layout. The CIC is also a mock-up of the center on the NSC.” The simulators allow individuals and watch teams to learn or refresh their watchstanding and maintenance skills using many of the actual systems and equipment found on a cutter. In the case of the bridge trainer, a Kongsberg Maritime Simulation Inc.-furnished Polaris bridge simulator is integrated to Sperry devices and other hardware found on an NSC bridge.
Bridge simulator scenarios enable the watchstanders to virtually take their ships through an entire “at sea” period, from getting underway from a pier or anchorage, to conducting at-sea operations, and finally returning to port.
The notion of using a high-fidelity simulator that supports training for the entire ship-board watch team is an important commitment in terms of resources and training doctrine for the service. Brown pointed out, “We’re getting into the world, on the surface side, of much more robust currency and refresher training—from where you go to school one time and go back to your ship to practice, to where there’s an opportunity for increased practice because of this facility.” To bolster the concept of training a ship-wide underway watch team, the bridge simulator is being integrated with the Lockheed Martin-furnished CIC simulator to provide training for both sets of watchstanders through a common operating picture and other shared situational awareness strategies.
The simulators were also designed to provide rigorous underway training for other Coast Guard legacy-class ship watchstanders. “We have loaded not only National Security Cutter navigational and tactical data, but that for just about every other major asset in the Coast Guard in terms of how it handles [at sea]. If they were running a scenario for a 270 [WMEC-270 Famous-class medium endurance cutter], which rides very high in the water, you would feel that. The navigational drills and the feel of driving the ship can be simulated for the other hulls in the Coast Guard,” Brown said.
Jim Gring, Lockheed Martin spokesperson, told CGF that his company has on-site personnel that work with the Coast Guard to maintain the C4ISR equipment and software for the NSC system. “This includes the sensors, communications, and command and control systems. The on-site support maintains a close relationship and reachback to both the Lockheed Martin development and sustainment organizations,” he added.
Plans are on the horizon for a third simulator, to support NSC-class engineers, whose ratings traditionally lag behind their bridge and CIC counterparts in using technology-enabled instruction. Brown pointed out, “The intent is to have a live training aid, an engine, to supplement an 87-foot MTU engine at Yorktown [Training Center], on which they can do maintenance.” The service also intends to use technology “to simulate, model and build-in training for the hull maintainers as well, so they can run a damage control drill from main control, and respond to engine casualties,” Brown said.
The procurement rate and other milestones for the engineering training device and complementary in-rate trainers are being determined by the service’s fiscal year 2010 budget request and other factors.
Another service technology advancement involves the visual systems upgrade of the full-mission bridge shiphandling simulator at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. MPRI Maritime Simulation Systems and Training is leading the effort to convert a legacy Evans and Sutherland Simfusion image generator to a state-of-the-art, PC-based IG and provide other enhancements.
MPRI’s effort to bolster the system’s software package will provide a dramatic improvement in the visual renderings in the simulator’s maritime scenarios. An engineering spokesperson from MPRI’s Salt Lake City office noted a final selection of the supporting software has not been made.
PRIVATE SECTOR-DELIVERED TRAINING
Lieutenant Commander Randy Brown, performance consultant, Forces Command-512 Mission Support, told CGF, “The bridge simulator is actually a mock-up of the National Security Cutter [NSC] bridge layout. The CIC is also a mock-up of the center on the NSC.” The simulators allow individuals and watch teams to learn or refresh their watchstanding and maintenance skills using many of the actual systems and equipment found on a cutter. In the case of the bridge trainer, a Kongsberg Maritime Simulation Inc.-furnished Polaris bridge simulator is integrated to Sperry devices and other hardware found on an NSC bridge.
Bridge simulator scenarios enable the watchstanders to virtually take their ships through an entire “at sea” period, from getting underway from a pier or anchorage, to conducting at-sea operations, and finally returning to port.
The notion of using a high-fidelity simulator that supports training for the entire ship-board watch team is an important commitment in terms of resources and training doctrine for the service. Brown pointed out, “We’re getting into the world, on the surface side, of much more robust currency and refresher training—from where you go to school one time and go back to your ship to practice, to where there’s an opportunity for increased practice because of this facility.” To bolster the concept of training a ship-wide underway watch team, the bridge simulator is being integrated with the Lockheed Martin-furnished CIC simulator to provide training for both sets of watchstanders through a common operating picture and other shared situational awareness strategies.
The simulators were also designed to provide rigorous underway training for other Coast Guard legacy-class ship watchstanders. “We have loaded not only National Security Cutter navigational and tactical data, but that for just about every other major asset in the Coast Guard in terms of how it handles [at sea]. If they were running a scenario for a 270 [WMEC-270 Famous-class medium endurance cutter], which rides very high in the water, you would feel that. The navigational drills and the feel of driving the ship can be simulated for the other hulls in the Coast Guard,” Brown said.
Jim Gring, Lockheed Martin spokesperson, told CGF that his company has on-site personnel that work with the Coast Guard to maintain the C4ISR equipment and software for the NSC system. “This includes the sensors, communications, and command and control systems. The on-site support maintains a close relationship and reachback to both the Lockheed Martin development and sustainment organizations,” he added.
Plans are on the horizon for a third simulator, to support NSC-class engineers, whose ratings traditionally lag behind their bridge and CIC counterparts in using technology-enabled instruction. Brown pointed out, “The intent is to have a live training aid, an engine, to supplement an 87-foot MTU engine at Yorktown [Training Center], on which they can do maintenance.” The service also intends to use technology “to simulate, model and build-in training for the hull maintainers as well, so they can run a damage control drill from main control, and respond to engine casualties,” Brown said.
The procurement rate and other milestones for the engineering training device and complementary in-rate trainers are being determined by the service’s fiscal year 2010 budget request and other factors.
Another service technology advancement involves the visual systems upgrade of the full-mission bridge shiphandling simulator at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. MPRI Maritime Simulation Systems and Training is leading the effort to convert a legacy Evans and Sutherland Simfusion image generator to a state-of-the-art, PC-based IG and provide other enhancements.
MPRI’s effort to bolster the system’s software package will provide a dramatic improvement in the visual renderings in the simulator’s maritime scenarios. An engineering spokesperson from MPRI’s Salt Lake City office noted a final selection of the supporting software has not been made.
PRIVATE SECTOR-DELIVERED TRAINING
While the Coast Guard provides the latest technology for current and next generation fixed and rotary aircraft at service facilities, it also outsources training for its C-130 aviators and maintainers. These aircrews train alongside their counterparts from other services at CAE’s Tampa C-130 training center.
The C-130 aircrews complete five courses at the center: co-pilot initial; flight engineer initial; pilot requalification; instructor pilot upgrade; and loadmaster initial. The community’s maintainers are put through their paces in seven other center courses: flight guidance systems line maintenance; electrical and instrument systems line maintenance; airframe hydraulics systems; fuel system maintenance and fuel tank repair; airframe structural repair; auxiliary power unit maintenance and environmental control systems. Private sector-furnished training at the Tampa site is provided in cutting-edge devices that closely replicate the weapons platforms’ systems.
In one case, the Tampa C-130 center recently upgraded one of its full-mission simulators (FMS) with the company’s state-of-the-art CAE Medallion-6000 visual system and a 210 (horizontal) x 40 (vertical)- degree display system utilizing LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) high-definition projectors. “The visual system upgrade significantly enhances the realism and fidelity we can offer to USCG C-130 aircrews during their training,” Chris Stellwag, CAE spokesperson, told CGF. Stellwag pointed out that the C-130 FMSs support TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) II, which is the same system used in the service’s aircraft. “During the training, our instructors can provide the C-130 aircrews with various intruder scenarios to ensure they take the necessary procedures if the TCAS should ever go off during an actual mission.”
With the two C-130 FMSs as well as the C-130 flight training device at CAE’s C-130 Tampa Training Center, the company is able to train aircrews and maintenance personnel on a range of training tasks using simulation technology. “For example, we have the ability to train maintenance personnel on both APU [auxiliary power unit] and GTC/ ATM [gas turbine compressor/air turbine motor] overhead panels,” Stellwag added.
Readiness enhancements, in the form of custom visual databases, are also on the horizon for USCG aircrews that train at the center. “For example, we are producing a visual database for KPIE, Clearwater/St. Petersburg International Airport, with a focus on detailing the air station. The database has special effects for the ‘Bird Bath’ and C-130H aircraft models in USCG livery on the ramps. We will also produce a database for PADQ, Kodiak, Alaska, Airport, specifically for USCG training,” Stellwag concluded. ♦
The C-130 aircrews complete five courses at the center: co-pilot initial; flight engineer initial; pilot requalification; instructor pilot upgrade; and loadmaster initial. The community’s maintainers are put through their paces in seven other center courses: flight guidance systems line maintenance; electrical and instrument systems line maintenance; airframe hydraulics systems; fuel system maintenance and fuel tank repair; airframe structural repair; auxiliary power unit maintenance and environmental control systems. Private sector-furnished training at the Tampa site is provided in cutting-edge devices that closely replicate the weapons platforms’ systems.
In one case, the Tampa C-130 center recently upgraded one of its full-mission simulators (FMS) with the company’s state-of-the-art CAE Medallion-6000 visual system and a 210 (horizontal) x 40 (vertical)- degree display system utilizing LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) high-definition projectors. “The visual system upgrade significantly enhances the realism and fidelity we can offer to USCG C-130 aircrews during their training,” Chris Stellwag, CAE spokesperson, told CGF. Stellwag pointed out that the C-130 FMSs support TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) II, which is the same system used in the service’s aircraft. “During the training, our instructors can provide the C-130 aircrews with various intruder scenarios to ensure they take the necessary procedures if the TCAS should ever go off during an actual mission.”
With the two C-130 FMSs as well as the C-130 flight training device at CAE’s C-130 Tampa Training Center, the company is able to train aircrews and maintenance personnel on a range of training tasks using simulation technology. “For example, we have the ability to train maintenance personnel on both APU [auxiliary power unit] and GTC/ ATM [gas turbine compressor/air turbine motor] overhead panels,” Stellwag added.
Readiness enhancements, in the form of custom visual databases, are also on the horizon for USCG aircrews that train at the center. “For example, we are producing a visual database for KPIE, Clearwater/St. Petersburg International Airport, with a focus on detailing the air station. The database has special effects for the ‘Bird Bath’ and C-130H aircraft models in USCG livery on the ramps. We will also produce a database for PADQ, Kodiak, Alaska, Airport, specifically for USCG training,” Stellwag concluded. ♦