The new cavalry -- training attack helo crews: just as horse-mounted cavalry gave way to the main battle tank, so has, some would assert, the time come for the attack helicopter to provide the main spearhead into enemy lines. The helicopter's chain gun has replaced the horseman's lance and Hellfire missiles strike where swords could not have been thrust before. (Simulation Approach).

However much technology has changed the face of modern warfare, it is still the better-trained force that is likely to scatter the foe, although cost and complexity in training have become a major issue in achieving this aim. In the face of trimmed defence budgets, clearly simulation is expected to provide the solution.

Training for Combat Readiness 

Faced with such a challenge, industry is responding with innovative methods to deliver quality training at reduced cost, but as the US Army discovered in the run-up to the combat over Kosovo, there is no quick method to bring attack helicopter crews to fighting trim. Perhaps Boeing's mobile Apache Longbow Crew Trainer -- a deployable flight simulator -- will help to avoid such problems in the future.

While unarmed helicopters have long been used to move troops tactically, retrieve casualties or observe the enemy, such roles are becoming increasingly vulnerable to air defences. So it is not just dedicated combat helicopter crews who must learn to use natural cover to surprise the enemy, deliver ordnance and outrun their defences -- fast. Now, faced with the prospect of an `open ended' war against terrorists, armed helicopters may well be at the forefront of future surgical strikes, so at least some crews must be kept at a constant state of combat readiness.

As the market leader, the AH-64 Apache is supported by several training aids, although with some 2500 Mi24s built, the needs of an earlier market leader should not be overlooked. Furthermore, a significant percentage of the 7300 Mi-8s built have been modified to carry weapons, but as both types share a common dynamic system, the flight simulators produced by Kronshtadt can be easily modified for the tandem seating of the Mi-24/-35 or the side-by-side Mi-8/-17 configuration. Although Kronshtadt's simulators can be supplied with a motion system, its helicopter devices often provide sufficient realism by means of convincing visuals with a refresh rate of at least 40 frames per second.

The AH-64A combat mission simulators (CMS) produced by L-3 Communications' Link Simulation & Training (and its forebears) have been supplied to operators in the United States, Europe, Egypt and South Korea. Like the AH-1 Cobra flight and weapons trainers supplied by the company, the Apache trainers include a dynamic six-degree-of-freedom motion system. To upgrade the US Army's CMS located at Illesheim, Germany, CAE was recently awarded a contract to supply its Medallion visual system. Even though the company will upgrade the simulator's computer systems and replace the current instructor operator station, there is no doubt that it is advances in vision systems that are providing the most significant improvements in simulation demanded today.

Sharing the Costs of Training

To support the British Army Air Corps' new Apaches, Aviation Training International Limited (ATIL) was formed in 1998 as a joint venture between Boeing and the British licence-producer of the helicopter, AgustaWestland. Under a public/private partnership (PPP) arrangement, the training provided at four different sites is on a payment-by-the-hour basis, with ATIL owning and funding all equipment and courseware, etc. As the preferred visual system in other British helicopter simulation facilities, Evans & Sutherland's (E&S) Harmony has been selected for the attack helicopter simulators.

When required, a mobile Apache simulator can be `bolted on' to the British Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility run by CAE to allow combined mission rehearsal drawing on the rapid database generation capability. This can be rapidly programmed to represent almost any location.

But reconfigurable is today's buzzword, and work begun by Raytheon for the US Army's Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command brought about the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer-Aviation Reconfigurable Manned Simulator (Avcatt-A) programme led by Link. Based on the `one Army, one simulator' concept, this trailer-mounted suite will provide high fidelity cockpits for the Apache, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, UH-60A/L Blackhawk, CH-47D Chinook and the RAH-66 Comanche.

The mission rehearsal and after action review facilities of the Avcatt-A system will make the new unit a cost-effective solution to deployed combat helo crew training needs. Current plans call for the production of some 30 Avcatt-A suites slated for the US Army and National Guard, and SGI is to provide high-performance visual systems in which all weather conditions can be replicated under day, dusk or night environments.

Innovation to Solve Budget Shortfalls?

Some recent developments promise to help cut simulation costs while adding to realism. For example, the VisionDome developed by Elumens and available in a range of sizes makes use of TruTheta PC-based software to provide sharply focused optics in 3D. E&S has teamed with Elumens to offer low-cost simulation solutions.

Still with reduced costs in mind, E&S recently introduced a new Mission Command Trainer based on the Unit Level Tactics Trainer currently used at the British School of Army Aviation. This uses the company's Ensemble II PC-based image generation system and it provides realistic command training, mission planning and rehearsal in a virtual environment against an intelligent enemy.

Drawing on its considerable experience resulting from the supply of some 900 helicopter simulators, Thales Training & Simulation is developing the Edith helicopter tactical trainer with a team from the French Army Aviation School. This system is not a flight trainer but was designed for teaching crews to assess and use the terrain correctly.

On a final note, the SDVP (Seat Displacement/Vibration Platform), which was developed by Cranfield Aerospace, can provide convincing realism at low cost. Used with the company's motion cueing seat, the SDVP can supply a fully tuneable solution for fixed-base helicopter training. This and other encouraging developments suggest that the need for mobile simulation systems to bring attack helo crews to combat readiness can be achieved without sacrificing quality. Fidelity and low cost need not be mutually exclusive in matching attack helicopter crew training requirements with more and more tightly squeezed budgets.