Effective Mission Training: Challenges in Maintaining Currency in Mission-Specific and Pre-Deployment Training Environments

摘要

Mission training devices exist in a variety of forms from basic desktop role player simulations to higher fidelity cockpit based devices containing aspects of real aircraft hardware. Procurement and through life maintenance costs are driven by a range of factors, not least of which is the availability of platform specific reference data and information against which to validate models and emulated systems. Aircraft primes and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) would appear then to be in an advantageous position to provide mission training devices, especially in a military context. They quite rightly protect their Intellectual Property even when the information is government owned, the different authorities and budget holders responsible for the aircraft and training devices are often unaware of each other's needs when commissioning updates. Transfer of information can also be constrained by classification, export controls or lack of awareness that it exists in the first place. In any event, production of mission training devices solely by OEMs can lead to risks relating to lack of competition, innovation or provision of the most economically advantageous tender. Costs in higher fidelity training devices can be driven by the perceived need to use real aircraft components or to re-host the Operational Flight Program (OFP) alongside weapon, sensor and navigation models that must be updated and replaced periodically. In addition, significant annual maintenance costs of OFP and real hardware based devices due to the hardware characteristics of flight cleared equipment, all mean that the mission training device providers tend to turn to Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) or bespoke hardware and software solutions in order to replicate systems for the training purposes; this presents its own unique set of challenges.