Joint Enhanced Rotorcraft Test and Operational Capability (JERTOC)

摘要

The DoD procurement account fell by more than 70% during the past decade. The cost associated with the next generation of rotorcraft design, analysis, testing, training, and support, using current techniques, promises to escalate in a predicted hostile fiscal environment. This cost must be reduced through the use of credible simulation and other analytical options. Conventional multi-service air vehicle flight testing is becoming more expensive and the test results may uncover problems late in the acquisition cycle, where making changes can be both costly and time consuming. Mission rehearsal training is normally conducted on operational flight trainers far removed from the battlefield site. A need exists to conduct joint service air vehicle testing analytically first, and to do mission rehearsal training at deployed sites. A need also exists to help integrate the design and test phases of the aircraft acquisition cycle and to do flight testing better, faster, cheaper, and safer. The JERTOC concept was formulated as one approach to help realize the generic better/faster/ cheaper/safer criteria applied to T&E, as well as, to help achieve local flight test objectives of reducing TE cost and cycle time.