Real-Flight Experience by 2019

Canada Study: Sims Will Offer Real-Flight Experience by 2019

VICTORIA, British Columbia - Increased computing power and technology improvements by 2019 will produce simulators so advanced they will be capable of replacing first-stage flight training, as well as collective and operational flight training, concludes a Canadian Air Force report examining warfare trends.

Such improvements in training and simulation will be critical as the service deals with rapidly increasing fuel costs, notes the study, "Projecting Power - Trends Shaping Canada's Air Force in the Year 2019."

The 45-page document was produced by the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre on April 15 and has recently been released publicly by the Air Force.

The report points out that while actual flight training will still be needed to confirm that unit standards are up to par, the technology improvements over the next decade would allow for the first stage of flight training to be done in advanced simulators.

"If the increase in computing power continues, one can expect a 1,000 to 3,000 percent increase in computing power by the 2019 time frame," notes the report. "For simulation technology, the flight in a 2019 simulator (designed and built with 2015 technology) is expected to provide an experience that is practically on par with actual flying conditions.

"Consequently, the latest simulators of tomorrow's time frame will be capable of replacing first-stage flight training as well as most collective and operational flight training," it adds.

By 2019, Canadian Air Force bases will be equipped with significantly increased bandwidth, which could be used to connect simulators for individual, collective and operational training, the report recommends. Under ideal conditions, training centers could be located in five or six metropolitan areas around the country.

Such a system using third-generation full-scale simulators could streamline training times, reduce student failure rates and significantly reduce total costs, the report notes.

Such simulation will be critical, as the report warns that rising energy prices over the next decade could see the Air Force spending between 200 million and 500 million Canadian dollars ($184 million to $460 million) annually on aviation fuel, depending on the cost of oil, according to the report.

Over the last two years, Air Force leaders have acknowledged that high fuel prices have affected budgets, but so far they have not reduced training.

In 2008, Lt. Gen. Angus Watt, then Air Force commander, said that about five years earlier, the service was spending 93 million Canadian dollars a year on aviation fuel, but that figure had climbed to more than 130 million Canadian dollars.

Relying more on simulation also would keep down maintenance costs and allow platforms to be used longer, the report adds.

Air Force officials would not comment on the report.

However, defense analyst Martin Shadwick said that while advanced simulation would help reduce fuel and maintenance costs, he questioned whether future technology could provide what the Air Force wants.

"I think they might have been on the optimistic side on what simulation can do," said Shadwick, a strategic studies professor at York University in Toronto. "Simulation might improve quality of training and allow for more bang for the buck, but there will still be the need for time in the aircraft."

Shadwick said that simulation improvements could reduce the number of training aircraft needed, although the pool of training planes is relatively small.

In the last year, the Canadian Forces has been making efforts to streamline its aviation training.

In late June, the Air Force also announced it was creating 2 Canadian Air Division/Air Force Doctrine and Training Division. Watt said such a move would regroup the majority of Air Force training, education and lessons-learned functions into one formation, allowing a sharper focus on doctrine, training and associated support.

The Air Force also is moving ahead in acquiring new simulators. CAE of Montreal has been named as the Operational Training Systems Provider (OTSP) for its fleet of C-130J transport planes, to be delivered starting next year, and for the Chinook utility helicopter. Deliveries of the helicopters are expected to start after 2012.

Under the 329 million Canadian dollar OTSP contract, CAE would provide simulators and training packages for the two air fleets and potentially other future aircraft fleets.

Marc Parent, president of CAE, said the technology for future simulation and training systems will focus on creating almost instantaneous imagery for the pilot being trained.

The imagery, drawing from a database, would be generated in the simulator as quickly as the operator turns his head or alters the position of the aircraft. The effect, Parent said, is a truly immersive simulation.