Military personnel
and industry partners are using pioneering technology to train
Armed Forces personnel for fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan
from a hangar at RAF Waddington near Lincoln.
RAF Tornado aircrew from II (AC) Squadron based at RAF Marham in
Norfolk, Army Air Corps personnel from Wattisham Airfield in
Suffolk and soldiers from 97 Battery, 4 th Regiment based at
Topcliffe in Yorkshire are due to deploy to Afghanistan next year
are using the Distributed Synthetic Air Land Training (DSALT)
system to get the best possible preparation they can. The DSALT
facility enables pilots to fly simulated missions in support of
soldiers in contact with computer generated enemy forces on the
ground on exercises supported by a technical and operational team
of military, ex-military and civilian backgrounds from Inzpire,
QinetiQ, Boeing and Meggit.
The Air Battlespace Training Centre (ABTC) recently reopened
following a major refurbishment and software upgrade and now the
scenarios are more realistic than ever before thanks to the
introduction of a new Afghanistan database.
It is the first time that most of the soldiers have taken part in
this type of integrated air-land synthetic simulator training and
so far the feedback has been extremely positive. Training Staff
taking part in Ex Mountain Dragon have said that the exercise
provides the best synthetic training for the Army and RAF to
practice their fighting skills currently available anywhere in the
world. The ABTC synthetic environment allows individuals and teams
to train in a highly realistic high-threat environment and carry
out the Tactics Techniques and Procedures that cannot be practiced
in normal peacetime training. The exercises are supported by a
technical and operational team comprised of military, ex-military
and civilian backgrounds.
Among the first military personnel to try out the system, as part
of Exercise Mountain Dragon, are troops who act as Fire Support
Teams (FSTs) including Forward Air Controllers (FACs) on the front
line. The job of the FST is to co-ordinate modern weapons; from
the Army’s artillery, mortars and Apache helicopters to the bombs
and missiles used by the RAF’s fast jets, to engage the enemy
without endangering their own comrades, allied forces or
civilians.
The opportunities for military units to train as they fight are
constrained by peacetime rules, the availability of training
airspace and limitations on the employment of live weaponry. But
that’s where the technology provided by the ABTC at RAF Waddington
as its Officer Commanding, Wing Commander Mike ‘Elvis’ Costello explains:
“We can’t replace the need for live training altogether but we
can get as close to actual operations through synthetic simulated
training. How good it is depends on how immersed the players get
in it and they are finding it as close to the real thing as you
can get without the ‘knee-tremblers’ you experience under fire.
Exercises like Mountain Dragon provide targeted training for
soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan operating very close to the
enemy on how to work with the RAF’s fast jets, and attack
helicopter pilots, how to talk to them, and how to effectively
execute a mission.”
Royal Artillery Gunnery Training Team Chief Instructor Lieutenant
Colonel Stuart Gray has been involved in training all the Army
Brigades deployed on Operation HERRICK and was in Helmand province
during Operation PANTHER’s CLAW. His team provide the Army
training staff for Exercise Mountain Dragon.
He said “The Air Battlespace Training Centre, and specifically
Exercise Mountain Dragon, provide the best synthetic training
opportunity for the Army and RAF to practice their fighting skills
currently available anywhere in the world. The course at RAF
Waddington is awesome and has a significant impact on both
soldiers and airmen and their ability to coordinate and deliver
military firepower. This is truly joint training at its best and
is definitely improving operational effectiveness and saving lives
in Afghanistan.”
Notes to Editors
1. For stills and imagery please go to www.defencenewsimagery.mod.uk
and use the following details:
User Name: GuestUser
Password: GoldenMedal
2. The ABTC contains simulators for the Typhoon, the Tornado GR4
bomber, AWACs early warning aircraft, and the AH-64 Apache
helicopter. Its simulators can also represent the effects of
Harrier GR9 aircraft, A-10 ‘Tankbusters’, F16 fighters, C-130
Hercules Transport aircraft, attack helicopters and support
helicopters. These all operate within a common synthetic
environment within which the ABTC can create computer generated
forces from almost every nation in the world to act as allies,
neutrals and adversaries.
3. A key element of the training is the debrief where the
centre’s software allows users to view the exercise: in a two
dimensional view from above the battle space, in a three
dimensional representation of the complete battle space from any
position in it (including from the cockpits), to a ‘through the
eyes’ viewpoint of the soldier on the ground calling in artillery
and air support. The ABTC is not limited to the four walls of a
hangar at RAF Waddington. Its technicians have used secure
long-haul networks to link up with simulators operated by the Army
Air Corps, Royal Navy, United States Air Force, Australian Air
Force and the Canadian Air Force.
Contact:
The Media & Communications Team 01522-726804/6841/6827 or
WAD-Station-Enquiries@mod.uk
Contacts:
Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk