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F-16: Training Systems

SELEX Systems Integration (formerly VEGA) supported the Dutch and Norwegian air forces technical training with the integration of a cockpit emulation with self paced and instructor-led courseware and an off-the-shelf management system.

Challenge

The Royal Netherlands and Norwegian air forces procured the Technical Training Package (TTP) in response to new training requirements arising from the Mid Life Update (MLU) of the F-16 aircraft. They needed an integrated training solution.

The TTP supports both type conversion and recurrent training of F-16 avionics technicians. It specifically addresses the following learning objectives:

• Knowledge of the aircraft systems, component locations and operating modes
• Acquisition of cognitive skills such as fault diagnosis and use of test equipment, as well as an understanding and recognition of failure modes
• Practice and testing or troubleshooting skills and procedures, including Technical Orders and Fault Isolation

How SELEX Systems Integration Helped

Under the F-16 ATTP project, the following deliverables are provided:

• Course design documents and training manuals
• An off-the-shelf Computer Managed Instruction (CMI) package
• Instructor led and student self paced Computer Based Training (CBT) courseware
• A cockpit emulation of the F-16 avionics

Value Delivered

An extensive course and instructional design process was undertaken in conjunction with subject matter experts from the Dutch and Norwegian air forces. Information concerning the student population, instructor and learning environment was used to formulate the training philosophy against which the TTP course was designed. The considerable experience from previous F-16 technical training was applied as the basis for analysing each training requirement and formulating a media solution for the new course.

An extensive instructor handbook is provided which documents the course structure and identifies all of the materials for the course, ranging from introductory CBT lessons to wall charts and paper-based exams.

A CMI package defines the overall structure of the course. It also includes a number of powerful features for tracking student progress and performance and for generating reports. As the course progresses, the CMI manages student access to the course materials and launches the appropriate lesson elements.

Attention has been paid to ensuring that a consistent look and feel is provided across the CMI, courseware and emulations. This was achieved by identifying the graphical user interface of both Windows NT and the CMI package, rather than building a bespoke front end.

The courseware is divided into instructor-led and student self paced materials. Both make use of state-of-the-art multimedia, including 2 and 3-dimensional animations, still drawings, photographs, video and audio. Students can use their training handbooks with the computer-based material for revision purposes.

The multimedia courseware is supported by an emulation of the F-16 cockpit and avionics systems, which reproduces the functionality, behaviour and appearance of the real aircraft. The students or instructors can navigate around the virtual aircraft and interact with it via ‘point and click’ mechanism using a mouse.

Extensive use is made of the equipment emulation to support the instructor led sessions, in particular through the use of dynamic schematic diagrams which are linked to the state of the emulation. These can be used to illustrate system behaviour and operation.

3D modelling techniques have been applied to provide high quality representations of the aircraft controls, indications and external components. The external views of the aircraft also display the state of flight control surfaces in response to operations in the cockpit. Along with the dynamic schematic diagrams, this provides a powerful tool for the instructor.

The TTP emulation includes a library of fault conditions. For students troubleshooting exercises the emulations are launched by the CMI with pre-configured fault scenarios for the student to diagnose and rectify. Feedback on student performance is provided to the instructor via the CMI system.