Intensive training for RAAF 'mission managers'

The training of navigators has undergone significant changes as cockpit and flight management system technology has evolved and as navigators themselves evolve into mission and weapon system managers.
Graduates of the RAAF's School of Air Navigation at East Sale in Victoria are much more than competent aerial navigators, they are systems operators in the widest sense with skills acquired during the intensive 44-week training enabling them to take charge of the tactical employment of multi-sensor aircraft in readiness for operational conversion to F-111, AP-3C or C-130H.

The integrated flight management systems they will program for missions and then monitor and manage - including radio compass, radar, Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN), Global Postioning System (GPS), Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), Direction Measuring Equipment (DME) and Auto Direction Finding (ADF) - are a far cry from the almost bare cockpits of the RAAF's early days.

But is air navigation a dying art? Modern flight management systems (FMS), with their missions pre-programmed and loaded in, provide very accurate positioning. In the case of the RAAF's recently introduced J model Hercules a navigator as such would be unnecessary. The C-130J-30 is a strategic airlifter and requires no navigator/mission manager for its point to point line haul activities.

However the ADF's other tactical transport, strike and maritime reconnaissance aircraft are involved in far more complex missions, including the location and tracking of moving targets, often in a hostile environment requiring the use of defensive countermeasures. On both F-111 and AP-3C the tactical role may require the operation of weapons systems.

Here the navigator/mission manager/tactical coordinator/weapons operator has a major role and the broad SAN curriculum attests to the range of skills to be acquired so that its graduates can fill these demanding roles.

It is somewhat surprising that, unlike the senior commander position that such specialist skills bestow aboard RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft, the RAAF TACCO on the AP-3C, while responsible for the tactical coordination of the aircraft, including the management of defensive and offensive systems, is not in command of the aircraft. This remains the responsibility of the pilot. A problem here is that the people in the back of the maritime patrol aircraft may have greater understanding of the tactical situation, including situational awareness, than those in the cockpit.

The SAN's Basic Phase provides 32 weeks of instruction in the skills, techniques and knowledge necessary to navigate safely at both medium level, and the more demanding low-level environment. These skills and techniques are developed progressively.

Students begin flying training with visual navigation and mental dead reckoning exercises in the B200 Super King Air. They then move on to the HS748(NT) in which they undertake simple navigation-aid tracking and radar fixing exercises at medium level. The functions and use of an automatic navigation system are gradually introduced so that mid-way through the Basic Phase students should have mastered the principles of navigation in a benign environment.

At this stage, low-level and mixed profile exercises are introduced so that situational awareness can be developed and students can be taught how to cope with factors such as terrain, restricted airspace and the effects of weather. Despite the progressive increase in exercise complexity, students are expected to demonstrate the mental capacity to continue to apply the skills taught at earlier stages in the course.

All the HS748(NT) sorties are supported by synthetic exercises in the Synthetic Navigation Trainer simulator, recently updated by BAE Systems. A structured second (assistant) navigator syllabus is used to aid in the development of airmanship. At the end of the Basic Phase students are streamed to Maritime or Tactical Overland according to role suitability.

During the basic phase, ground training courses (both classroom and SNT) cover Navigation, Performance, King Air and HS748(NT) Aircraft Systems, Air Traffic Control, Navigation Systems Satellite Navigation, Communication Systems, Radar, Electronic Combat, Flying Safety, Meteorology, Military Communications, Morse Code (still needed for identifying radio direction aids), Safety Equipment, Weapon Systems, and Search and Rescue.

The next phase - role reinforcement - lasts 12 weeks and prepares maritime and tactical overland students for operational conversion. Maritime flying is conducted on the HS748(NT) and covers area operations, track surveillance and tactical communications.

Tactical overland flying is conducted on the B200 Super King Air and comprises low-level, day and night, visual and radar sorties in a simulated threat environment. Tactical scenarios are used throughout so that all exercises are conducted in a setting optimised for the instruction of role-related skills and techniques. As well as learning how to direct the tactical employment of the aircraft, students need to continue to apply the fundamentals of safe navigation and airmanship as sortie workload increases.

Project Air 5232 originally set out to upgrade the avionics on six of the RAAF's eight HS748 Navigation Training aircraft and modify the procedural navigation training facility at East Sale.

Some years back BAE Systems Australia was awarded a $22 million contract to undertake the upgrade which included installing a new ground mapping radar (the AN/APN-241 acquired by BAES from Northrop Grumman), integrating the radar display with the aircraft's navigation system, installing a radar warning receiver (RWR) simulator, as well as modifying the Synthetic Navigation Trainer (SNT).

The first major snag came when the RAAF withdrew the HS748 as the platform for the airborne element due to its poor availability and rising maintenance costs. This aspect of the project was then put on hold as consideration was given to replacing the HS748s while work on the SNT continued. With the withdrawal of the HS748s the search began for another aircraft able to accommodate the sizeable antenna of the ground-mapping radar - earlier reduced in size (and therefore transmitted power and effective range) from its parent, the APG-66, fitted on early model F-16s. Also needed was sufficient cabin space for two student training consoles (NAV1 and NAV2).

About 18 months ago the project office announced that the six HS 748s would be replaced by four Beech 1900Ds. This followed scoping studies by BAES to re-baseline the contract and determine the feasibility of installing the radar, antenna and other equipment in the 1900D. The size of the ground mapping radar's antenna was the major driver in the selection of the 1900D. At this stage the project expected to see the introduction of the four 1900Ds with an avionics package comprising the high resolution, ground-mapping AN/AP-241 radar, INS, GPS and a simulated Radar Warning Receiver.

This would all be linked to a mission computer with a 53cm tactical display, keyboard and joystick controller. The aircraft would have two forward facing consoles either linked or worked separately by a single instructor. The aircraft required a re-profiled nose to accommodate the antenna of the APN-241 and a new nose (without the antenna) underwent aerodynamic flight trials.

However cost pressures and the broad mission management role sought for SAN graduates, has led to reduced emphasis on radar training per se, now adequately handled by simulation training on the ground. And due to the variety of inputs received by the FMS, recreating a modern data fusion and presentation environment for navigators/system operators, it was reasoned that there was no longer any need for a ground mapping radar. A good weather radar would provide adequate inputs into the FMS. It is also cheaper.

Since the bulk and weight of the AN/APN-241 and its antenna had driven the selection of the 1900D, Air Force is now considering a single type (King Air) fleet to replace the current mixed King Air/HS748NT fleet. It is anticipated that the RAAF will maintain individual positional information for the two student stations through existing instruments such as TACAN, DME and ADF. Radar, GPS and INS data will be fused to present tactical information such as track, waypoints and terrain data on a single, fully integrated display. A simulated RWR will be used to inject tactical realism during training exercises.

The SNT's current role as a procedural trainer with an instructor control station and 12 student positions and able to provide up to 12 different simulated missions simultaneously will be maintained. The mission sorties will be compatible with those flown in the aircraft and capable of being modified. The SNT will be able to generate sorties for use in the airborne trainers and post-sortie data from the aircraft will also run in the SNT.

By Tom Muir, Canberra