Cirrus' upgraded ACOTS enters operational service

Drop 3 of the Cirrus Air Combat Officer Training System (ACO-TS) has now entered into operational service with the RAAF School of Air Warfare (SAW, East Sale).

This follows completion by the RAAF after two months of operational test and evaluation of the upgraded ACO-TS.

Cirrus was contracted in December 2011 by DMO Training Aircraft Systems Program Office (TASPO), to develop the upgraded ACO-TS.

Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) was completed in June 2012 and the upgraded system completed acceptance testing and airworthiness certification ahead of schedule in August 2012.

The wide-ranging project improved ACO-TS display and management of tactical and mission data, with the centre-piece being improvements to the radar simulation, addressing rendering of ground terrain to 30m x 30m fidelity replete with cultural features (roads, dams etc.), and modelling of environmental impacts on sensor imagery.

The Cirrus ACO-TS is based on Cirrus Simulation Training Network and Sensor Simulation Engine (STN & SSE) technologies which have been adapted to meet the RAAF’s requirements under previous contracts.

Cirrus managing director Peter Freed said that the engineering undertaken on this project spans a wide range of activities usually regarded as high risk, including scientific algorithms, complex software development and integration and formal aerospace regulatory processes.