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  14 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  FAcT to Deliver Relevant, Flexible and Effective Aircrew Training Solution

  Marcello Sukhdeo An interview with Colonel Pete Saunders, Director of Air Simulation and Training, Royal Canadian Air Force In February 2016, the Future Aircrew Training program was granted a broader scope to include current Air Combat Systems Officers (ACSO) and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operators, otherwise known as AES Ops. As a result, the “Future Pilot Training Project” was renamed Future Aircrew Training, or FAcT. Pilots, ACSOs and AES Ops share core skills and knowledge for which a common training system may be employed. The design of the new training system will seek to incorporate the latest and best concepts and technologies for aircrew training available from industry and in use by other militaries around the world. Through the FAcT program, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will ensure that the three aircrew occupations move on to their Operational Training Units with sufficient immersion in live flying and simulation to provide them with appropriate skill sets in their respective fields. Recently, Vanguard had the opportunity to interview Colonel Pete Saunders Director of Air Simulation and Training with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) about the FAcT program. Col Saunders enrolled in the Canadian Forces in March 1990. Since that time, he has enjoyed operational postings flying and instructing on his beloved Sea King Helicopters at 443 (MH) Sqn in Pat Bay, British Columbia; 423 (MH) Sqn, and 12 Wing Operations in Shearwater, Nova Scotia; culminating in Command of 406 (M) OTS. He has served onboard HMCS Annapolis, HMCS Iroquois, HMCS Fredericton and HMCS Toronto and has deployed throughout the Middle East. Col Saunders, we know that there is a shortage of pilots in Canada. Of course, this problem is not just limited to Canada, but is a global issue as well. What is the current level of pilot/aircrew production in Canada, and how many more will FAcT produce once that program is in place? While the RCAF does not have a shortage of applicants for a career as a pilot, low levels of experienced personnel pose a risk to the RCAF's operational output, which impacts the RCAF's ability to train, absorb, and employ its personnel in certain capabilities. The RCAF, in conjunction with CAF senior leadership, is putting in place targeted short-term objectives and holistic long-term activities that will stabilize and grow the RCAF pilot experience levels across all training and operational aircraft fleets. One of these initiatives is the augmentation of pilot training capacity. This will serve to increase the timeliness, absorption, and production of New Wing Graduates (NWG) and pilot Operational Training Unit Graduates (OTU), while being postured to rapidly absorb these pilots at the tactical squadrons. The FAcT program will deliver a relevant, flexible and effective aircrew training solution that modernizes the initial phases of pilot training currently provided via the NFTC and CFTS contracts as well as initial training ACSOs and AES Ops. 2 Canadian Air Division produced 100 New Winged Grads (NWG) during the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Broken down into the subsequent streams for pilots, this number represents 21 Phase III Harvard, 49 helicopter, and 33 multi-engine pilots. Additionally, 38 ACSOs and 17 AES Ops were produced in the same timeframe. The new program will produce an increased number of graduates to a newly defined standard. Specifically, FAcT seeks to generate 120 Pilots, 40 ACSOs and 36 AES Ops each year. Pilot training can be quite costly. What is the current cost of training a basic pilot, and how much will it cost under the new contract? The current training program for pilots is conducted under the auspices of two service contracts: A $3.8 billion, 25-year contract with CAE Military Aviation Training, ending in 2023 (as last amended), for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program, which operates out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; A $1.8 billion, 22-year contract with Allied Wings, ending in 2027, for the Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS) program, which operates out of Southport Aerospace Centre near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (3 CFFTS) conducts flying training on the Multi-Engine and the Helicopter training programs while the contractor, Allied Wings, provides all other aspects of training and support services for primary, basic and advanced training programs. The invitation to qualify for the FAcT program identified five qualified suppliers (Airbus Defence and Space, Babcock Canada Inc., Leonardo Canada, Lockheed Martin Canada Inc., SkyAlyne Canada Limited Partnership). Canada is currently in an engagement phase which involves in-depth consultation with the five qualified suppliers. Phase 3 of the solicitation process will be a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process open to the Qualified Suppliers. The potential value of the future contract has yet to be determined. How do you plan to maintain output during the transition between the current contracts (NFTC and CFTS) and FAcT, considering the limited number of instructors on the market and overlap of facilities? One of the tenets of the FAcT transition strategy is that the FAcT contractor will be expected to ramp up with minimal interference and interdependencies with the legacy contractors, including the use of instructors. The FAcT contractor will not have access to infrastructure being used to deliver NFTC and CFTS during transition as it will be in use by the incumbent contractors to deliver legacy training. All FAcT Qualified Suppliers must prepare their bids accordingly. The FAcT transition strategy will continue to evolve as the program moves forward throughout the current and future phases. As other major capital projects have done in the past, the implementation of FAcT will leverage the creation of a program governance structure and the FAcT Training Implementation Working Group (TIWG). All FAcT stakeholders will have a voice at the TIWG to ensure a smooth implementation while the legacy programs continue to operate. What kind of aircraft are we likely to see in Portage and Moose Jaw? The aircraft utilized in training will depend on the training solution proposed by the successful bidder. FAcT is not an aircraft acquisition program; rather, it is a training program. Aircraft – as much as ground-based training systems, courseware, and buildings – are all training aids whose role is to enable the production of winged aircrew. Are any of the current units or wings likely to close or move due to FAcT? RCAF has determined that the basing solution for the FAcT program will remain status quo at contract award in 2021. Ab-initio pilot training will be delivered in Moose Jaw and Southport. Ab-initio training for Air Combat Systems Officers and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operators will be delivered in Winnipeg. Are we going to see more simulation and less actual flying? And what are some of the key capabilities Canada is looking for with FAcT? The FAcT program will increase the overall amount of live flying and simulation for ab-initio Pilot, ACSO and AES Op training as increased output of personnel will of necessity drive an increase in the flying rate. Additionally, fundamental to FAcT is the intent to incorporate training from the operational training units where it makes sense to do so. This will likewise increase both simulated and live-fly training leading to Wings-standard. A comparison between the ratio of the current NFTC/CFTS programs and the FAcT program is not yet possible because the proposed training solutions from the Qualified Suppliers will differ in their approach to live flying and simulation. The FAcT program will ensure that Pilots, ACSOs and AES Ops move on to their Operational Training Units with sufficient immersion in live flying and simulation to provide them with appropriate skill sets in their respective fields. The importance of a solid foundation in the air environment for ab-initio military aircrew is imperative to ensure that our future Aircraft Captains, Mission Commanders and AES Op leads are appropriately equipped with the right practical skills for operational service. To learn more about the FAcT program and the next steps, visit https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/amd-dp/air/snac-nfps/ffpn-fact-eng.html. https://vanguardcanada.com/2019/11/11/fact-to-deliver-relevant-flexible-and-effective-aircrew-training-solution/

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  5 mai 2024 | International, Terrestre

  Watchdog agency accuses chief of military police of blocking investigations | CBC News

  The country's military police watchdog has accused the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal of obstructing its independent reviews of complaints.

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  14 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre

  Why the British army tested robots in muddy fields

  By: Grant Turnbull Senior British army officers have signaled their intent to accelerate the fielding of several unmanned — and increasingly autonomous systems — following successful army trials at the end of 2018, but much like other forces around the world the United Kingdom faces challenges from how to modify archaic acquisition processes, to overcoming technical issues. In December, the British army concluded its landmark experimentation exercise known as Autonomous Warrior, in which the service evaluated more than 50 unmanned systems from industry over a month-long period in the south of England. The exercise, which put the robotic systems through grueling trials in muddy fields and a purpose-built facility for urban fighting, was the first attempt by the British army, as well as industry, to determine how the technology will work in a combat environment. Much like other forces around the world, the service hopes to use robots to carry out the dangerous, and often tedious, elements of combat. Over 200 troops — made up of infantry, marines, engineers, airmen as well as U.S. Army personnel — were equipped with a variety of robotic and autonomous systems with the aim of improving areas such as combat mass, soldier lethality and overall information gathering. For example, in one scenario, soldiers used robotic engineering vehicles to clear an obstacle, while a small quadcopter flew overhead to provide infrared imagery before armored infantry rolled in to take an enemy position. Robotic systems with varying levels of autonomy were a key part of the exercise, ranging from radar-equipped drones for detecting buried IEDs, to small two-wheeled robots that are thrown into buildings to search for enemy fighters. The head of the British army, Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith, has directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to speed up the fielding of technology used during the exercise. “His direction to me is very clear,” said Maj. Gen. Chris Tickell, director of capability for the British army. “He wants to see some of this kit in the hands of the field army in 12 to 18 months. “Success or failure will absolutely hinge on what happens after the experiment,” he added. “And that is about the exploitation and proving to industry that we are as good as our word and we are going to take some of these ideas and put them into the hands of the user.” For Tickell, an equipment budget of £22 billion ($28 billion) over the next decade will allow the MoD to purchase new unmanned technologies, but the “trick is to turn the ideas that you see here into tangible capability.” This may require the MoD “to adjust and even devise new acquisition processes to enable rapid acquisition”, said Trevor Taylor, an expert in defense acquisition at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “How will requirements, business cases, competitive tendering or ‘partnering,' testing and safety cases be addressed?” A related challenge continues to be the British army's lack of experience using unmanned and autonomous systems, with commanders using the Autonomous Warrior exercise to better understand capability enhancements as well as the inevitable shortfalls. The officer responsible for coordinating the exercise, Lt Col Nick Serle, told C4ISRNET that while the British army has worked with industry on new technologies it had not previously focused on robots and autonomous systems. “That's why this year we decided to spend a month on Salisbury Plain just focusing on robotics and autonomous systems,” Serle said. He also commands the British army's experimentation unit, known as the Infantry Trials and Development Unit. “This is a real opportunity to bring stuff into the field and really see if it does what industry thinks it's going to do, but also to see if military users will use it the way [industry] thinks they will use it,” Serle said. “There's no one single piece of kit that will solve all our problems, it's a combination of something in the air such as a surveillance asset, something on the ground, perhaps with a weapon on it or just doing logistics, but then it all links through an information system where you can pass that data and make better decisions to generate tempo.” An issue highlighted by Serle was an increasingly crowded radiofrequency spectrum, especially as several unmanned systems jostle for space to beam back high-resolution data from onboard sensors. “The problem is when they start cutting each other out, we are dealing with physics here, if we want to have great high definition video passing across the battlefield we need to trade somewhere else.” Taylor noted that not only will there be a need to ensure that the control systems do not interfere with each other, but also that army leaders “will have to be convinced that new systems are not simply too vulnerable to jamming and other disruptive techniques by an adversary.” A promising development from the exercise is the ability to optionally man a standard vehicle using applique kits that can be fitted within a few hours. Several examples were on display when we visited the exercise in December, including a remote-controlled Warrior infantry fighting vehicle and a lightweight MRZR tactical vehicle. As part of the experimentation, troops used the vehicles in unintended ways. One U.S. Army soldier noting that the MRZR had been a helpful surveillance tool because of its onboard camera. Squads were also keen to use the UGVs to help in entering buildings and also as modern-day pack horses to carry supplies or people. “What we have found is that when troops are using these [UGVs], naturally they just want to jump on the vehicle because it goes faster than they can, and you can move groups very quickly on them,” Serle said. He added that for safety reasons the soldiers were not allowed to hop on board during the exercise. “Optionally manned is good, but whether it needs to be optionally manned with a steering wheel and a seat I don't know, I think you could do it more like a Segway. But there's no doubt people want to get on them.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/robotics/2019/01/11/why-the-british-army-tested-robots-in-muddy-fields/