Page 74 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

74
AIRPOWER
PILOT TRAINING SYSTEM
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
DEFENCE
LEFT: The Air 5428 suite of projects are delivering
a contemporary aircrew training capability for the ADF for pilot and mission training
AIR 5428 PHASE 3
This upcoming stage of the Air 5428 family of projects will deliver a Future Air Mission Training System to the RAAF, used to train mission aircrew (other than pilots), includ- ing Air Mobility Officers, Air Battle Managers, Air Traffic Controllers, Weapons Systems Officers, and more, includ- ing the possibility of training Remotely Piloted Air System operators. It is worth $500 million and will replace the ex- isting system delivered through the Air Mission Training School and School of Air Traffic Control (SATC) at RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria.
The Commonwealth released a request for information (RFI) for this program in September 2020, in which it stated that it is seeking a solution to produce aircrew ‘up
to 2047’. An invitation to register (ITR) for Phase 3 was released in February 2022, which selected Boeing Defence Australia, CAE Australia, Lockheed Martin Australia and Raytheon Australia to receive requests for tender in ‘early 2023’. The next stage of the program will place tendered solutions into a competitive evaluation process prior to gov- ernment consideration in 2024.
According to Wing Commander Mark Wilkins, these companies were shortlisted to replace the ground training, airborne training and learning environments with a mod- ern integrated learning environment.
“The Future Air Mission Training System forms part of Defence’s aircrew training program,” Wing Commander Wilkins said. “It will be transformative, evolvable, flexible and enduring with the most appropriate and up-to-date training methods and tools to generate future officer avia-
“The unmodified PC-21, as delivered to the Pilot Train- ing System under Air 5428, can satisfy up to 80 per cent of JTAC training system live-fly requirements, however does not have the ability to provide the live weapons passes needed to complete initial, currency, and proficiency train- ing,” a Defence spokesperson said.
The replacement aircraft will be acquired under a project called Air 6016 (Joint Terminal Attack Control System), for which a request for information (RFI) was released in July 2022. This revealed that desired performance for the replace- ment aircraft is a cruise speed of 180 knots at 5,000 ft, an on-station endurance of at least one and a half hours at that altitude, a maximum range of at least 600 nautical miles, a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 ft and a load limit fac- tor of at least +4/-1.5 G. Lockheed Martin has
tion (mission) and selected airmen avia- tion candidates to meet ADF needs until at least 2040.”
Boeing Defence Australia is propos- ing a solution for Air 5428 Phase 3 that includes a modular integrated learn- ing environment with cloud-based ICT; ‘modern learning materials’; and both air and ground-based elements: “If selected, Boeing Defence Australia will draw on its
unique in-house capabilities, and the best of Australian in- dustry to deliver an affordable, scalable and contemporary training system,” a company spokesperson said.
CAE is leading Team AUStringer, which includes Cob- ham Aviation Services and Nova Systems. CAE current- ly supports the delivery of training to RAAF aircrew on platforms such as the C-130J, KC-30A, AP-3C, and Hawk Mk.127, while Nova Systems brings experience gained from Air 5428 Phase 1.
Lockheed Martin Australia is of course the incumbent, having delivered Air 5428 Phase 1, and intends to lever- age this experience should it be selected for Phase 3, while Raytheon originally bid for Phase 1 of the program along- side BAE Systems Australia. ■
not bid for this program.
Meanwhile, according to a Defence
spokesperson, the PTS has now fully transi- tioned into the sustainment phase.
“The pilot training system delivered by
Air 5428 has fully transitioned into sustain-
ment,” the spokesperson said to ADM. “Sus-
tainment is not just about keeping aircraft
serviceable and training devices working – it
continually keeps technologies up-to-date in order to con- tinue supporting pilot training for the longer term.”
One of the challenges now faced is keeping trainee grad- uation rates high, which involves balancing course sizes against resources required through the program.
“The pilot training system is a complex system,” the spokesperson said. “The greatest challenge for sustainment is to maximise trainee graduation rates by optimising pilot course size and scheduling with the various resource in- puts that are needed to support throughput.”
Defence also confirmed that ‘all required deliveries’ were made to the RAAF by October 2022, and that Final Opera- tional Capability (FOC) was slated for December 2022 (the time of writing).
“AN INVITATION TO
REGISTER (ITR) FOR PHASE 3 WAS RELEASED IN FEBRUARY 2022”