SIMULATED REALITY TAKES OFF TO GREATER HEIGHTS

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Flight Simulator Centre (FSC) officially unveiled two of its latest state-of-the-art simulation trainers on 26 Oct.

Located in Paya Lebar Air Base, the F-16C/D Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) and the F-5S OFT are full-mission trainers that provide a realistic and safe environment for pilots to be trained on basic aircraft handling, instrument flying, night flying, emergency procedures as well as various air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.

"We have taken a step forward towards the 3G Air Force," said Commanding Officer of the Flight Simulator Centre, Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Mike Yeo.

The F-16C/D OFT is the first dual-seat cockpit simulator in the region.

It enables F-16 pilots and Weapons System Officers (Fighter) to carry out tactical training in areas of team co-ordination, contingency planning, emergency procedures and in-flight decision-making before they take to the skies.

"Without the OFT, the first time they are going to fly together will be in the actual aircraft. If they can do this in the simulator first, then in actual flying, their training curve will be accelerated," said LTC Yeo (left).

The F-16C/D OFT is able to generate up to 200 computer situations per scenario, and each can be imprinted with various combat behaviours, resulting in independent actions carried out in different circumstances.

Since it was ready for training in Dec 2004, about 1,400 sorties and 1,300 hours have been 'flown'.

The idea of the RSAF having its first F-16C/D OFT was floated in the late 1990s. This was to avoid the costly and time-consuming effort to send F-16 pilots to countries such as the United States and South Korea for simulator training.

As for the new F-5S OFT, which was developed locally by ST Electronics, it boasts an avionics upgrade that allows pilots to practise their avionics management and also system handling replacing the older OFT that was "simply used to fly".

The system is capable of simulating emergencies, weather conditions and setting up to 500 different scenarios, each with a maximum of 50 computer-generated situations, each imprinted with various combat behaviours.

Since it was released for training in Jul 2004, 800 sorties have been completed and 700 hours of flight time, clocked.

The FSC is in the process of linking the two systems for more interactive training against a "real and thinking enemy", and it hopes to link up even more simulators in the future.

For Chief Flight Instructor Major (MAJ) Lee Chih Fei (left), the most impressive feature of the new OFTs is the vivid imagery displayed.

"You have very accurate details of the Singapore landscape," raved MAJ Lee.

"In addition, you also have the various weather depictions of what we see in our tropical climate and this injects a very good sense of realism."

"So while the pilots are flying it, along the way, they actually don't realise they are in the simulator and not in the real aircraft. That is the intent we want the training to be meaningful," he added.

Besides the two new OFTs, the FSC also houses the A4-SU OFT and two air combat simulators that are used by pilots to practise their manoeuvring and air combat skills.

"Now, all our fighter simulators are under one roof and the FSC can better manage overall simulator training for all the RSAF's fighter pilots and WSOs," said LTC Yeo.

The Chief of Air Force, Major-General Lim Kim Choon (second from left), witnessing a demonstration of the OFT during the commissioning ceremony on 26 Oct.

The F-16C/D OFT Instructor Operator Station is equipped with 11 LCD monitor screen displays and is the control hub of the simulator.

The Instructor Operator Station of the F-5S OFT is located in the control room and managed by the instructor who will control and monitor the simulation training.