Q&A: Flight training tech under the spotlight

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Defence IQ has been joined today by John Daniele, the Deputy APEO for Customer Support at the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), to gain some insight on the role of military flight training in the armed forces today, and how it will evolve in the future.

Defence IQ: Mr. Daniele thanks for joining us today. How valuable do you think the increased use of realistic flight simulation for training purposes is becoming?

John Daniele: The value of realistic flight simulation for training cannot be understated, and most importantly cannot be measured in just the significant difference in cost between simulator flying hours and actual aircraft flying hours. Although live training will always be the best training, simulation training makes live training better. In addition, simulator training saves lives! In simulation, one can rehearse dangerous missions and experience adverse conditions safely. With simulation, air crews can experience and conduct emergency procedures consistently and repetitively, giving them the best chance to survive under all circumstances.

Defence IQ: Which attributes – such as realistic cockpits, being G-Force capable etc. – will need to be prioritised for flight simulators in the future?

John Daniele: Realistic flight models, cockpit fidelity and increased realism will remain a high priority for U.S. Army rotary wing training. Accurately simulating the flying characteristics of the aircraft, the touch and feel if you will, creates the learning effect and ultimately the confidence air crews need to be successful. There will always be trade-offs that must be made, particularly in resource constrained environments. That is why acquisition agencies like PEO STRI work closely with the user communities to insure their highest priority needs are met within the available resources.

Defence IQ: How can the military and industry improve communications with technological forecasts and operational requirements? Do they need to?

John Daniele: From my perspective, there is little if any separation between acquisition agencies like PEO STRI and the industry partners that support us. One cannot exist without the other, and therefore both parties equities and priorities have to be addressed in a collaborative manner. At PEO STRI, we have instituted significant outreach methods with industry. On individual requirements we routinely conduct Industry Days to get valuable input from industry prior to and during the acquisition process. Annually, PEO STRI participates in what is called the Training and Simulation Industry Symposium where PEO STRI Leaders, to include our requiring activities or Project Managers, spend an entire day laying out our known and forecasted requirements. This allows industry at large to best posture themselves to meet the training and simulation needs of the warfighter.

Defence IQ: How can we optimise the role of international, joint training initiatives?

John Daniele: PEO STRI has a critical and robust mission that is dedicated to building partner capacity. This includes support to the other services, joint, interagency and extends to allied and coalition partners around the world. Located in Orlando Florida is what we like to refer to as the Center of Excellence for Simulation. PEO STRI is collocated with Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Homeland Security offices charged with carrying out the same or similar missions for their respective agencies. This manifests itself in a highly leveraged and collaborative community formally branded Team Orlando. This approach creates value to our warfighters and first responders that is much greater than the sum of its parts. PEO STRI also has a significant and growing International Programs mission, which through Foreign Military Sales and International Armaments Cooperation activities PEO STRI is exporting and importing the best training and simulation technologies in the world. Standardization and interoperability is as much a desired end state in training as it is in military operations.

Defence IQ: What affect do you think the defence budget cuts will have to the procurement of flight simulators over the next decade?

John Daniele: One only needs to follow the news and economic situations in the U.S. and around the globe to realize that this is the big unknown. Clearly we have entered into a period of austere budgets and hard choices. The training and simulation mission area will not be immune to the effects of these hard choices. At PEO STRI we are beginning to feel the effects with several programs being delayed or deferred. However, given the fact that simulation, and particularly flight simulation saves money, time and lives, we maintain our optimism that the capabilities we provide are recognized and will fair well in the debates to come.

Defence IQ: Thank you for your time and insight today Mr. Daniele.

John Daniele: My pleasure, thank you.

Contributor:   Andrew Elwell

Andrew graduated from The University of Nottingham with an MA in History in 2003. After graduating Andrew started his career with a niche armour systems manufacturer, which provided ballisitic and blast armour products for the international defence market. His first major undertaking was to project manage a UOR up-armour programme for an in-theatre MoD vehicle. After completion of the contract, Andrew headed up the research and development department at the company. This involved designing, developing, testing and presenting new armour solutions to defeat customer specific threats to all major European and International ballistic and blast standards.

Following this Andrew moved behind the desk and became Senior Editor at a news and data provider, offering proprietary analysis, intelligence, market research and data on the global security and defence industry. The role offered the chance to write widely on the industry, exploring new technologies and getting to grips with corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity fundraisings.

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