Written on February 23, 2011 at 11:07 am by

Keeping America’s Top Fighter Pilots Flying High

Filed under STEM, Technology {3 comments}
Airmen on board an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. (Photo: DOD)

Airmen on board an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. (Photo: DOD)

This blog post was shared by the Modeling & Simulation Information Analysis Center. It is the eight in our 22-part series produced by the Defense Technical Information Center.

The pilots who man and fly the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are charged with an important task: keeping America’s top fighter pilots safe from potential enemy aircraft.  But making sure AWACS pilots can keep up with the increasingly rigorous training can be almost as daunting; especially at a time when advancing threats are constantly changing.

So, how does the Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) handle situations like this?  By leveraging real-world experts in modeling and simulation technologies to design and develop simulated training.

Simulated training is just one of the many modeling and simulation capabilities the Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center (MSIAC) maintains.  In fact, MSIAC routinely works with organizations, including the ACC, to employ modeling and simulation technologies to solve some of DoD’s toughest challenges.  In the case of the ACC, MSIAC developed a unique combination of simulation-based training and live-fly training missions to ensure AWACS pilots remained mission ready.  Through this hybrid solution, the ACC was able to cut training costs by 50% and increase the rigor of the overall training.

So, how do our top fighter pilots manage to stay out of harm’s way? Let’s just say, they have a fully trained and highly reliable wingman running radar for them.

The Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center (MSIAC) is one of ten Information Analysis Centers (IACs) established by DoD and managed by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).MSIAC is the DOD Center of Excellence responsible for acquiring, archiving, analyzing, synthesizing, and disseminating scientific and technical information related to Modeling and Simulation

Interested in learning more, or working with MSIAC on an upcoming effort? MSIAC can be reached via the IAC website at http://iac.dtic.mil/.

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  • AGSP

    As a former AWAC aircraft flight crewmember, I can assure you that although the AWACS pilots are in full command of the aircraft, the responsibility to guide, direct and help protect our fighter pilots from friendly or enemy aircraft falls most squarely on the shoulders of the dozen or two personnel who sit in various stations behind the bulkhead. These men and women work the radar(s) & radios, they direct our aircraft (“air traffic control”) and provide surveillance and continually communicate in various ways with our fighters.

    New multi-aircraft simulations allow all of various aircraft (AWACS, fighter, ground crew, even tanker) personnel to go through full exercises without ever having to leave the ground, while truly interacting with each other in all mission-related activities as if they all were actually flying. They may not be physically near each other in true life, but these very realistic, multi-aircraft simulations are performed between disparate sites, greatly reducing fuel and aircraft maintenance costs while achievement true interdisciplinary training.

    BTW, the DoD picture (above) doesn’t do any justice to the real operating environment inside our aircraft. (And unless we’re talking of an emergency loss of pressurization, or in an exercise of such loss of pressure, AWAC’ers don’t wear oxygen masks!)

  • Bandsaw_H

    The pilots who man and fly AWACS have a critical job, but this article is not about them, but rather its about the officers and enlisted in the back who establish, manage and broadcast the air picture with AWACS’ mission sensors. Again, our pilots do an incredible job, but not all Airmen who fly and fight are pilots.

  • PAv8r

    AGSP and Bandsaw are both correct. Since it’s being discussed, those crewmen (and women) on the E3 directing are Air Battle Managers (13B) and enlisted 1C5′s assisting. They aren’t air traffic control (though it may be a simple explanation)– they handle coordination for air to air, air to ground, air refueling, search and rescue to name some tasks. It’s a 8 year commitment for an officer to join this career field and it’s a serious business.

    BTW, the photo is not of the E3 simulator. By looking at it (headrest and patches) it’s actually not a USAF E3, but a NATO bird.

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