Boeing

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has developed and fielded the capability to simulate the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) for the U.S. Air Force F-15C aircraft.

The F-15C Mission Training Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, was the first training center to receive this capability and began using it for training operations in late May. The JHMCS displays continuous flight information inside pilots' helmet visors and allows for the aiming or deploying of sensors and air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons.

"The Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System is a revolutionary system that improves situational awareness, lethality and survivability for combat aircrews," said Keith Hertzenberg, vice president and general manager of Training & Support Systems, part of the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Aerospace Support business. "By incorporating this capability into our F-15C Mission Training Systems program, we have taken another step in providing aircrews the ability to train like they will fight, with the highest levels of realism."

In addition to the F-15C Mission Training Center at Elmendorf AFB, the JHMCS capability will also be added to the F-15C facility at Eglin AFB, Fla. These Boeing-operated training centers, as well as the facility at Langley AFB, Va., are part of the Air Force Distributed Mission Operations concept, allowing pilots and aircrews in one location to train with others at locations hundreds, even thousands of miles away. This innovative concept provides the Air Force with enhanced simulator-based training to supplement actual flight time.

Each mission training center includes four-ship sets of F-15C full-mission trainers with high-fidelity, 360-degreee visual integrated display systems. They also include a virtual environment of simulated threats as well as friendly and neutral forces.

In addition to the revolutionary training technology, the Air Force and Boeing have applied an innovative acquisition approach, which includes a commercial-fee-for-service contracting method. Through this method, the Air Force pays for the training it receives and avoids large up-front investments in simulators. Boeing also is responsible for ensuring the training devices are concurrent with the latest upgrades being made to the actual aircraft.

Using the same DMO technology and acquisition approach, Boeing is also establishing F-15E mission training centers at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C.; Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; and Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath in the United Kingdom. Additional F-15C facilities are in work for Kadena AFB in Okinawa and at RAF Lakenheath.