Surviving the Storms

Several days into Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. Army helicopter unit commanders realized they had a problem: The swirling sands and debris stirred up by their AH-64 Apace helicopters were blinding and disorienting their pilots.

Although Apache pilots have been able to train for those harsh conditions in combat simulators for more than a decade, the actual conditions in Iraq were worse than anything they'd seen in simulation.

Before the brownouts could turn deadly, commanders sent an urgent request around the globe to the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) in Florida.

"The experiences of our Apache pilots in the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom dictated that we needed a greater level of visual realism in the simulator," said Army COL Kevin Noonan, PEO STRI program manager fro Combined Arms Tactical Trainers.

Almost two years ago, the Orlando training office hired simulation firm CAE Inc. to overhaul the Army's Apache combat mission trainers. The Montreal firm added new visual and motion systems to improve the simulated experience.

They also made it possible to add and remove software in just minutes, which became key to the Army's ability to update simulators in time to react to wartime condition. Still, with war underway, CAE had only limited options for a quick fix. No matter how quickly a program can be loaded, it still takes time to develop it.

That's when CAE engineers had a brainstorm. While developing a program for U.K. helicopters, the firm had written software to simulate the spume effects that occur when rotocraft operate over the ocean. The engineers tweaked it and presto -- algorithms that once produced simulated mist instead generated a virtual dust storm.

"Brownout over land is similar to what occurs over the ocean. A pilot can lose visibility when spume envelopes around the outside of the aircraft," said Phillippe Perey, director of engineering for visual systems at CAE. "It looks almost identical. Just like spumes, you can completely lose the horizon line and your frame of reference."

Company engineers sent it to Hanau, Germany, where troops were waiting to be deployed. Three days after Army commanders made their request, Apache pilots were experiencing the buck and buffets brought on by Iraqi wind gusts, but in the safety cube-shaped simulators.

By April 1, more than 30 crews from the 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, had begun training for a brownout in day and night takeoff and landing scenarios.

Adding the Dirt

CAE developed the brownout special effects and animation software for its Medallion Image Generators, which can simulate the images produced by infrared sensors and electro-optical cameras, allowing pilots to train for bad weather and night missions.

Installing the brownout effects was simple, Perey said. Once the algorithm was tweaked, CAE downloaded it into the simulator, which already held a comprehensive database of maps of the Iraqi theater of operations.

It can take months to develop a database of maps and objects for a specific environment. But the U.S. Army had 10 years to prepare for the Iraqi war.

PEO STRI officials said that as other threats arise in other parts of the world, the helicopter commanders will be able to swap out the Apache simulators' databases to provide whatever training is necessary -- for instance, to replicate new types of operational environments such as cities.

"The wires are as startling and sinister as they are in the real world. The tree stands and peripheral vegetation force us to carefully maneuver the aircraft just as we would in an actual mission." PEO STRI officials wrote in responses to Defense News questions.

One former Army pilot said that incorporating this new technology may help the service defend the Apache attack helicopter program itself. Critics question the helicopters' survivability when about 30 Apaches took small arms fire and had to abort a mission in Iraq. One helicopter crash-landed and the pilots were captured and later released, a crash that is still being investigated.

"With this new and much better training technology available, I'm sure young pilots will be able to fly and master that mission a thousand times over so it never happens again," the former Army pilot said.

The foundation to prepare for that kid of mission also is part of CAE's improvement program. The revamped device can be connected to other simulators with the same database that allows not only crew, but collective training.

"Not only are the crews now forced to fight smart enemies, but they can join a battle in progress and greatly influence the outcome," the PEO STRI officials said.

CAE worked with Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Mission Systems Sector, Reston, Va., on the simulator program.