Live Trainer Jet Flies With Ground Simulators

Air Education and Training Command (AETC) achieved a modernization milestone as instructor pilots from the 99th Flying Training Squadron and civilian simulator instructors from the 12th Training Squadron executed AETC's inaugural live-virtual-constructive (LVC) capability flight between the T-7A Red Hawk and the T-7A Ground-Based Training System.

Red Hawk aircraft APT-4, piloted by Lt. Col. Michael Trott, 99th FTS commander, and Lt. Col. Phillip Bourquin, 99th FTS operations officer, was digitally linked to two ground simulator cockpits flown by civilian simulator instructors Robb Erickson and Ryan Sparkman.

Through secure, high-bandwidth tactical data links, the simulators communicated directly with the airborne T-7A, sharing an identical common operating picture with the aircrew. Simulator cockpits and airborne jets can track each other's flight parameters, sensor sweeps and weapons employment simultaneously. A student in a ground simulator can fly as a virtual wingman or adversary against a live jet, while simulator instructors inject constructive threats, such as surface-to-air missile rings, electronic warfare jamming and simulated adversary aircraft, into both cockpit displays in real time.

"Accomplishing this capability for the first time inside AETC represents a paradigm shift in how we train and build combat-ready aircrews," said Erickson, the 12th TRS T-7A civilian simulator instructor lead. "When APT-4 took flight, we weren't just flying another training sortie. We established a live, bi-directional data link fusing an airborne aircraft directly into our simulators and synthetic battlespace."

"The synthetic injection we proved today challenges aircrews with threat presentations and sensor-management puzzles that were impossible to replicate on our legacy flying platforms," Sparkman added.

The flight establishes a technical baseline for syllabus modernization under future undergraduate pilot training, as the 12th Flying Training Wing prepares for the arrival of the production Red Hawk fleet. The T-7A will replace the 1960s-era T-38.