Not only strong in body and spirit go to military aviation, but also ready for large amounts of knowledge and the most difficult training. For example, the training of a highly professional fighter pilot in Russia lasts 7-8 years and costs the state an average of $ 5 million. Modern developments and technologies make it possible to reduce these labor costs. Interactive automated learning systems are used for this purpose.
Using the example of the solutions of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, we understand how military pilots are trained today and where else training materials of a modern format can benefit.
At the desk with "MIG"
Training on simulators has become a common thing for Russian military pilots. With their help, they practice their actions before getting into the cockpit of a real combat vehicle. There are specialized manufacturers of exercise aircraft in the Russian aviation industry, however, aircraft design bureaus themselves offer their own solutions for training pilots. Thus, the Mikoyan Design Bureau is engaged in the creation of technical training facilities (TSO) for "MiGs" since the early 2000s. And there are undeniable advantages in this approach.
Firstly, if earlier contractors manufactured training materials and systems after the release of a new aircraft, now MiG customers receive a training kit almost simultaneously with the machine, which accelerates the start of studies. This approach was especially in demand for foreign customers, in working with whom a high level of service is important. Secondly, the product turns out to be more holistic and of high quality, and its elements can be used not only in the training of pilots, but also, for example, in the training of technical staff or assembly workers.
Five steps into the sky
The training complex created by migovtsy was called IASO − an interactive automated training system. And the word "system" is key here, since it is not just a set of arbitrary components, but a whole sequential course. Its structure includes five levels of training, covering the entire set of knowledge and skills necessary for a military pilot.
The first level is group work in lecture classes. Then comes the time for individual training based on computerized workplaces. Here the cadets master all the systems and subsystems of the aircraft, answer control questions. At the third level, we are working with so-called procedural simulators, which form the skills of interaction in practice with individual controls of the aircraft. The next step is the maximum immersion with training on complex simulators, supplemented by flight visualization. And at the final stage, the future pilot consolidates knowledge and skills already on a real training aircraft on the ground and in the sky.
Creation of technical means of training in the Design Bureau of them. Mikoyan is engaged in a number of specialists. First, the scriptwriters (usually operating engineers act in their role) form scenarios of training programs for all aircraft systems, and the media group produces photo and video materials, as well as animation. The information materials are checked by the OKB departments for compliance with the documentation. After that, programmers turn the content into programs. In parallel with this, procedural and complex simulators are manufactured.
Knowledge for everyone
The history of aviation simulators began almost simultaneously with the appearance of mass aircraft – at the beginning of the XX century. Over time, simulators became more complicated and became a mandatory practice of training and improving pilots. However, the TSO developers managed to reproduce the flight with high reliability only when modern technical means appeared − three-dimensional graphics, virtual reality, augmented reality. These technologies increase visibility and, as a result, accelerate learning.
It is very important to convey all the details of the flight as realistically as possible so that pilots do not have a so-called "false skill" when erroneous habits acquired on the simulator can lead to dangerous consequences in flight.
At the same time, there are nuances in the training of military pilots, when even the most up-to-date equipment does not yet cope with all the tasks set. For example, when displaying a very distant object using a projector or 3D glasses, this object turns into a dot-pixel, whereas in reality the pilot sees it better and can work out the target. Or another example is the weak detail of three−dimensional graphics when training an airplane landing.
And one more interesting point. Modern exercise aircraft are equipped with mobility systems that simulate the slopes and turns of the aircraft in all planes. But if this is relevant for civilian equipment and has already become the norm, then such a system does not make sense in a fighter simulator – it moves too fast, and the pilot experiences too high overloads that cannot be depicted on the equipment of today's generation. A fighter pilot will be able to fully experience the flight only in the sky.
The systematic approach to the creation of technical training tools, which is practiced at the Mikoyan Design Bureau, allows us to produce complex, complex educational products with a high degree of automation of training. The verified content is included in the company's knowledge base, can later be used by operational engineers, its elements can be transferred to production, included in electronic documentation on machines, which improves the quality of work during the entire life cycle of the aircraft.
When preparing the material, the article "The main thing is visibility" was used, the author − Konstantin Lantratov // "Horizons", Journal of the United Aircraft Corporation, No. 1 (37) 2023.