C-130 ATS weapons systems trainers at five locations, including this trainer at Kirtland Air Force Base, are slated to receive new visual systems in the 2013-2014 timeframe. ()
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The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Global Training and Logistics a $24 million contract to upgrade the visual system and imagery databases for 10 C-130 weapons systems trainers used in the C-130 Aircrew Training System (ATS) II program.
The upgraded visuals will allow pilots to use simulators instead of live aircraft to maintain currency in formation training, a capability that doesn’t exist with the current system, according to Jim Wood, who manages the C-130 ATS for Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Adding formation training to the C-130 ATS is also an important step toward achieving distributed mission operations (DMO), where simulators from different sites are linked together, Wood added.
“DMO is one of those things that are requiring multiple types of upgrades along the way to be able to generate that capability,” Wood said. “This is a big step in that direction.”
The upgrades are also intended to reduce cost, said Shane Evans, senior program manager with Lockheed Martin for the C-130 ATS II.
“The overall initiative is to drive training time from the aircraft down to a lower-cost training environment,” Evans said.
Increasing the amount of time trainees can spend in a simulator vs. the live aircraft yields about 90% cost savings, Evans added. An hour of flight in the C-130 ATS costs about $650 an hour, as opposed to about $6,300 an hour in an actual C-130.
Although most of the weapons systems trainers to be upgraded were built in the 1980s and have already undergone previous visual upgrades, Wood and Shane maintain that it wouldn’t be necessary or cost-efficient to field new simulators.
“The cost of doing visuals on all 10 might get one [new] weapons systems trainer,” Wood said.
However, Evans emphasized that budget constraints didn’t drive the decision to upgrade rather than build new trainers.
“The devices, for how old they are, are remarkably well-maintained and very functional,” Evans said. “Sure, everybody likes to get a new car, but in this case, it’s not really a necessity.”
Lockheed Martin will upgrade C-130 ATS weapons systems trainers at Little Rock, Dyess and McChord Air Force Bases, as well as Dobbins Air Reserve Base and the Minneapolis Air National Guard base. Upgrades are scheduled to begin in February 2013, and be completed by October 2014.
