Instructors from the Royal Air Force’s 54 Squadron are currently undergoing the inaugural Instructor Operating Course (IOC) at the GA-ASI Flight Test & Training Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States.
The course is designed to prepare RAF crews for operating the UK’s upcoming Protector RG Mk1 aircraft.
“IOC crews, comprising of a Pilot, Sensor Operator, and Mission Intelligence Controller (MIC), have been testing various scenarios through the simulators, under the tuition of GA Instructors. Simulated missions include Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) activity to find, fix and follow designated targets on the ground,” a Royal Air Force statement reads.
The primary aim of the IOC is to develop RAF-specific training materials and scenarios for future Protector crews. The training evaluates essential operational skills, including the real-time exploitation of intelligence involving the Multi-Spectral Targeting System and Synthetic Aperture Radar.
“Equipped with a suite of advanced equipment and precision strike weapons, Protector will provide critical armed surveillance capability and will be able to deploy against potential adversaries around the globe. The aircraft will also be able to fly in busy unsegregated airspace thanks to ‘detect and avoid’ technology with an endurance of over 40 hours,” the report added.
54 Squadron is based at RAF Waddington, known as the hub of the RAF’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) fleet.
The Protector Programme plans to establish an International Training Centre at RAF Waddington, with 54 Squadron leading training and mission operations. As part of the UK’s investment in defence technology, the RAF will receive 16 Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS), the first 8 of which will support Initial Operating Capability scheduled for late 2024 at RAF Waddington.
“Capable of operating anywhere in the world, the Lincolnshire base will be the home of the Force, the site of launch and recovery to support domestic training, and mission command for overseas operations,” the RAF statement concluded.
Really interesting how much you get to see in that photo.
Other film of Reaper Op stations I’ve seen are very restricted, obviously regards the flight crew, but the consoles too, not just what is displayed on them, but the wider layout.
For interest, at Waddington the flight control ops take place in fenced off trailers within a certain building.
It certainly is interesting mate…
Once upon a time they would have been strapped into a Marin Baker ejector seat, inside a Jaguar cockpit, today its comfy office chairs…
Eventually they will be flying Tempest, unmanned, while working from home, on a mobile phone, taking their dogs for a walk😂
Afternoon John.
It is amazing how technology is progressing.
I wonder whether unmanned ( or unwomaned ) will ever completely replace a pilot? I guess Tempest will be crewed at first then may develop unmanned versions over a longer period.
Duncan Sandys rejected piloted aircraft 60 years ago. Fortunately some programmes survived.
Was he ahead of his time, or way behind the needs of Cold War readiness? Behind (at the time) I would say.
The scenario is definitely changing & Tempest will probably be the scenario changer with hybrid control options, leading to armchair flown aircraft in the 2050/60s.
Based on shooting down a WWII aircraft flying straight and level with a dreadful ship based missile system!
The thinking wasn’t totally wrong but the tech isn’t quite there for the full effect and you can’t hack a pilot like you can hack digital comms.
Evening mate, Tempest was supposed to be optionally manned, I think this will have to be kicked down the road for later integration.
The loyal wingman will be a difficult one, it might be an off the beg solution….
Unsure how tempest will play out whilst wishing all success. Straddling manned/ unmanned maybe too much design/ performance compromise. But maybe it be an affordable gen 5+ version of f35 lets see what happens
Some serious hardware sat behind those consoles. UCAV crews still go through the same basic flight training as those destined for manned aircraft. Very interesting work.
With the stress on the pilot training pipeline, will that continue? Could they be separated into a different course that only uses a simulator seeming as they will not actually fly? Or is there cross posting from manned AC to this?
They still need the basic flying skills as manned aircraft. And it brings a high level of skill and understanding. It’s not quite as straightforward as a PlayStation game. Pilot training is now in a much better place. Capacity has increased by 50% for basic Pilot training this year. OCU waiting times are now down to 6 weeks or less.
Interesting, while the general hullabalo was about MFTS, my understanding was that the main hold up was with the OCUs, so if this is true that’s good news.
What’s changed?
Boot up backside?
I suspect PM got interested when he starting asking how to train Ukrainian pilots and saw a lot of people admiring their reflections in their toe caps.
BW told them to fix it before that so the fixing might well have started.
May well have accelerated things coming out of service to create budget headroom?
Possible. I wonder if they will also get off their arses regards our SSN shoreside infrastructure, now the AUKUS political side gets top billing.
Always the grandstanding and the politics. AUKUS gets vast amounts of money and headlines, but our own submarines are sitting alongside, while the RAFs training pipeline is in a mess but if HMG need the headlines of training Ukrainian pilots then as usual our own training, that should surely be priority by default, is seen to.
I’ll message you when home from London mate 👍
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