F-16 Mission Training Going Virtual

Air Force F-16 fighter jet pilots will soon train for missions in new, high-tech simulator systems featuring super high-definition video that will provide real-world-quality cockpit views.

Up to 20 of the systems eventually will be installed at bases in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific, according to a spokesman for Arlington, Va.-based L-3 Link Simulation and Training, which has been awarded two Air Force contracts totaling $87.7 million for the full development and production of the first systems.

"This is a major program for us," said Rick Oyler.

Each training system installation will consist of either two or four highly realistic training devices, each one essentially an F-16 cockpit with a 360-degree visual display built around top-of-the-line commercial video projection technology.

The simulators can be operated individually or linked so that the pilots can operate as they would in flights of aircraft. They are configured to replicate the latest F-16 versions flown by the Air Force.

The system's program manager, Dan Kelly, said the company's trademarked HD World technology produces picture quality "way beyond the HD that's in televisions."

The video system, installed 40 inches from the pilot's eye point, will produce image quality equal to 20/40 vision, a big improvement over the existing 20/80 quality. The Air Force contract calls for the systems to be easily upgradeable to 20/20 visual quality when technology permits.

The high-fidelity video quality will enable pilots to see and track both air and ground targets almost exactly as they would in real-world flight situations, to the point of being able to detect a "fin flash" from the sun glancing off an aircraft.

Kelly demonstrated the Link simulator system to pilots at a recent conference in Orlando. "I can tell you that without exception the pilots who went into it ... it just blew them away."

Link won the contract with a bid that prices each of the 20 options the Air Force could order over the next 10 years.