Certified MILS demonstrated in Rockwell Collins live, virtual, constructive training exercise
NewsMay 21, 2015
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. Rockwell Collins engineers demonstrated Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) air combat training flight utilizing production Joint Secure Air combat training System (JSAS) equipment. The form, fit, function production equipment has Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) encryption in the airborne and ground systems.
“JSAS is the next generation of secure, LVC-capable training solutions, providing seamless interoperability between 5th generation F-35 and legacy aircraft as they train together in coalition events,” says Tommy Dodson, Rockwell Collins vice president and general manager of Surface Solutions. “This exercise highlighted that 5th-Gen and 4th-Gen aircraft pilots can both see significant training benefit when simulating a high threat combat environment.”
The exercise made use of production form-factor equipment from the Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS) program, both the MILS airborne package and MILS ground station. The CRIIS program uses the DoD’s vision of common test and training infrastructure for improved operational realism.
The multi-level, secure connection of Live, Virtual and Constructive participants is the link necessary for increasing the depth and density of combat training. Rockwell Collins officials say this capability enables the warfighter to have red flag experience without the logistics hurdle of collocating assets and provides real-time feedback to limit negative training. The demonstration also had over-the-air reloading of keys on the fly, showing how military users could change from one training scenario to another without landing the aircraft.
The LVC demonstration had:
A live Aero L-29 jet trainer with the JSAS equipment onboard, emulating a 5th-Gen F-35 fighter, operated by personnel at the University of Iowa Operator Performance Lab (OPL) in Iowa;
A virtual F/A-18 4th-Gen aircraft simulator, operating as the wingman for the Aero L-29 pilot, at the Rockwell Collins Advanced Technology Center;
A live Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) located at a Rockwell Collins facility in Orlando, Fla.;
Constructive “Red Force” aircraft and ground threats, generated by Department of Defense Computer Generated Forces (CGF) tools; and
Separate “mission rooms” for live monitor of F-35 and F-18 data, showing MILS separation;
The MILS architecture and equipment are real, and certified," Dodson says. "The software-defined datalink is real, and it has five times more network throughput than existing training systems to handle the LVC traffic. You can see significantly higher training fidelity than with the current generation systems, and we even reconfigured it while in flight to get 2½ hours of training value in a 1½ hour flight.”
To view a video of the LVC demonstration, click here: https://youtu.be/OswBDDUeL10.
