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2020-03-01

CAE to Upgrade NATO Training Devices

CAE recently announced it has signed a contract amendment with the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Program Management Agency (NAPMA). This will be to perform avionics updates on the E-3A flight deck simulator, and E-3A flight training device, located at NATO Airbase Geilenkirchen in Germany.

The avionics updates to the training devices relate to the latest standards of the advanced Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems currently being implemented on NATO’s fleet of 14 E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The avionics updates to the E-3A flight deck simulator will be complete in 2021.

“CAE has supported the training of NATO E-3A aircrews for almost 40 years, and these simulators continue to play a key role helping ensure the readiness of the E-3A aircrews,” said Marc-Olivier Sabourin, Vice President and General Manager, Defence & Security International, CAE.

CAE designed and manufactured the original NATO E-3A flight deck simulator that entered service in 1982. Since then, the simulator has been continuously upgraded and enhanced to ensure concurrency with the aircraft and enable E-3A aircrews to conduct more synthetic training. The E-3A flight deck simulator is currently qualified to Level D, the highest for flight simulators. The CAE-built E-3A flight training device is qualified to Level II and is used to support familiarisation and procedural training for aircrews prior to full-mission training in the E-3A flight deck simulator.

CAE is currently responsible for maintenance and support of the E-3A training devices in addition to providing a cadre of instructors and mission system operators to support the delivery of training to NATO E-3A AWACS aircrews.

Critical Asset

NATO operates a fleet of Boeing E-3A Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) aircraft, with their distinctive radar domes mounted on the fuselage, which provide the alliance with air surveillance, command and control, battle space management and communications. The NATO E-3A (or AWACS) is a modified Boeing 707 equipped with long-range radar and passive sensors capable of detecting air and surface contacts over large distances. Information collected by AWACS can be transmitted directly from the aircraft to other users on land, at sea or in the air.

The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&C Force) conducts a wide range of missions such as air policing, support to counterterrorism, consequence management, non-combatant evacuation operations (NEO), embargo, initial entry, crisis response and demonstrative force operations.

The active surveillance sensors are located in the radar dome (rotodome), which makes the AWACS a uniquely recognisable aircraft. This structure rotates once every 10 seconds and provides the aircraft with 360-degree radar coverage that can detect aircraft out to a distance of more than 215 nautical miles (400 kilometres).

One aircraft flying at 30,000 feet has a surveillance area coverage of more than 120,000 square miles (310,798 square kilometres) and three aircraft operating in overlapping, coordinated orbits can reportedly provide unbroken radar coverage of the whole of Central Europe.

Milestones

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. in 2001, AWACS aircraft were deployed to the mainland U.S. to help defend North America against further attacks during Operation Eagle Assist. This represented the first time in alliance history that NATO assets were deployed in support of the defence of one of its member nations.

From 2011 until 2014, aircraft from NAEW&C were deployed to Afghanistan to support the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) by providing air surveillance coverage as part of Operation Afghan Assist. In Afghanistan, AWACS aircraft conducted air surveillance, tactical battle management functions such as support and control of friendly aircraft involved in close air support, battlefield air interdiction, combat search and rescue, reconnaissance, and tactical air transport.

On 11 February 2016, a significant milestone was reached when AWACS aircraft completed the 1,000th mission in support of NATO reassurance measures. These measures are a series of land, sea and air activities in, on and around the territory of NATO Allies in Central and Eastern Europe, designed to reassure their populations and deter potential aggression.

Latest Upgrades

All AWACS aircraft undergo continuous modifications for modernisation and for operations and support. NATO’s AWACS fleet is currently embarking upon a final modernisation effort to extend its service life to 2035. The Final Lifetime Extension Programme (FLEP) is valued at US$1 billion and funded by the 16 allies participating in the AWACS programme. This effort will provide AWACS with sophisticated new communications and networking capabilities, including upgrades to the NE-3A’s data link and voice communications capabilities, and enhanced Wide-Band Beyond Line-of-Sight airborne networking capability. The modernisation contract has been awarded to Boeing as prime contractor with contributions from other participating allies’ industries.

The FLEP upgrade will ensure that NATO remains at the leading edge of technology, providing the E-3A with sophisticated new communications and networking capabilities, including new Have Quick radios, new encryption equipment, new operator consoles, upgraded mission computing, expanded data capacity, and increased bandwidth for satellite communications. Ground systems, including the mission training centre and the mission planning and evaluation system, will also be upgraded.

Reference Text/Photo:

www.cae.com

www.nato.int

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