The internationalisation of the Italian air force’s jet pilot training school and advances in its Integrated Pilot Training System (IPTS) are combining with the advent of full capability for Leonardo’s M-346 lead-in-fighter trainer and the upcoming introduction of its M-345 basic/advanced trainer to propel Italy to the leading edge of fighter pilot training.
Launched in 2014 and covering the full spectrum of pilot training for in-service and future platforms (fighters, transport, rotary wing and remotely piloted air systems), the IPTS 2020 programme has a focus on fourth- and fifth-generation training requirements, says Col Alberto Surace of the flying training, exercise and evaluation policy office at the Italian air force general staff’s airspace planning division. And, he adds, international expertise is resulting in “continuous enhancement”.
The current IPTS 2020 programme sees a common screening phase for all candidates (Phase 1) at Latina air base’s 70th Wing, flying Leonardo’s T-260B, which is the Italian air force designation for the SF-260EA. Candidates will then follow the five-year academy master’s degree course, during which airmanship is maintained flying gliders and T-260Bs. “Italian student pilots will subsequently complete the basic pilot training course [Phase 2], mainly at the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training [ENJJPT] school on Beechcraft T-6 Texan turboprops,” Surace says.
NATO duties
“Italy is one of the main stakeholders in ENJJPT, and we want our student pilots to be exposed to a significant international experience throughout their training career,” he adds. A limited number of candidates follow the course with foreign students on T-339A jet trainers (Leonardo’s MB-339A) at the air force jet school, 61st Wing, at Galatina air base near Lecce in south-eastern Italy, as well as in Kalamata, Greece on T-6s.
To improve efficiency and reduce costs, after the first two common phases the IPTS 2020 offers a specialised Phase 3, with different tracks for fighters, transport, rotary-wing and remotely piloted aircraft; at the end of Phase 3, students become rated pilots and earn their wings. The transport Phase 3 course includes a first stage at Latina on T-2006A (Tecnam P-2006T) light twins. A second phase utilises the Piaggio Aero VC-180 (P.180) at the multicrew training centre at Pratica di Mare air base near Rome.
The Phase 3 rotary-wing component is being conducted with 72nd Wing at Frosinone air base, where the students initially fly TH-500Bs and then Leonardo HH-139s (AW139s). In addition to other Italian armed forces, national security corps and agencies, the latter training programme has already attracted international students.
Remotely piloted aircraft training runs similarly to the fighter course, on the Aermacchi FT-339C (MB-339 CD) jet trainer at the air force jet pilot school, and then in the USA, at Holloman air force base in New Mexico. Phase 3 will soon incorporate a simulator, procured from General Atomics, in Italy.
The fighter track’s student pilots follow a Phase 3 course on the FT-339C. This 10-month syllabus includes 83 flight sorties and 32 simulator events, with a 1:1.5 instructor-to-student ratio. During the course, student pilots follow a comprehensive and extended programme including advanced formation, navigation, basic and advanced low-level flying with glide attack introduction, air-to-air refuelling and air-to-ground live and simulated sorties on ranges. “Such an extensive programme, at the end of which the student pilots get their wings, allows flying personnel to be more prepared for the following phases of the fighter track,” Surace says.
The follow-on Phase 4 or Lead-In-Fighter Training (LIFT) course is the centrepiece of the Italian air force’s integrated pilot training system, exploiting the advanced features of the M-346 (T-346A in the air force’s designation). The course includes a flying segment and a ground segment, featuring a high-performance modern aircraft and live-virtual-constructive (LVC) technology and is especially suited for pilots destined for fourth and fifth-generation fighters.
The LIFT course (like the previous Phases 2 and 3) features new-generation assets including the current M-346 and, soon, the M-345 (replacing the MB-339 trainer family), ground-based training and training at Galatina air base.
Lecce has suitable flying weather almost all year round, combined with a geography and topography that offers safe flying, making the school a natural centre of excellence. “With a capacity of more than 10,000 flight hours a year, the jet pilot training school is reaching new heights, as evidenced by the increasing number of international students and instructors,” Surace says.
Leonardo’s M-346 is already in service in Israel, Italy, Poland and Singapore, for a total of 67 aircraft, including four set for delivery to the Italian air force and six to Poland. The type offers an ideal platform to provide new pilots with the required skills to progress to operational conversion unit courses. The M-346 offers fourth- and fifth-generation-like like performance thanks to high-g capability, high angle of attack (30°) and SEP envelopes, safe fly-by-wire handling, autopilot/auto trim, high-thrust twin engines without afterburners that deliver supersonic speed (Mach 1.2), and air-to-air refuelling capabilities.
As the T-346A it features enhanced human-machine interface capabilities including voice commands and full HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick), and allows the introduction at Phase 4 level of advanced equipment such as front and back seat helmet-mounted display and night vision goggles. The M-346 also introduces new-generation embedded training tactical simulation (ETTS) and data-link with FPR/T-346 live link.
Together with a full ground-based training segment including full mission simulators which are data-linked in real time with flying aircraft, the advanced airborne suite has revolutionised fighter pilot training with the application of LVC technology. LVC, implemented by networking the aircraft (live), the simulator (virtual) and the ETTS (constructive) within a distributed operating environment, allows missions to be executed together by airborne and ground-based pilots within the same terrain and tactical environment; the system is co-ordinated in real time by the ground-based training system, which acts as a director and adds computer-generated forces and threats to progressively elevate the complexity of the missions.
“Comparable experiences in the past were seen only at frontline units during complex exercises, which are becoming rare due to resource constraints,” says Surace.
The enhanced ETTS replicates a full range of equipment including radar, electronic warfare and datalink, and beyond-visual-range engagements as well as other air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with virtual targeting pods and displayed EO/IR images with laser designation, interacting with ground joint terminal attack controllers on live ranges.
LIFT Phase 4 can offer six different training packages, depending on end-user needs, with a nine-month full course accumulating 94 flight sorties and 87 ground simulator events. “Thanks to the full exploitation of the T-346A in the Phase 4 – the last on the FT-339C was completed earlier this year – the Italian air force expects to further download around 20% of activities from the Eurofighter Typhoon operational conversion unit course in the future, with relevant cost reductions and training efficiencies, while still exploring further download/offload opportunities. In the 2007-2017 period, the downloading has already reached more than 50%,” says Surace
The M-346 has also been employed during NATO’s tactical leadership programme, exploring its capabilities as an aggressor.
Preparing for F-35
In addition to fourth generation fighters, an integrated team is at work to develop specified Phase 4 modules for Lockheed Martin F-35 trainees with a massive utilisation of the LVC concept. Ab initio pilots for the fifth generation platform are expected to join the training syllabus within two years.
The latest innovations introduced into the IPTS 2020 scheme have led more international customers to join the programme and the jet training school. Currently, there is participation of aspirant pilots and/or instructors from Argentina, Austria, Greece, France, Poland, Singapore, Spain, the Netherlands and the USA. Saudi Arabian personnel have already arrived in Italy, and Kuwait is also sending personnel to train as fighter, transport and helicopter pilots. Kuwaiti pilots are also expected to join the operational conversion unit for Typhoon aircraft.
The level of training experience and efficiency will be further developed with the introduction of 45 M-345 basic/advanced trainers, to replace T-339A/FT-399Cs used for Phase 2 and 3. The M-345, flown for the first time in December 2016, is described by Surace as “a design-to-cost subsonic single-turbofan trainer conceived with operating costs comparable to a turboprop but with higher performance”. The aircraft features a touch-screen glass cockpit with head-up display and three main displays, and an embedded ETTS suite which, coupled with a ground-based system derived from the M-346’s, promises a seamless transition and interaction with the LIFT platform.
“The M-345 and M-346 will ensure effectively and efficiently the full throughput for ab initio jet pilot training for the coming decades,” Surace says. According to Leonardo, the type has also been selected by two international customers; pre-series aircraft should fly by end-2018, with EMAR 21 (European Military Airworthiness Regulation 21st century) approval by the end of 2019.
The M-345 is expected to be delivered to the Italian air force in 2020; the first five aircraft should be available to gain initial operational capability in 2021 with Italian students, followed by international students from 2022.
With the level of maturity reached by the Italian air force’s flight training system and the recent introduction of the T-346 and the future phase-in of the T-345, Italy believes it is in a position of relative competitive advantage in advanced flight training.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
