Page 38 - ADT JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 Digital Magazine | GBP

learn and understand required training tasks a customer gets across the whole stream, says Perey. “In CAE
and procedures. “Through the app, they are TRAX Academy, we have a solution that embraces a number of the
linked into the learning management system principles of Pilot Training Next but goes one step further by linking
and can interact with the class, schedule time all of that with a solid base of data analytics. As head of training,
with the instructor and get guidance,” says not only are you teaching a student, but you are also getting data
Perey. “They then visualize what they have that can be used to improve the training program for the next class.
learned using a high-end laptop. Once they “CAE TRAX Academy provides the accelerated pace of student
have completed that task, they move to the learning that militaries are looking for,” says Perey. “With the self-
CAE Sprint VR training device.” paced environment, you can now optimize the student-instructor [ TRAINING & SIMULATION ]
ratio. The instructors feel better engaged as well as they are not
talking about a switch but about the finer subtleties of a maneuver
or airmanship skills.”

“The same number of instructors can train more students using
CAE TRAX Academy,” says Chris Stellwag, Director, Marketing
Communications, CAE-Defense & Security. “When students get to
the instructor after completing the first two phases, they are more
proficient and ready to do the higher level of training.”

Positive Feedback
The company collaborated with existing and potential customers
in developing the new products. “They came in, flew the device
and gave us feedback,” says Perey. “We have made a number of
changes based on what they told us. The response was very pos-
itive; many said that this is what they were looking for.”
Perey expects CAE TRAX Academy to be warmly welcomed by
militaries. “I don’t think there is any air force in the world that will
not be excited by this. The potential is huge. As this gets adopted,
we will see a bit of a snowball effect with the air forces embracing
it realizing that this is really the future of undergraduate training.
We see out of the gate a 30 percent cost savings in training if you
use this instead of traditional pilot training methods.”
“I wouldn’t be surprise to see trails with some existing or new cus-
tomers,” says Stellwag. “We are ready to move. That being said, it
doesn’t have to be something that is actually procured by a military.
The CAE Sprint VR trainer, which enables self- It can be a part of our solution when we are offering a pilot training
paced learning in an immersive, high-fidelity program; it adds immense value.”
virtual environment, comes with a virtual reality
headset, haptics, physical flight controls, CAE Pilot Shortage
Medallion image generator, and CAE virtual The shortage of military pilots is part of a wider problem that affects
coach. It also leverages CAE Rise (Real-time both commercial airlines and militaries all around the world. By the
insights and standardized evaluations) for end of 2018, the U.S. Air Force had a shortage of about 800 active
objective grading and assessment. Student duty pilots as it struggled to retain airmen and train new ones
pilots practice training tasks, procedures and quickly enough. There was a 1,200-pilot shortfall among Reserve
maneuvers using the VR trainer, getting con- units as well. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has had to deal with a
stant guidance from the virtual instructor. shortage of about 700 pilots.
According to media reports, the shortage of military pilots is hurting
“We have enhanced realism and fidelity in the China as well and slowing down its plans to have a combat-ready
CAE Sprint VR trainer compared to other VR fleet. The country’s Naval Aviation University, which trains future
trainers by providing full cockpit acuity and inter- navy pilots, has tied up with three leading universities – Peking,
action,” says Perey. “Once a student completes Tsinghua and Beihang – to recruit future pilots. As part of an attempt
a segment, it is time for the Rise exam. After to attract young talent, the country has also set up Naval Aviation
clearing the exam, the student gets one-on- Experimental Classes in high schools across the country. In India,
one time with the instructor on a flight training the government is reportedly working on a plan to turn airfields
device. The instructor evaluates the student’s belonging to the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) into pilot
performance and validates progress.” academies to help meet the demand for pilots from commercial
The CAE Sprint VR trainer is a stand-alone airlines as well as militaries. India currently has 32 training institutes
product, but the full value comes from the inte- but produce only 300 pilots even though the requirement is for
grated components and the data analytics that 800 new pilots a year.

38 | January/February 2020 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT