F/A-22 pilots begin training at Tyndall AFB: planned upgrades: air-to-ground capabilities, connectivity with other trainers.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

Air Force F/A-22 student pilots are scheduled to begin training in six new simulators recently delivered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Two are full-mission trainers and four are weapons and tactics trainers.

All F/A-22 pilots will train at Tyndall. The Boeing Company is charged with developing and implementing the entire F/A-22 training system for both pilots and maintainers.

In addition to the full mission trainer, and weapons and tactics trainer, Boeing also developed an egress procedures trainer.

The entire training program is worth $720 million: $220 million for 10 prototype trainers and courseware, and $500 million for 96 production trainers. Boeing is a one-third partner in the F/A-22 aircraft program, but has 100 percent of the trainer work. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the aircraft.

The Air Force already has a training facility at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. After Tyndall, next comes Langley, in Virginia, and the Shepard maintenance facility, in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The first operational F/A-22 Raptor was delivered to the schoolhouse at Tyndall on Sept. 26. The Raptor eventually will replace the F-15 Eagle.

The 325th Fighter Wing, which trains F-15 pilots, air-battle managers, intelligence officers and air traffic controllers, was selected as the site for the F/A-22 pilot training program in August 2000.

Tyndall is expected to receive 50 Raptors over the next two to three years.

The first six simulators represent one-tenth of the overall training system deliveries Boeing plans for the next 10 years, said Pamela P. Valdez, Boeing F/A-22 training system manager.

The full-mission trainer has a 360-degree high-fidelity display. The weapons and tactics trainer, with less visual fidelity, was designed for hands-on throttle and stick proficiency.

All pilot instructors are Boeing employees, said Norm Riegsecker, the company's pilot training manager for the F/A-22. "They are building and testing missions, and making sure they are proficient in the operation of devices."

Initially, the training will be only for air-to-air operations. That is because the original F-22 (before it was renamed F/A-22) was not designed as a primary ground attack platform, but as an air superiority fighter. "The current F/A-22 avionics software (the operational flight program) does not support air-to-ground," said Riegsecker. "This will be part of the program in the near future."

Although air-to-ground is part of the baseline capability, "it is...