The Air National Guard is working with industry partners to develop the first Distributed Mission Operation (DMO) capable Boom Operator Simulator. The Boom Operator Simulator System (BOSS) is a high fidelity, fully immersive KC-135 boom pod simulator. Since Aerial Refueling has never been attempted in a DMO environment there are many issues that must be resolved. These issues include:

Aerial Refueling DIS Standards Development - The current DIS Standards do not include PDU definitions for the transfer of data necessary for aerial refueling. This paper will discuss the data that must be passed between tanker and receiver aircraft.

Location - Accurate positioning of the tanker and receiver models becomes more difficult in aerial refueling simulations. The tanker and receiver positions must be accurate enough to guarantee a correct visual representation of the boom aligned with the refueling receptacle.

Dead Reckoning Limitations - When the tanker and receiver are in physical contact, the drift associated with dead reckoning cannot be tolerated. Innovative solutions will be required to balance rapid position updates with restrictions on bandwidth usage.

Simulator Fidelity - While the BOSS will possess the fidelity to accomplish all aerial refueling tasks, many of the receiver aircraft flight simulators will not have the required fidelity. A multi-level scheme has been developed to allow receiver aircraft to accomplish various levels of aerial refueling training.

Accurate Collision Detection - Aerial Refueling requires that the tanker and receiver physically touch each other during a mission. For this reason, traditional collision detection methods cannot be used. The simulation must be able to place the tip of the refueling boom on the surface of the receiver aircraft and cause visible damage to the receiver.

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Matthew Richards