For Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), the availability of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) virtual simulation capabilities to augment Special Operations Forces (SOF) training is of primary interest.  AFSOC relies on the Air Force Synthetic Environment for Reconnaissance and Surveillance (AFSERS), the DoD flight simulation/training system for many RPAs, airborne platforms, and applications.  In the ever-expanding demand for realistic training, moving this RPA simulation to cloud based architecture is significant – having the ability to spin up and down, capacity to meet mission needs in a cost effective manner. 

The Air Force teamed with the Army’s Joint System Integration Lab and Trek10 to address Operational Training and Test Infrastructure shortfalls with an extensible cloud based infrastructure through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initiative.  The project objectives included cloud-enabling AFSERS components; providing appropriate access; and addressing cybersecurity credentials to support Joint Terminal Attack Controller and Combat Air Operations Center training.

Trek10 provisions AFSERS components as a service so end users can self-configure based on training needs through decoupled state storage and dynamic, automated computing provisioning. Critical data needs, mission configuration parameters, and terrain files for simulations analytics persist sufficiently in a secure cloud repository.  There is automatic dynamic cloud resources launching, tailored and on-demand graphics, and processing requirements execution.  Files load through secured streaming connections for end users, federation participants, and cloud resources.  

The team built an initial capability to validate cost, technical execution and determine a path to long-term adoption. The investigation included interoperability with key simulation environments, DoD Cloud Hosting environments, networking requirements, and a roadmap to SIPRNET utilization.  The findings revealed cloud-based infrastructure will standardize components; reduce IT footprint and subject matter expertise, and increase accessibility and scalability, thereby providing substantial cost avoidance with improved warfighter training and readiness.

Keywords
CLOUD COMPUTING,TRAINING

Additional Keywords
Cloud Based Infrastructure, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Simulation