The U.S. Navy conducted a demonstration in August to test the live-virtual-constructive capability of the Tactical Combat Training System Increment II in an operational environment.
The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges program office, PMA-205, and Advanced Naval Technology Exercise-21 teams conducted the demonstration using F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft, an operational destroyer, Joint Semi-Automated Forces System, Next Generation Threat System, a guided missile and an F/A-18 simulator through the Navy Continuous Training Environment, Naval Air Systems Command said Monday.
“On the surface side, ships have been using a training LVC mode for a while, networking back and forth to exercise coordinators running complex scenarios. Now aviation is part of the mix through validation of TCTS Inc. II as the host system connecting live aircraft into a LVC environment,” Capt. Lisa Sullivan, PMA-205 program manager, said of the demonstration.
Chuck Kaylor, the PMA-205 TCTS Inc. II team lead, said the event marked the first time the TCTS Inc. II pod flew on a fleet aircraft and was used to establish an LVC surface-to-air engagement, among other firsts for naval aviation training.
“TCTS Inc. II is a critical enabler of Navy LVC, helping to close competition gaps in both operational security and training capabilities for the high-end fight, and this event comes with TCTS II already in production and approximately one year prior to initial operational capability," said Kaylor.
The Navy will use the demonstration results to determine how to improve the use of TCTS Inc. II and LVC in naval aviation training.
In June, Raytheon Technologies’ Collins Aerospace business achieved Milestone C for TCTS Inc. II, marking the transition of the system to the production phase.
