RAF Requirement

Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS)
A Training Model for the Future

Remotely Piloted Air Systems are carrying out an increasing variety of tasks with both civil and military operators. Civil examples are fire-fighting, homeland or crowd management security work and pipeline surveillance. In the military they are needed for missions that involve long endurance beyond that possible for manned aircraft.

There are a wide variety of RPAS shapes, sizes, configurations and characteristics. Historically, RPAS were simple drones, unmanned air vehicles or remotely piloted aircraft but autonomous control is increasingly being employed based on pre-programmed flight plans using complex dynamic automation systems. However, at present the majority of RPAS are controlled from a remote location which may be many thousands of kilometres away on another continent and a large number of tasks will be based on such vehicles for many years to come.

As the usefulness of RPAS continues to be demonstrated by UK forces on current operations, how should the Royal Air Force train its pilots/operators to take account of current and emerging technological developments in unmanned air platforms?

Advances in automation applicable to these vehicles are likely to impact upon the skill sets required by both pilots and operators to manage, exploit and operate both single and multiple RPAS. What particular personal attributes should the Royal Air Force require of its recruits for these tasks in order to ensure that it selects the most suitable candidates?

Is the training task one that can be based entirely on simulation whilst relying on the traditional concept of student and instructor?

If it is considered that training should include the actual control of a unmanned air vehicle, what characteristics and form should this take and to what extent should the syllabus include armament technology training?
Finally, noting that Civil Aviation Authority Regulation & Safety standards will continue to demand ‘equivalence’ with manned aviation in terms of risk, contingency and airspace safety, what additional skill sets to those used by current RPAS pilots/operators will be needed for RPAS operations in 2020 and beyond?

SAC life tip!
Whenever one is selling a new idea it always helps if you can show you are fully aware of the existing situation including its advantages and disadvantages. Without showing you understand the history behind the topic, you invite older senior people to trash your ideas by allowing them to say “They don’t even understand the problem”.