Ft. Rucker Updates OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Simulators with MetaVR Visual Systems

In July 2010, the Armed Scout Helicopter Project Office updated seven Kiowa Warrior Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT) systems with MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG). Six systems are fielded at Kiowa Academics at Ft. Rucker, AL, and one system is fielded at the AMCOM Software Engineering Directorate (SED) in Huntsville, AL. The MetaVR visual systems replaced eight Evans and Sutherland ESIG 4530 image generators. (Evans and Sutherland is now part of Rockwell Collins).

	Real-time MetaVR VRSG rendering of an OH-58D entity approaching the airfield on MetaVR’s Metadesic 3D terrain of Ft. Rucker. The OH-58D model is from MetaVR's 3D content library of military vehicles.

The Kiowa Warrior Cockpit CPT provides OH-58D pilots with the procedural training required to accomplish most mission tasks required of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. The trainer systems use the shell of an actual OH-58 with all its control switches. Each system fielded at Ft. Rucker has three VRSG channels, one out-the-window channel and two cockpit displays. The main development system has additional channels that further expand the out-the-window display on the left, forward, and right.

In addition to delivering 26 VRSG channels, MetaVR developed and delivered high-resolution 3D databases of Ft. Rucker and Ft. Hunter Liggett. Each database is 100 x 100 km built from 1 meter imagery and 30 meter elevation posting.

Ft. Rucker is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the US Army Aviation Museum. The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the dominant military facility at Ft. Rucker. Training, doctrine, and testing are all key parts of the Center's mission to develop Army Aviation's capabilities. All Army Aviation training has been undertaken at Ft. Rucker since 1973, as well as training of US Air Force and ally helicopter pilots.

The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, in service with the US Army, is a two-seat, single-engine, double-bladed armed reconnaissance helicopter. Primarily operated in support of ground troops, the aircraft is equipped with a variety of weapon systems, including Hellfire missiles, 2.75-inch rockets and a .50-caliber machine gun. It has a thermal-imaging system sensor for navigation, target acquisition and designation, and a laser rangefinder/designator for target location and guidance of the missiles in a mast-mounted sight situated above the main rotor system. Used primarily in the scout attack role, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior operates autonomously at standoff ranges, providing armed reconnaissance, command and control, and target acquisition/ designation for airborne weapons platforms in day, night, and adverse-weather conditions.