CAE USA has been awarded a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to support the U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and its Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT 2.5) initiative.
The UPT 2.5 initiative, which builds upon the Air Force’s Pilot Training Next experiment and falls under the broader umbrella of Pilot Training Transformation (PTT), will implement a range of commercial technologies and learning methodologies to help the Air Force streamline pilot training and create a more open, self-paced and adaptive student-centered training environment.
“We are excited to be part of the U.S. Air Force’s Pilot Training Transformation efforts and offer some of CAE’s training systems integration expertise,” said Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA. “We have been focused in recent years on making investments in digital technologies and data analytics that will help our military customers produce pilots faster and more efficiently. We look forward to progressing on this journey in partnership with the U.S. Air Force.”
Specifically, CAE USA will have responsibility for the installation and integration of a cloud-based Learning Management System (LMS), which is a key element of the CAE Trax Academy pilot training continuum. The LMS will enable the Air Force and its students to access training content such as schedules, courseware, and remote instruction more easily on demand. In addition, by implementing an LMS that is optimized through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the Air Force expects to create a pilot training process that is continually adapting and improving. The Air Force also intends to develop an AI flight instructor that would provide active and passive instruction to aid student learning and progression through the pilot training syllabus.
“An open and powerful Learning Management System that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning while providing seamless remote access to content is an important foundation for enabling the Air Force to achieve its objectives with the Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5 initiative,” said Steve Davis, Senior Manager, Instructional Systems Group, CAE USA.
Over the next year during the initial phase of the UPT 2.5 effort, CAE will collaborate with the Air Force and other industry partners to develop and test the LMS and artificial intelligence components. Installation, integration and testing will take place initially at both Joint Base San Antonio Randolph (JBSA-Randolph) in Texas and Vance Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma.
