France Simulates Drone Control From Military Helicopter
The French defense procurement agency (DGA) has conducted simulation tests to assess interoperability between a helicopter crew and drones.
It intends to expand the role of helicopters amid questions about their future relevance due to the surge in air defense systems and the availability of cheaper alternatives such as drones.
An offensive reconnaissance mission was simulated during the trials involving a helicopter supported by two drones.
“This mission was divided into several elementary phases, each of which was played several times, varying the levels of interoperability and the crew configuration (2 or 3),” the DGA explained.
“For each phase, subjective and physiological measurements of the crews’ cognitive load were carried out to assess their ability to manage all the tasks involved.”
Way Ahead
Around three months of effort went into designing and integrating the simulations, including a distributed simulation system and a touch interface for drone management.
The interface provided information from the drones and allowed the crew to control them, including flight plan creation and assignment and payload control.
The first-of-its-kind simulation trial was geared toward the needs of the French Army. Future scenarios could cater more to the other two arms of the French military.
Moreover, “these tests are part of preparation for an upstream study project to integrate technological building blocks developed by the industry,” the DGA added.
“This contribution will improve the representativeness of certain functionalities, increase the functional autonomy integrated into the systems, drones or helicopters. It will allow the refinement of employment scenarios and should lead to the conduct of flight tests hybridized with simulation.”
