Aero-TV Inspects The Army's AVCATT Program

The US Army Gets Some Serious Bang For The Buck Via AVCATT Outside of military circles, you are unlikely to have heard of AVCATT... one of the Army's most aggressive efforts yet to maximize the realism and mobility of one of its most crucial flight training and simulation efforts. AVCATT? What the hell is an AVCATT, you might ask? Well, the military DOES love its acronyms, but this one packs some punch as AVCATT stands for Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (Army). The AVCATT mission is a hefty one... 'To provide a collective training capability for Army aviators across the entire fleet of Army rotary wing aircraft.' That acronym barely hints at the raw capability of the AVCATT program, as the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer has become the Army's (AVCATT) preeminent mobile, reconfigurable, aviation-based collective trainer. The Army tells ANN that each monstrous (but incredibly well-organized) AVCATT trailer supports three manned modules (cockpits), with an After Action Review (AAR) theater and a battle master control. AVCATT currently supports the UH-60 Blackhawk, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, AH-64A Apache, AH-64D Longbow and CH-47 Chinook platforms. Additionally; AVCATT will incorporate the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) in FY 2010. Ongoing updates to AVCATT include a visual re-architecture (flat screens versus projection), classified operations capability and a new image generator. AVCATT has demonstrated the capability to be interoperable with a variety of other simulators including the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT), the Virtual Combat Convoy Trainer (VCCT), and the CCTT Reconfigurable Vehicle Simulator (RVS). This versatility has proven AVCATT to be an invaluable resource to Army flyers as they take on the daily responsibilities inherent in protecting the USA. ANN crews were amazed at the versatility (and cost-effectiveness) of this platform and are looking forward to seeing the system demonstrated in the field... keep an eye out for a follow-up program on ...