Development of attack helicopter simulator

Military training is crucial for the success of a military mission. The Royal Thai Army Aviation Center requires an attack helicopter (AH) simulator to address the limited opportunity for live training and the shortage of skilled AH operators. The initial development effort focuses on a physical mock-up of the attack helicopter and training in the operation of the gunner instrument panel. This paper details our new development to improve the simulator in both hardware and software aspects. We apply GIS and remote sensing techniques to create a large-scale geo-database of a real training area. We import the geo-database into a game engine to create a realistic virtual terrain and an interactive training scenario that can be used to teach relevant military strategies and tactics, and to provide context for the instrument panel training. We demonstrate the simulator to military experts. The feedback suggests the simulator can be a useful tool for training and can increase trainee confidence. We consider suggestions for improvement and identify additional ideas for future investigations.