US Army started equipping the four Combat Training Centers (e.g. National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA and Joint Readiness Training Center, LA) and eight (8) Home station Instrumentation Training System (HITS) sites to enable Apache Force on Force and Force on Target training and evaluation, and AH-64D/E, UH-60V/M, and CH-47F with CAAS 9.4+ in-aircraft survivability training. The TASS meets US Army Aircrew Training Manual 2800/2900 tasks for 'in-aircraft training/evaluation at least every other year'. Guard and Reserve aviation require more geographically accessible in-aircraft training devices to comply with published training requirements.

Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE) and weapons Engagement training aids make possible individual, joint, and unit-level Aviation Mission Survivability and Engagement training within the Army aviation enterprise. The majority of Army aviation resides in Reserve and Guard components. Aircraft Survivability Equipment training using TASS and weapons Engagement training using TESS training aids allow Army aviators to conduct ASE and weapons training at their home stations versus waiting for a CTC evaluation rotation, thereby affording faster and more frequent training opportunities and improved CTC rotation effectiveness.

These training aids surpass the fidelity offered by other Virtual/Physically Simulated Military Equipment training platforms by allowing crews to conduct ASE and engagement/gunnery training in-aircraft by stimulating an aircraft’s survivability equipment and weapons engagement systems, thereby generating the same visual/audio cues that would appear to a pilot in real-world combat operations.

Uniformity in deployment of Aircraft Survivability Equipment and weapons Engagement training aids between the Army’s Active, Reserve, and National Guard components enhances and improves efficiency of the Army aviation enterprise.