Simulation of flight operations and pilot duties in LANTIRN fighter squadrons using Simkit

Abstract

The LANTIRN (Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra-Red for Night) introduces important around-the-clock strike capability to air forces. At the same time, it strains pilot manpower requirements. The Turkish Air Force asked for a simulation tool that would find the necessary number of pilots and their qualifications for LANTIRN squadrons under different operations scenarios. This thesis develops a simulation that satisfies this request. The simulation takes the pilot ground duties as well as flight operations into account. The weather model inside the simulation introduces the effects of weather conditions around airfield. The model was implemented in the Java language, using the Simkit library for the discrete event simulation. The user interacts with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to define the parameters, experiment input factors, and sizes. The output is a data table with required pilot number and qualifications. Because access to certain classified data is not possible, the thesis sets a general guideline for future analyses that would have the actual data. This study uses notional but realistic values for the parameters and input factor levels. Using the resulting output table, future analysts can expand and tailor the levels of analyses.