Specialized undergraduate pilot training system-an overview of systems development

Air Training Command (ATC) has decided to implement specialized undergraduate pilot training (SUPT) starting in FY92. SUPT will allow ATC to split pilot training into a tanker-transport track and a fighter-bomber track. The students in each track will concentrate on the type of flying in the type of aircraft that most closely resembles the system they will fly upon completion of training. The author gives an overview of SUPT and a methodology for defining and addressing the issues associated with its implementation. It is concluded that the use of a sound systems engineering methodology is essential to understanding large, complex training systems, especially the interrelationships between functions and information flows within the system