The RAF’s Leading Role in the Development and Application of Synthetic Training Equipment

The Royal Air Force has long been recognised as one of the leading proponents of Synthetic Training Equipment (STE) for aircrew training. Along with other mature STE user nations such as the US, Australia, Germany and France, the modern RAF invests heavily in simulation and sophisticated training devices to fulfil a number of training ambitions. These include better preparing aircrew for time spent in the air, enhancing safety, saving money, undertaking mission rehearsal and more recently, reducing the Service’s carbon footprint. It was also found during its early adoption that STE provided a repeatable and scalable training medium that enabled more efficient ‘training transfer’ when compared with purely flying training. Much of this STE expertise was gained in the run-up to, and during the Second World War with Bomber Command at the innovative leading edge.