IUKB-NYC MBA

Information Systems for Business Strategy

Individual Project:
Build a Basic Management Information System
Case of: - HAF Training Command (Squadron Level)
Clarification:
The studied case is hypothetic and does not represent any actual and/or
approved operational requirement for the Hellenic Air Force
Prepared by: Col. Emmanuel Zarogiannopoulos

Supervisor: Dr. D. Andreou

Table of Contents

THE HELLENIC AIR FORCE

1. MISSION .........................................................................................................3
2. ORGANIZATION................................................................................................4
3. PROSPECTS OBJECTIVES ................................................................................7
DETERMINING THE PROBLEM

1. THE GENERAL SITUATION.................................................................................8

2. THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM ....................................................................................9
3. HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS NOW ...................................................................... 10
ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING-MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT MODEL W/O MIS ....... 11
THE CHALLENGE TO IMPLEMENT AN MIS

13

REQUIRED MIS FOR SQUADRON LEVEL TRAINING & MAINTENANCE

15

PROPOSED SOLUTION : ONBOARD ENHANCED TRAINING & MAINTENANCE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

17

MAINTENANCE FEATURES ..................................................................................... 20

FATIGUE & HEALTH DATA RECORDER ................................................................... 20
STRUCTURAL FATIGUE MONITORING:.................................................................... 21
ENGINE FAULT AND CYCLES RECORDER ................................................................. 22
BLACK BOX OPTION ............................................................................................ 22
GROUND STATION............................................................................................... 22
FLIGHT DATA RECORDER (BY PLR AVIONICS - WWW.PLRIS.COM)........................... 23
INTEGRATED DEBRIEFING ENVIRONMENT

24

CONCLUSION

28

ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING-MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT MODEL WITH MIS ...... 28

Introduction
The Hellenic Air Force
1.

Mission
The main mission of the Hellenic Air Force is to prevent war, protect national

sovereignty and maintain the country's integrity in cooperation with the other Services
of the armed forces and the Allies.
The provision of immediate support to the operations of the land and naval forces
as well as the organization and conduct of the country's air defense also constitute part
of the Hellenic Air Force main mission.
Additional to its wartime mission, Hellenic Air Force during peacetime carries out a
great number of important missions, which emphasize its social role. Missions such as
fire fighting, agricultural air spraying, air medical evacuations and search and rescue
operations are carried out within its area of responsibility, the Athens FIR.
Also Hellenic Air Force takes part in peacekeeping and humanitarian aid operations,
in the framework of NATO or UN.
Furthermore, the Hellenic Air Force has the additional task to support the public
safety whenever needed. In this context Hellenic Air Force is providing the necessary
personnel and equipment, while at the same time is developing, in close co-operation
with other relevant national authorities, the Operational Plan for the Air Defense
coverage of all main cities, against any air threat.

2.

Organization

In order to carry out its mission, Hellenic Air Force is organized and operates in a
way that ensures:
a.

Operability of the Service in peace and war time.

b.

Unity of command

c.

Fast and flexible decision making process.

d.

Centralized control of forces and decentralized execution of operations.

e.

Capability of rapidly bringing its forces to the appropriate readiness status

in order to assume operations.

Its organization is shown in steps:

Hellenic Air Force

General Staff

Tactical
Air Force

Air Support
Command

Air Training
Command

Hellenic Air Force General Staff (HAFGS) is the Services supreme level of
command.

Under the General Staff there are three major formations: the Tactical Air Force,
the Air Support Command and the Air Training Command.
a. Tactical Air Force
Hellenic Tactical Air Forces main mission is to maintain its forces combat ability
and operational readiness at high level, so as to contribute to deterring war, as well as
to carry out, if required, air operations in accordance to the existing air doctrine and
operational plans.
In order to carry out his mission successfully, the Chief of Tactical Air Force
exercises operational control over fighter aircraft, RADAR units as well as ground to air
missile units.

TACTICAL AIR FORCE

RADAR
SITES

COMBAT
WINGS

COMBAT
GROUPS

MISSILE
UNITS

b. Air Support Command

Hellenic Air Support Commands main mission is to program and monitor the
materiels maintenance, ensure its quality, carry out air transport / search rescue / air
fire-fighting and air medical evacuation missions. Subordinate to Air Support Command
is a number of support and supply Units as well as the Transport, Fire-fighting and
Spraying, a/c and Helicopters Squadrons.

AIR SUPPORT COMMAND

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE
AND REPAIR FACTORY

AMMO
DEPOT

SUPPLY
DEPOT

AIR TRANSPORT
WING

SUPPORT
WING

AIR FORCE
CONSTRUCTIONS
UNIT

c. Air Training Command

Hellenic Air Training Commands mission is to program, monitor, evaluate and
improve the training offered to the Air Force personnel.
Subordinate to this Command are the Air Force Academy and other Schools,
training Units and training centers.

AIR TRAINING COMMAND

TECHNICAL
TRAINING
WING

AIR
ACADEMY
AIR
TRAINING
WING

3.

AIR COMMAND
AND
STAFF COLLEGE

BASIC MILITARY
TRAINING
WING

Prospects Objectives
Hellenic Air Force as of its role must follow the technological developments, in

order to maintain and further improve the defense capabilities necessary to fulfill its
mission. In parallel, it must continue its contribution to the societys common benefit,
and care for its personnel. In order to achieve the above mentioned, it has set its
priorities which mainly include:

1
2

Improvement of personnel training through a robust training program.

Smooth incorporation and exploitation of new technologies.

Development of a modern C4I1 system.

Improvement of the existing Air Defense capabilities.

Upgrade of the STO 2 capabilities.

Command Control Communication Computers & Information

Stand Off weapons (launched from a great distance, outside of the enemys defense capabilities

Determining the problem

1.

The General Situation

Tactical Air Force felt the need to call a meeting with the Air Training and Air

Support Commands on the purpose to ensure a spherical approach to those fields,

discuss directly how things are going and what the immediate or near future
implementations should be in order to optimize their fields.
It was said that, Hellenic Air Force is operating from 18 main airfields that are
dispersed throughout the continental and insular parts of the country, as shown in the
following map.

MAIN
AIRFIELDS

Hellenic Air Force is manned with military and civil personnel of different
qualifications. The military personnel, men and women, consist of career officers, noncommissioned officers (NCOs), professional airmen, and conscript airmen. The total
number is approximately 30.000.
2.

The specific problem

Many fighter - transport - training and several other roles Squadrons are

dispersed in the Combat Wings and Combat Groups throughout the country.

In

addition to that, since the inventory includes a variety of assets in regard to origin
(USA, European, Russian, Israeli etc.) and type/role (Air Defense, Air Attack, Air
Reconnaissance, Air Superiority, Airborne Early Warning, Electronic Warfare, Air
Transport, Air MEDEVAC 3 etc.) it is commonly accepted that TRAINING and
MAINTENANCE of the 1st degree has to be assigned to the level of Squadron, the 2nd
degree to the Wing (airbase) and the 3rd degree to the Industry.
Therefore, although specified institutional texts (training orders, technical orders
etc.) have been published as an effort to have a proper and common training and
support system throughout the Air Force, it is very obvious that each squadron has to
apply its own training and maintenance system which on the one hand fits better with
the specific aircraft type and the role of the squadron and, on the other hand fits well
with the maintenance and support system of the procuring agency.
Another issue is that, in the frame of modern training, fighter pilots must be
aware of the performance and capabilities of other A/C types and carried weapons. On
this purpose Dissimilar exercises are taking place among all various A/C types
Squadrons of HAF and other NATO and PfP Air Forces. During these exercises, four (4)
to eight (8) A/C are deployed from an airbase to another, together with a number of
pilots and maintenance personnel, enough to support the theoretical part of the
exercise (seminars, presentations) and the flight program. Considering that one hour of
3

MEDical & EVACuation

a fighters (A/C) flight costs 5-7.000, we may easily get an idea of the thousands of
Euros spent as transport expenses during an exercise, just to make the participants
able to have common Briefings/Debriefings 4, exchange points of view and transfer
special knowledge on their type (knowledge Management). If we add the personnels
travel expenses plus accommodation plus perdiem 5, then the amount of Euros spent
becomes tremendous.
Additionally, Chief Engineers use to complain because Air Crews (due to the
mission load) are not always bringing back detailed recordings of the flight parameters,
instruments fluctuations, combined indications and anything else that could be helpful
for the maintenance crew, the quality controller, the maintenance records update,
maintenance and surveys prioritization and programming, etc.
3.

How the system works now

Currently, automated maintenance and supplies systems are in use. However,

the specific hardware/software:

o

maintenance wise - covers the equipment/spare parts requests, traffic

control and deliveries and,

o

training wise assists the scheduler (operations and training manager) in

building realistic flight schedules based on the availability of assets taken under
consideration the rotational pre-scheduled (weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual,
annual) A/C maintenance, as well as the non-scheduled maintenance (special surveys
due to A/C overgs, engine problems, avionics malfunctions, weapon systems
malfunctions, internal and external cleaning demands etc).
All the data needed to make the system running are either manual data inputs,
manually recorded, manually stored but automatically processed or outcomes of an
4

Briefings and especially Debriefings are considered as the best knowledge management tool of fighter squadrons.
During a well prepared debriefing every individual is realizing what he planned wrong and what right, what he
executed wrong and what right, where exactly the problem/s was/were, how many frames the enemy was in his gunaiming system, and many other details extremely useful for both training, maintenance and flight safety.
5
Personal daily expenses

10

absolutely manual procedure where pilots bring their remarks, then work on them using
the big binders (A/C manuals, Systems manuals) prepare the relevant logs and pass
their conclusions to the engineers who on their side re-engineer the outcomes working
with their ones binders (TECH books) in order to point out the possible problem and
program the relevant maintenance required.
Formations of A/C taken off from different air bases or landing to different air
bases (different geographical areas), supposed to execute a common mission or
cooperate in any way, are facing the realistic problem of mission planning coordination,
individual mission briefings and debriefings.
Organization and Training-Maintenance Management Model w/o MIS

Spare parts (IN/OUT docs)

Analysis Tools
Systems Malfunction

Requests/Orders
Req

A B C D E F G H

Natural Presence Obligatory

Process Flow Map

Maintenance Schedules
Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Squadron Ops Office (Air Crews)

o
Daily Flight Scheduler
o
Weapons & Tactics Section
o
Standardization/Evaluation Section
Maintenance Office (Techs)
o
Fuselage
o
Egress
o
Weapons
o
Avionics
o

F & M Crews Remarks

1.
2.
3.

Input
Input
Input

W/D Results
Respon
d

Acct.

Consult. Inform

Checklists
Open
Site
References

- Normal Procedures
- Emergency Procedures
- Maintenance Instructions
- Malfunctions/AC response

Important Feed back information

Transport A/C bring the dissimilar Fighters Maintenance crew to hosting base. Hosted Fighters must perform
landings, participate the Mission Briefings, wait for the crew-rest period, take-off for the exercise, land again to the
hosting base, participate the Debriefings, wait for the crew-rest period and take-off for the mother base. What a
resources waistjust because the proper MIS system is not available.

11

The way the system works right now is displayed in the above diagram, bearing
in mind that dotted lines represent manual inputs.

However, there should be a technical way to overtake all these problems and
establish a system that could ensure the full, fast and perfect collection, exploitation,
process, evaluation, validation and transfer of data, in order to:
a. Avoid additional expenses by eliminating the need for natural presence of
all crews to the same base for planning, briefing and debriefing activities,
in cases of combined multi-type, multi-squadron, multi-national ..
exercises (Integrated Briefing/Debriefing Environment).
b. Record as many flight parameters, structural fatigue factors, acceleration
factors etc., as possible for maintenance optimisation (automatic fault
analysis and problematic element realization, automated spare part
request / immediate order, optimized maintenance programming, etc.).
c. Record detailed navigation, maneuvering, aiming parameters in order to:
(1)

Adjust, refine, optimize, and verify the respective systems and

avionics.

(2)

Investigate mission results, debrief and Reconsider mission

planning.

12

The Challenge to implement an MIS

Information management is practiced in the Air Force, especially in the field of C3
(Command Control Communication) and Maintenance and Supplies fields. Both
independent and integrated systems have been applied. The advantages of MIS have
already been appreciated by both the front-liners, their managers (Squadron leaders,
Wing Commanders) and the Headquarters (Staff officers, Sections Chiefs, Directors).
A great challenge, considered as a critical success factor in reengineering training
and maintenance, is the implementation of an MIS at Squadron level thus facilitating
both mission planning, training and maintenance. Everybody agreed that computerizing
a system we are automatically driven to the advantages; reduced clerical cost, quicker
processing time and improved reliability.

Everyone knows that the computer

capabilities alone make life a lot easier for all managers. The advantage of time and
accuracy spread over the lifespan of the information system means improved long-term
vision and focus for top, middle and lower managers.
With a leading management software solution in place, we can literally redefine
our management information system. By linking all of our diverse management aspects
into a unified whole, we can greatly increase the efficiency by which we complete
projects and tasks, making for faster turnaround and fulfillment of activities. More
importantly, we give our most sweeping section goals a foundation in a systematic
approach offering measurable results that can keep us on the right track.
We have experienced this level of performance, with all of our management
elements working as one toward a common goal, and then a software solution seems to
be right for us. Leading providers offer consulting and training options that will ensure a
seamless transition, so we can expect a quick deployment and the training to begin
working right away. With the opportunity to experience an exceptional level of
performance, its the right time to take the next bold step.

13

Why do we need automation and how we should properly choose and introduce
information control system? An effective use of the Internet is one of the most
important factors. So, several questions have appeared. How can we use it safely
running no risk of losing the important information? Is it necessary to automate all
kinds of activities? How we can possibly estimate the effect of the implemented
automation system? And is it possible to save money on computers, computer
networks, software and programmers. In order to answer these and many other
questions, which can appear we have considered the diagram of activities' circulation.

An MIS tailored to the Squadron level needs will optimize various activities, as
previously referred, since the amount of data recorded during flight, the higher
accuracy of these data, the less pilot work load (recording data during flight is a U for
flight safety U stands for the term Unfavorable factor) will:
a.

Ensure better maintenance though the same time will provide the tools for
a more accurate, more deep and detailed investigation of system
problems and fault analysis.

b.

Facilitate the conduct of a serious of exercises - execution of which today

is demanding the deployment of a number of A/C with supporting
personnel thus implying a great effort and high expenses on behalf of the

14

Air Force, by providing the capabilities for tele-briefings, remote mission

planning, remote score data analysis, data transfer etc.

Required MIS
for Squadron level Training & Maintenance
After a detail study of the entire cycle of requirements for the Squadron level
Training & Maintenance as well as for the establishment of an Integrated Debriefing
Environment using the HAF standard methods of requirements definition and
prioritization, and after a thorough investigation and contacts with key officers in the
Squadron/Wing/Headquarters Staffs, I am hereby summarizing what the ultimate
required system is combining.

Solution for Fatigue & Health Data Recorder

(Training & Maintenance)

Solution for Structural Fatigue Monitoring

(Maintenance)

Solution for Engine Fault and Cycles Recorder

(Maintenance)

Solution for Black Box Option

(Training & Maintenance)

Solution for Ground Station

(Training)

Solution for Integrated Debriefing Environment

(Training/Knowledge mng)

In the frame of OFFSETS, RADOM Aerospace, after wide field cooperation with us,
during which we clearly defined the specific requirements per field of operation (training
maintenance) we are considering the following Management Information System
tailored to our needs.
The system will be later on presented in detail. As a general idea must be
understood that with the combination of the full spectrum of IT, such as

15

TPS/MIS/EIS/DSS/ES/FAIS/OAS/ERPS (Transaction Processing System/Management

Information System/Executive Information System/Decision Support System/Expert
System/Functional Area Information System/Office Automation System/Collaboration
System/Enterprise Resource Planning System), apart of the amount, accuracy, speed of
data collection and data processing, a great managerial capability will be obtained
through the provision of info to the managerial level for better decision making. The
same time summarized info will be made available to the chain of command which with
the use of drill down tools can see any detailed info stored in the system.

Thus

achieving the desired performance enhancement, business model extension and service
offerings expansion.

Enhance

Enhance

Extend

Add new business

models

Extend

Add functionality or features to

current service offerings, or
improve performance
of existing services

Expand
Expand

Add new service offerings

16

Proposed Solution: Onboard Enhanced Training &

Maintenance Management System
Cockpit Flight Data Recorder (CFDR)
An on-board debriefing system is added to the existing or upgraded Avionics
suite of the aircraft.
The debriefing system comprises a Cockpit Flight Data Recorder - CFDR that is
mounted in the cockpit and is integrated with the avionics system; it records the Flight
Data parameters on a Flash memory Card (PCMCIA).
The CFDR system also contains optional synchronized digital video recording,
based on the HUD 7 camera.
The PCMCIA Card is removed by the pilot after each flight and can be replayed
on PC (desktop, portable laptop or notebook) computers.

Figure 1: CFDR Onboard System

Optional on-board connection to the aircraft UHF transceiver can send the
aircraft main parameters (aircraft position, velocities, accelerations, certain discrete
signals) to the other training aircraft and to the Ground Station to create a real time

Head Up Display

17

database, which is used to perform real time ACMI8, Radar and RWR 9 systems, in-flight
simulation and situational awareness picture.

Figure 2: PCMCI Cartridges

The Ground System enables to replay a complete mission with 3D visualization of

the aircraft maneuvers, terrain, pilots cockpit activity, accuracy of instrument
approaches and operation of weapon systems including simulated and real bomb hits
scoring.

Figure 3: ACMI and Debriefing System

Real terrain visualization will enable to replay tactical maneuvers and low-level
navigation and ground attacks.
The Cock pit Flight Data Recorder system enables to merge and replay multiship operations such as ACM/ACT 10 and tactical maneuvers (to GPS accuracy).

Air Combat Maneuvers Indicator

Radar Warning Receiver
10
Air Combat Manuvres / Air Combat Tactiques
9

18

The system protocols are Internet-Compatible (TCP/IP) and can be transmitted

via Internet or Intranet networks between squadrons or airbases.
The debriefing SW can be loaded and used on a commercial notebook computer
and be used by each Trainee as a M ission P lanning

tool to prepare for the next

flight.

Figure 4: Debriefing System Display

The same ground station can be used for mission planning, waypoint selection and
mission scenarios rehearsing.
Therefore, the ground debriefing station can supply the following:
3D over terrain data presentation, with real data.
2D-map presentation of aircraft position.
Single or multi-ship presentation.
HUD video synchronization.
Simulated trajectories of weapons and post flight Scoring.
Mission planning.

19

Maintenance Features
The Flight Data Recorder, which will be an integral part of the avionics package,
will be also utilized for Avionics Maintenance:
All BIT results can be recorded on it along with the data usually recorded for
pilots debriefing.
It will enable to replay the complete flight and troubleshoot of avionics as well as
airframe problems encountered during the flight. This is performed through integration
of the CFDR data with the aircrafts avionics hot mock-up.
There is also an option to extend the CFDR usage for additional maintenance
applications as described below.

Figure 5: Avionics Hot Mock-Up

Fatigue & Health Data Recorder
The CFDR already integrated in the Avionics suit for ACMI debriefing will be
utilized for Maintenance applications. The CFDR already connected to the Mux-Bus and

20

recording flight data, will be interfaced to additional sensors such as Strain gauges,
Engine gauges etc through a signal conditioning unit as presented below:

Figure 6: CFDR Interfaces for extended usage

The Data will be processed onboard and recorded for the following applications:

Structure Fatigue monitoring and Logger

Engine Cycles Logger

Engine Limits exceeding and malfunctions recording

Avionics BIT recording.

Mishap and troubleshooting investigations

Structural Fatigue Monitoring:

Monitoring Airframe Structure fatigue parameters based on the actual
maneuvering of the aircraft, rather than just logging flight hours, optimizes the actual
usage of operational flight hours of the aircraft while reducing maintenance and
inspections costs.

21

Engine Fault and Cycles Recorder

The CFDR can monitor engine parameters such as FTIT, RPM, and Oil Pressure
etc. and will detect events of exceeding limits. Once detected, it will continuously record
all engine data and associated flight data. The data will be used to reconstruct it on the
Ground for better trouble-shooting of engine problems.
Time at predefined Temperatures Levels and flight conditions, Afterburner time
etc. will be logged for automatic Engine Cycles counting.

Black Box Option

There is an option to connect the CFDR to a crash protected memory unit
(CSMU) for accident investigation.
In this option the CFDR will collect flight data and systems statuses and send it
via an RS 422 line to an off the shelf Crash safe memory unit (F-16 type). Or to a more
advances Voice and Data Recorder (VADR).

Ground Station
A PC based station will be utilized to process the PCMCIA recorded data. It will
be possible to recreate a complete flight, to present the A/C flight path like in the ACMI
station and in addition to present the engineering data from the engines, airframe and
other onboard systems.
The station will be used for logging airframe fatigue and engine usage data and
for troubleshooting and mishap investigation.

22

Figure 7: CFDR Ground Station

Flight Data Recorder (By PLR Avionics - www.plris.com)

System Description
The FDR is a cockpit mounted unit with a high end microprocessor controlled
system, which provides collection of A/C data from several independent sources and
records them on PCMCIA FLASH cards. Up to two Type III PCMCIA FLASH cards can be
used to provide storage capacity for the recording of flight data. The FDR contains all
the required switches and lamp indicators on its front panel and does not need any
additional control panels to operate the unit.
The FDR includes the following aircraft interfaces:

The aircrafts MIL-STD 1553 data bus.

Serial digital data busses, including RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, ARINC 429.

PCM data stream input and output

Discrete signals

Analog inputs.
23

The FDR selects specified data words from the MUX-Bus, RS, ARINC and from the
BIL and stores them on the internal PCMCIA compatible Flash cards. The FDR
synchronizes the recorded data from these sources to the time of flight.
The Flash cards also contain a special setup file providing the FDR with
predetermined user setup information. This information in general defines for each
input source the parameters selected to be recorded and any other user supplied
information.
As a result of its recording capabilities and its capability to record data, video and
audio the applications in which the FDR can be utilized are numerous and varied. Some
of these are:

Mission Data Recorder (MDR)

Data Transfer Equipment (DTE)

Pilot Air Combat Training and Evaluation (PACTES)

Flight Test Data Recorder (FTDR)

The Debriefing Station displays the recorded video synchronized with any recorded
data parameters. These can also be displayed in conjunction with a 3D Terrain Map or
2D Map. The FDR records the flown route, which can later be replayed over the terrain,
displaying one or more aircraft. When used in this manner, the system provides an
excellent pilot debriefing tool, as a training tool or as a practice run for special missions.

INTEGRATED DEBRIEFING ENVIRONMENT

The Integrated Debriefing Environment (IDE) is a PC based software package
intended for use by design and development engineers during the integration and test
stages. It provides crisp clear real-time graphic representation of acquired or recorded
data. Capable of accepting a large number of data sources, it synchronously displays all

24

selected parameters and collects your data entirely in a digital domain. Your recorded
data can be transferred via you LAN network, FTP transferred, or even emailed.
A total of 100 designated pages of users selected parameters can each be
viewed. User friendly menu driven operation ensures smooth setup, parameter
definition, event and phenomena observation and report generation.
The

IDE

includes

powerful

search

capabilities,

which

identify

events,

exceedences, time, etc. It has a simple, menu driven data streams definition process,
which define the incoming messages (sub-messages), parameters inside messages and
graphic presentation pages.
Arbitrary calculations can be performed on the parameters and presented either
in real-time or during playback. The user can extend the set of applicable functions.
View your acquired or recorded data in "raw" format, as physical or engineering units or
calculated using compound formulas.
The IDE incorporates a powerful but very user friendly Report Generator. The
user defines report template and format, data sections and data formats.

25

SETUP: Initializing the system requires the definition of the set of channels the
IDE will deal with. This includes the list of channels and, their hardware protocol
parameters, such as baud rate, number of data bits, addresses, etc.
It also requires a definition of the set of messages to be recorded. This includes such
information as message name, the input channel receiving the message, message
length, message format.
Setup also describes the set of parameters residing in each message, value
presentation format, and the corresponding calibration formula.
Parameters can be united into subsets for convenience of use and presentation.
Subsets can be either displayed in pages while debriefing or dumped into ASCII files.
DEBRIEFING: The debriefing process is performed based on the setup
information and recorded or acquired data. It represents this data to the user in tables
with raw and engineering data, gages, bars, graphs, etc.
Each time the IDE is initialized it will use the settings defined during the previous run.
This includes the last setup information, last page on the screen, last assigned pages
and so on. It allows the user to start debriefing with minimal preparations. To start the
debriefing process the IDE must be connected to its source of data.
The connect operation can be either to a file, or to a user defined Data Source
Handler. This is either provided together with the IDE, or written by the user, in the
form of a Dynamic Link Library (DLL). By using this technology the user can connect the
IDE to an arbitrary device, which will acquire data from the desired source(s), pack it
according to predefined rules and provide it to the IDE for debriefing and recording.
REPORT GENERATOR: The IDE can produce three types of reports - Traffic
Report, Report by Event and Report by Time Step. The last two types of reports can be
produced both in ASCII and binary forms.
The Traffic Report is an ASCII file which displays a line for each message, containing
message time and message name.

26

ASCII reports contain lines with exact time and value of all parameters included in the
subset selected by the user for the
report.

Binary

reports

contain

parameters included in the selected

subset, in the form they were
recorded.

27

Conclusion
It takes a great deal of effort, expertise, time, and money to create a
management information system that produces comprehensive and integrated
information on demand. The development or the improvement of a management
information system is usually a major organizational undertaking.
The way the system will be working after the implementation of the required MIS
is displayed in the following diagram, bearing in mind that blue arrow-lines represent
automated data transfer 11.
Organization and Training-Maintenance Management Model with MIS
Spare parts (IN/OUT docs)

Analysis Tools
Systems Malfunction

Requests/Orders
Req

A B C D E F G H
Input
Input

Process Flow Map

Maintenance Schedules
Jan.

Feb.

Input

W/D Results
Respon
d

Acct.

Consult. Inform

Mar.

Checklists
F & M Crews Remarks
1.
2.
3.

Open
Site
References

- Normal Procedures
- Emergency Procedures
- Maintenance Instructions
- Malfunctions/AC response

Important feed back information

11

As you will notice, the only manual activity taking place will be the pilots PCMCI cartridge delivery the
maintenance control and then all data will be automatically distributed, analyzed, evaluated by the specialized tools,
thus providing flight crews with all data required for the training-advantageous validation of the mission and,
maintenance people with each and every peace of information required not only to conduct but also to level up
maintenance.

28

The automated system provides managers of different levels with the

following indicative* tools:
Maintenance Officer:

Collecting more and of much higher accuracy

maintenance data (Enhanced) thus facilitating fault analysis and equipment

repairs.
Maintenance Supervisor:

Extend maintenance effectiveness via statistical

analysis of problematic systems, in which cases and under which conditions.

Maintenance Command: Expand maintenance capabilities due to the better
scheduling of 2nd and 3rd degree maintenance.
Evaluation Officer: will be able to point out weaknesses of every individual
pilot as well as weaknesses in maintenance procedures and (extend) make
decisions on the way to eliminate them. Will eliminate skills evaluation doubts
(human factor divergences) because grading will now on be based on recorded
performances of the individuals (Enhance Evaluation).
Training Officer: Enhance the training system based on information (data)
collected on the full spectrum of crews activities. Extend effectiveness in training
management via cooperation with Evaluation officer based now on doubtless
information.
Operations Officer: Extend decision making, i.e. engage crews in roles better
fitting to their skills in accordance with their recorded performances.
Squadron Leader: Extend decision making, i.e. order for additional air-toground attack training missions, if a lower factor of professionalism has been
indicated for the squadron pilots in relevant missions.
Training Command: Expand capabilities by the use of Integrated Debriefing
Environment (IDE).
* Advantages are not limited to the above mentioned but for the purpose
of this project it is not considered necessary to enter into further
operational details.
29