Briefings going high-tech with new touchscreen - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Briefings going high-tech with new touchscreen

Many Air Force flight mission briefings still begin much as they have for decades.

The lead pilot writes mission details on dry-erase boards. The cutting-edge aircraft they’ll fly cost millions, but the briefing materials are sold at Office Depot for less than $75.

But that’s going to change, and soon.

Called the “Warfighter’s Edge,” or “WEdge,” that dry-erase board’s replacement amasses real-time weather reports, satellite photos and intricate mapping on a single computer screen. And despite its complexity, the software is essentially a highly modified take on Microsoft PowerPoint.

As early as March, WEdge will be tested at five bases: the New York Air National Guard base in Syracuse, Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, Hill in Utah, Whiteman in Missouri and Barksdale in Louisiana.

Designers expect it to soon spread further.

“The current, very manual process ... involves team members running around in a time-consuming manner to gather information that should be at your fingertips,” said Lt. Col. Andrew “Skipper” Berry, an F-16 pilot and software specialist.

Working out of the Air Force Academy on an Air Combat Command assignment, Berry and C-5 pilot Maj. Mike “Buckwheat” Lattanzi are WEdge’s designers. The idea, they said, was born when an F-16 pilot with the Oklahoma Air National Guard tweaked PowerPoint to run mission briefings.

Called up on a monitor, WEdge’s display resembles an Internet browser complete with toolbar. Mouse clicks can zoom in on intricate maps — revealing mountains, valleys and roads — and pilots can highlight specific areas or pinpoint strike targets.

“You’re looking at a God’s-eye view of the local military operations area,” Berry said. And precision is one of its biggest selling points.

“I promise you, the first time you’re in the [area of responsibility], you’re confused, nervous, haven’t been to war before and not sure if the flight lead is doing this right or that right,” he said.

Computer-supplied details on weather or bombing coordinates, Berry said, eliminate human errors and help pilots confidently complete their mission.

“There needs to be a shift,” he said, “to get those human elements out of the equation so I can focus on how to drop my bombs and land them on the right target.”

Pilots sometimes rely on a hodgepodge of similar software programs designed at individual bases. But those programs typically require tech-savvy designers to run them. “If that guy has [a permanent change of station], the system dies,” Berry said. These programs are also incompatible with programs created at other bases.

But WEdge will be linked to the Air Force’s overall network. More than tapping into live intelligence on situational factors, pilots can connect to maps from around the world. They can also add region-specific notes on common runway approaches, for example.

WEdge’s designers envision the software as sort of “pilot’s Wikipedia,” Lattanzi said, referring to the online encyclopedia.

WEdge, Lattanzi said, will be most useful to pilots on live or training fighter missions, air refueling missions, airdrop missions or other missions requiring complex briefings.

The software is being certified for Air Force-wide networks and will spread after feedback is received from the first test sites.