The focus of the Sea-based Automated Launch and Recovery System (SALRS) program is to provide precision ship-relative navigation and guidance/control technologies for an aircraft performing autonomous or reduced pilot workload landings on air-capable ships. A key component of SALRS is the development of a Virtual Testbed (VTB) with which to simulate all aspects of the shipboard environment relevant to aviation operations, including ship motion, airwake turbulence and degraded environmental conditions. The VTB is being used to evaluate the sensor and data fusion technologies developed through the SALRS program, and to demonstrate candidate autoland systems, as well as explore the operations aspects of automating shipboard launch and recovery. The VTB consists of a suite of desktop tools and piloted facilities, applicable to fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned. The VTB builds on existing infrastructure and models, and benefits from considerable ship-aircraft simulation experience gained at the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and throughout the simulation community in Government, academia and industry. Empirical and physics-based sensor models have been integrated with the VTB and used to fly fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft models to ships in closed-loop simulation. Physics-based sensor models are primarily based on the Irma 5.2 multi-sensor signature prediction tool providing infrared, laser and radar channels. Filtering algorithms, which enable data from multiple sensors to be selected and fused to provide an accurate ship-relative navigation solution, are being developed under the SALRS program and incorporated in the VTB as they become available. Validation of the simulation and its components against ground-based and flight test data is on-going. This paper describes the SALRS program, the current status of the VTB, physics-based sensor model output, and results of closed-loop simulated approaches of a fixed-wing aircraft to a ship using empirical sensor models.
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