Tactical Flight Plan Generation with Event Parameter Adjustment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Standard flight management systems are unable to generate a tactical flight plan that accounts for tactical events such as aerial drops, in-flight refueling, and tactical steps, which can modify the aircraft's load and fuel levels during flight, leading to inaccurate predictions and lack of optimization before these events occur.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that input initial aircraft data, meteorological data, and optimization criteria to determine a flight profile, selecting and accounting for tactical events by modifying relevant parameters, such as fuel and load weights, to produce a tactical flight plan that considers these events in real-time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If standard flight management systems are used, then the system complexity remains low and ease of operation is maintained, but the system cannot account for tactical events such as aerial drops and in-flight refueling, resulting in inaccurate predictions
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-defines tactical events and their associated parameter variations during flight plan preparation, before the actual flight occurs. This allows the flight management system to anticipate and account for events like aerial drops and refueling operations in advance, improving prediction accuracy without requiring complex real-time calculations during flight
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts flight plan parameters based on selected tactical events. By incorporating event-specific parameter modifications (such as load changes from drops or fuel changes from refueling) into the flight profile calculations, the system adapts to varying mission requirements while maintaining a manageable core architecture
2Measurement precision
If tactical events are accounted for in real-time, then prediction accuracy improves, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to increased crew workload for manual parameter updates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically calculates and applies parameter variations associated with tactical events. Once tactical events are selected during flight plan preparation, the system self-manages the complex calculations of weight, fuel, and performance parameter adjustments, eliminating the need for crew members to manually update these parameters during flight
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops that automatically recalculate flight predictions based on selected tactical events and their parameter variations. This closed-loop approach ensures that prediction accuracy is maintained throughout the flight by continuously adjusting calculations based on the predefined event parameters, without requiring manual intervention
3Productivity
If optimization is performed only up to the point of tactical events, then calculation speed is maintained, but the productivity of flight plan optimization is reduced due to inability to optimize beyond event points
Solution Approach 1:
The flight plan optimization is segmented into multiple phases, with each phase optimized independently between tactical events. This allows the system to perform comprehensive optimization for each flight segment while maintaining manageable calculation times, rather than attempting to optimize the entire flight plan as a single complex problem
Data Source
AI summary
A flight plan for a tactical flight of an aircraft is generated using first input data including initial weight and initial loading of the aircraft, meteorological data, points of transit of the flight plan and at least one optimization criterion. With the aid of the input data and by implementing a prediction function and an optimization function, a flight profile of the flight plan is determined. The profile includes for each point of transit of the flight plan, a plurality of predictive information items and, between two successive points of transit of the flight plan, optimized parameters. The flight plan is presented on a display screen. A second input allows an operator to enter, for each tactical event of the tactical flight, a variation of at least one parameter which is modified by this tactical event at a particular point of variation of the flight plan. The flight profile is determined using each parameter variation which is taken into account at the corresponding point of variation.