The objective is to train the operational and logistical teams responsible for carrying out the Contractual Operational Assessment (CTA) of the Gripen in Brazil
DCTA, by Lieutenant Priscila Scarparo and Air Force Agency
The Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA) held, in November, the first course called Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), at Anápolis Air Base (BAAN). The course was divided in two phases, from November 7 to 11, theoretical classes, and from November 14 to 25, practical classes, taught by American instructors with vast experience in OT&E, founders of the first course at the National Test Pilot School.
The objective of the course is to form the operational and logistical teams responsible for carrying out the Contractual Operational Evaluation (CAO) of the Gripen in Brazil and to allow for the improvement of the CAO doctrine within the Brazilian Air Force. Twelve military personnel from the operational and logistics area are being trained in a practical way for 21 days. In addition, the theoretical part of the course was made available to 25 military personnel from the Air Force Staff (EMAER), Preparatory Command (COMPREP), General Support Command (COMGAP), Department of Airspace Control (DECEA), and DCTA, with the purpose of increasing current knowledge about the Operational Evaluation process and promoting the improvement of this doctrine.
“All of this is very important for us to learn a methodology that will enable us to make this assessment with great propriety and efficiency. We are preparing ourselves to apply this knowledge when we receive the F-39 Gripen, so that we can guarantee to the FAB and to the Brazilian society that we will have a product that is adequate to the reality and defense needs of our country. This is all very exciting and leaves us with excellent expectations for what is to come,” said Gripen Operational Manager, Lieutenant Colonel Felipe Bombarda Guedes.
DCTA realized that there was a training gap for the COMPREP and COMGAP personnel, responsible respectively for operational and logistical validation at the Gripen AVOP. Thus, with the support of EMAER, it coordinated the hiring of the American company VECTOR LLC to teach the first OT&E course in Brazil. “For me it was a great satisfaction to be part of this coordination, because this knowledge will allow Gripen and any other new product acquired by FAB to be operationally and logistically validated before it starts to be effectively used”, concluded the Operational Test & Evaluation Contract Coordinator and Fiscalian, Lieutenant Colonel Thais Franchi Cruz.
For Airman Colonel George Luiz Guedes de Oliveira, one of the collaborators of this project, “this way, we expect to perform tests and evaluations with greater integration, proactivity and synergy among the technical, operational and logistical teams. The idea is to plant a seed that can germinate towards the operational development of FAB. If we do not know our systems in their entirety before conflicts, we will be forced to learn after them, which is critical,” he concludes.
Photos: BAAN *** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***