DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Air Force will likely make adjustments to the training for unmanned aircraft pilots, largely drawing on observations from the first two graduating classes, service chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said at the Dubai Airshow.

The first class of the new remotely piloted aircraft operator training system graduated in September and the students are now being qualified. They are expected to start flying combat missions early next year, Schwartz says. The second class graduates in January.

Schwartz says the first lessons are starting to emerge. They indicate that some adjustments will be needed, but that the Air Force is broadly “on the right path.”

The Air Force has set up the special training track to ensure the vehicle operators know enough about operating an aircraft, without having to expose them to the full syllabus for regular pilots. “We are trying to find the sweet spot where we don’t train too much and don’t train too little,” Schwartz stresses.

The USAF has been trying to ramp up UAV operations after coming under sharp criticism from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Schwartz notes that the service has increased by 650 percent the number of air vehicles available in the past six years, but concedes “even this falls short” of what field commanders are calling for. The Air Force is on a course to be able to sustain 50 UAV orbits by the end of 2011.

Personnel remains a concern, though, particularly when it comes to exploiting the vast amount of sensor information now being collected by UAVs. “The analysis side of this equation is by no means a problem solved,” he told the Dubai Air Chiefs conference.

Another issue that needs to get tackled is the number of personnel involved to operate each UAV. “I can not sustain 150 Air Force personnel per orbit,” he notes, arguing that the only solution is to have one operator control several air vehicles.

Photo: USAF