Fly me, I'm virtually at war

Top Gun devotees rejoice: there is a new toy to play with - a flight simulator used to train fighter pilots. By Matthew Burgess

Conspiracy theorists have always reckoned that the military keeps the best technology under wraps - a viewpoint that would be validated if they ever got past the perimeter security at the British Aerospace (BAe) HQ near Preston. Inside lurks what could well be the distant future of home entertainment - a multi-million pound array of custom computer hardware that combines to create an immersive experience well beyond the reach of even the most prosperous PC-gaming geek

An unassuming building houses BAe's Flight Simulation Division - a department dedicated to the suspension of disbelief. To gain from flight simulation, pilots must be given the illusion that they are actually airborne, so BAe cannot afford to cut corners in the pursuit of realism. The main simulator room contains the linked Twin Dome system - two replica cockpits each within an enclosed dome, with the simulated environment projected on the interior walls. With true-colour graphics at 60 frames per second being provided by a pounds 250,000 Silicon Graphics Onyx supercomputer, the two simulator pilots can interact - or dogfight - within the same virtual environment.

The simulators play an invaluable role in BAe's aircraft development and testing programme - and offer a video game experience like no other.

Leaving the runway, it was impossible to suppress a wave of utter exhilaration. With the thunder of the afterburners resonating in the stomach, and the detailed aerodrome disappearing into the distance, the Top Gun stereotypes suddenly became understandable. This is the closest a civilian is likely to get to the visceral thrill of travelling at 1,500mph - that's London to Paris in less than 10 minutes. Flying over the Lake District, a flick of the joystick produced a high-speed barrel roll, the entire computer- generated landscape rotating 360 degrees without a hint of frame-dropping.

As any tourist knows, to the south-west of the Lake District lies Blackpool, complete with Pleasure Beach and Tower - a journey of about 20 seconds for the Eurofighter. Sadly, the natural impulse in such circumstances - a screaming power dive coupled with repeated hammering on the multiple fire buttons - did not produce a maelstrom of twisted steel and charred Kiss-Me-Quick hats. The weapon systems, it seemed, were for military personnel only.

After the initial buzz had ebbed, it was noticeable how much easier it is to control the simulator than its PC siblings. The "surround" screen is no cosmetic detail - it provides the pilot with peripheral vision. John Turner, lead Eurofighter test pilot, says that a conventional PC will never be able to go beyond a certain level of realism because a flat- screen monitor is unable to simulate what a human sees. Landing is more difficult on a PC than in the simulator, as lack of peripheral vision tends to induce over-compensation.

The simulators can be configured for a wide variety of aircraft and armaments from BAe's "library". Potential Eurofighter customers can kit out their purchase with Asraam air-to-air missiles, and take on the Soviet-built U27 merely by selecting from a menu. Real-life terrain detail sourced from satellite photos is also available, so a battleground can almost be built to specification.

As well as the first-person-perspective flight simulators, BAe uses an innovative "god's-eye view" system for mission control and planning. Made by the Belgian company Barco, the 3D Table looks like a flatscreen TV on its back. It takes the data from the simulators in real time, and uses a stereoscopic vision system (aka 3D glasses) to provide a unique view of the virtual action. Suddenly that PC graphics accelerator card seems rather old hat.

As if all that wasn't already enough to make computer propellorheads foam at the mouth, the Ministry of Defence is currently putting together a Synthetic Environment network, whereby sites all over the country can be linked together by ISDN for simulated war games within the same virtual world. This will mean that helicopter pilots from Westland can call in Eurofighter support while attacking Rapier missile base simulators at BAe Dynamics in Stevenage - the ultimate network gaming experience.

Internet war games are beginning to mine a similar seam. The recently released Total Air War allows armchair pilots the opportunity to form squadrons and dogfight over a vast detailed map. However, the MOD network offers a tantalising glimpse not only of the future of flight sims, but the potential of the hugely popular real-time strategy (RTS) genre, as pioneered by Command and Conquer.

Imagine an RTS world where your units are controlled by humans rather than being mere computer drones. Imagine each of these virtual pilots racing to do your bidding in a perfectly simulated environment. Imagine the Internet being able to deliver the goods.

Although it may be tempting to hope that military flight simulation technology will filter into the home in the near future, history would suggest otherwise. All our electronic visual entertainment - cinema (except Imax), television, video games - comes to us through the medium of the two-dimensional flat screen, something that has been refined but not radically changed over the last 80 years.

Sharp has displayed prototypes of a home projection system designed for a hemispherical dome rather than a flat screen, but this is currently more of a concept than a reality.

Those who can't wait for the next generation of immersive virtual experience had better talk to their bank manager and Silicon Graphics - in that order.