Essentially, simulation enables operators to enter a virtual world that often the platform/operator often cannot enter in the real world. The employment of advanced technology in simulators has therefore not only satisfied the basic training requirement but has opened up a new dimension in training and preparation for operations that goes beyond conventional flight methods. Clearly, there are operational tactics and procedures - on, under or over no-go areas - that can be performed in a simulator but would be impracticable in an actual aircraft for flight safety, rules of engagement, security, and other reasons.
When aviation simulators come to mind it conjures up images of aircraft cockpits on hydraulic stilts, occupied by crews being subjected to engine failure, fires and many other emergencies.
However advances in technology, particularly in vastly increased computing power and the fidelity of imaging systems has seen flight simulators evolve from pilot training aids to powerful and capable tools in the armoury of training system developers and warfighters alike.
In addition, virtual training and simulation has become so commonplace that military aircrews are now exposed to it from initial flying training through to rehearsal for battle as fully-fledged combat pilots and weapons or sensor operators. Even the development of the platforms they will fly and operate will have been influenced to a high degree by computer modelling and simulation. The modern ideal of Network Centric Warfare lends itself to the use of simulation during training exercises, with notional assets able to be synthetically generated to appear as further nodes on the 'Net' - thus melding reality with virtual reality in a seamless way. And the increasing use of unmanned weapon systems operated remotely has brought virtual reality onto the battlefield.
The use of simulators for more than just currency training is not new. Forty years ago, Apollo 11 astronauts used relatively crude simulators by today's standards to practise landing their lunar module on the moon.