Sponsors (2)
The bill promotes greater use of virtual/constructive flight training to improve safety, lower costs, and speed simulator adoption, but risks reduced hands‑on proficiency if not implemented carefully and creates modest administrative work for DoD staff.
Service members (pilots, aircrew) can train more safely and with greater scheduling flexibility by substituting some live flight hours with virtual/constructive training, lowering exposure to flight risk.
The Department of Defense may accelerate adoption of advanced simulation and constructive-training technologies, improving overall force readiness without increasing live-flight risk.
Taxpayers could see lower operational costs if virtual training reduces expensive aircraft flight hours, fuel use, and airframe wear.
If live flight hours are reduced without carefully preserving hands‑on experience, pilots and maintainers could lose proficiency, degrading readiness and safety.
The required briefing imposes an administrative workload on Department of Defense staff to prepare and deliver a report within 180 days.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DoD to brief congressional defense committees within 180 days on the feasibility of using virtual constructive training to reduce in‑air training.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Defense to provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the feasibility of using virtual constructive training to optimize the amount of in-air training used by the Armed Forces.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress April 9, 2026
Requires the Secretary of Defense to brief congressional defense committees within 180 days of enactment on whether virtual constructive training can be used to reduce or optimize in‑air training currently done by the Armed Forces. The bill creates a short title but does not authorize funding or create new programs; it only mandates an assessment and report/briefing on feasibility and potential impacts.