In the 1970s, SAGEM introduced digital mission planning in its air force inertial units. The pilot took on board a small memory module (MIP: parameter input module, ancestor of the current USB key), which had been loaded with data at a little ground station, and inserted it in a cockpit navigation command/display unit. This gave the on-board systems (navigation/attack) the flight plan for the day, that is, a sequence of geographical points to be followed, and some other data. The application philosophy is still the same, but the ground mission preparation system (SLPRM = local mission planning and replay system) now has four workstations, mission planning being made from digitalised maps with images or vectors (see GIPSY cartographic package), taking on board the equivalent of a USB key. The ground station has also become a kind of simulator: after the flight, pilots load in the workstation, their modules, which recorded the main phases of the mission as completed, to replay and analyse it at the 'debriefing'.
SLPRM
SLPRM is the portal structure for all dedicated operational mission planning systems.SLPRM workstations can be used both to plan a wide range of missions (reconnaissance, attack etc.) and analyse them afterwards (debriefing) based on data recorded in flight (routes, visual data, etc.). They are used in aircraft of all kinds, both manned and unmanned (drones).
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The main parameters provided to the aircraft by way of plug-in memory modules are as follows:
- Flight and attack plan, and debriefing (including video 'replay' facilities)
- Tactical situation (flight corridors, threat positions, troop positions on ground)
- 2D/3D geographical environment (digital maps, terrain profiles, weather)
- Initialising weapons systems parameters (weapons, electronic warfare, etc.)
Some technical aspects
- Software with several million lines of code
- Multiple workstations (typically 4)
- Client/server architecture, object-oriented programming
At airbases, SLPRM units work in synergy with the 'strategic' SICOPSbase Intranet, forming an extension of it at tactical level.
> See the PDF brochure of SLPRM workstations 
See also: GIPSY workshop, TIMS intelligence/objectives management system and MARS mission planning and debriefing system.
