Consortium Was Founded In 2004
Helicopter Flight Training Services (HFTS), a consortium owned
equally by CAE, Eurocopter, Thales and Rheinmetall Defence
Electronics, officially inaugurated this week the world's first
NH90 full-mission simulator in its newly built facility in
Bückeburg, Northern Germany, adjacent to the German Army
Aviation School.
HFTS will design, build and operate a total of three NH90
simulator training centers for what is presently the German Armed
Forces' largest private-finance initiative (PFI) program for
military aircrew training.
"We are proud to have delivered our first NH90 simulator on time
and we welcome our launch customer, the German Army Air Corps, to
make full use of our facility and service," said Robert
Hollensteiner, Managing Director of HFTS. "Indeed, this is a
milestone in the NH90 helicopter program, the largest ever launched
in Europe. NH90 customers from many nations are attending our
inauguration ceremony today, and I am pleased to announce that
Finland and Sweden have decided to also train their NH90 pilots at
the HFTS simulator facilities. We are fully committed to supporting
the German Army Air Corps in turning their Bückeburg base and
Aviation School into an international training center for the NH90
(shown below)."
HFTS was founded in December 2004 on the basis of a German
government contract worth a total of €488 million in order to
develop, build and operate four NH90 full-mission simulators and
three training centers located in Bückeburg, Fassberg and
Holzdorf. The start of operations in late 2008 will now be followed
by a 14.5-year operational phase that extends through 2022. During
the operational phase, HFTS will deliver turnkey training services,
payable at an hourly rate, to NH90 customers.
Through this PFI program, the German Armed Forces save operating
and finance costs by eliminating the need for capital procurement
and ongoing maintenance of an expensive infrastructure. The
military customers pay for a turnkey training service that results
in fully-qualified, mission-ready aircrews, since the
responsibility for delivering the service and all the necessary
equipment supporting the service lies with HFTS.
Simulator-based training has been proven efficient by the German
Armed Forces for basic and recurrent training. Germany will be able
to reduce the number of flight hours on the actual NH90 helicopter,
thus providing significant savings while reducing wear and tear as
well as better protecting the environment. The HFTS training
program for simulator-based pilot training will ensure the German
Armed Forces of the quickest and most cost-effective availability
of training for the NH90 helicopter.
The decision by the German government to proceed with
privately-financed training for the NH90 is consistent with the
trend for governments to consider this approach for military
training requirements. The services provided by HFTS also fit
perfectly to the requirements of other NH90 customers, as
demonstrated by Finland's and Sweden's decision to utilize the
facility in Bückeburg.
The NH90 full-mission simulator is comparable to Level C
according to JAR FSTD 1H standards. It includes a full-motion
system with six degrees of freedom, an instructor station,
simulation of all systems and optional equipment solutions,
avionics system and full replica of the NH90 cockpit, sound system,
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) simulation data package and a
visual system field of view of 200° horizontal and 60°
vertical daylight/dusk/night. The visual database features detailed
environmental visuals as well as realistic 3D moving models and
full correlation between databases.