Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science today announced that training to maintain Australia’s new F/A-18F Super Hornets has taken a technological leap with the introduction of a Visual Environment Maintenance Trainer to RAAF Base Amberley.
“This week a group of Air Force’s best and brightest aviation technicians are familiarising themselves with the latest innovation in aircraft maintenance training equipment in preparation for the arrival of the new Super Hornet aircraft,” Mr Combet said.
“The Visual Environment Maintenance Trainer consists of a mock Super Hornet cockpit with touch screens that allow Air Force maintenance students to perform diagnostic and system functional checks in a realistic setting.”
“The cockpit simulator provides students with the opportunity to work on complex maintenance issues without actually being in a real aircraft. This high tech problem solving can be monitored by an instructor who can bring up teaching points as the student works toward finding a fault.”
“The new Trainer can also be quickly reprogrammed to create new faults and allow students to do more diagnostic analysis in a shorter period of time than could be performed using other training tools.”
“These new features will ensure that Air Force is at the forefront of Australian aviation technical training and will allow students to gain greater experience on Super Hornet systems before applying their new skills to real aircraft.”
Australia is acquiring 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets to aid the transition to a mature Joint Strike Fighter capability and allow Air Force to retire the F-111 fleet. The Super Hornets will begin arriving at RAAF Base Amberley next year.
Currently Super Hornet maintenance training is being conducted in the United States. It is expected that all Super Hornet maintenance training will be conducted in Australia from January 2010.
