New Army Tiger Helicopter Simulator Accredited

Eurocopter, MARIGNANE, France: One of the world’s most sophisticated aircrew training systems has received official certification by Australian accreditation authorities and recommended as suitable to begin training pilots and Battle Captains for the Australian Army’s new fleet of hi-tech armed reconnaissance helicopters. 
 
The Tiger ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) Full Flight & Mission Simulator (FFMS) has been granted FSD-1 Level 5 accreditation – equivalent to Europe’s Level D – the first time a flight simulator with two coupled domes has attained what is the highest level of certification worldwide. 
 
This Full Flight Simulator simulates all aspects of the Tiger’s operation and environment, and will be used to train pilots and other flight deck crew, as they are in the commercial aviation sector. 
 
The Tiger FFMS is part of the Australian Tiger acquisition program (Air 87). The Army has an order for 22 Tiger ARH helicopters which are being assembled at Australian Aerospace’s assembly plant in Brisbane. Nine aircraft have already been delivered to the Army. 
 
The Tiger FFMS, which is located at the Army’s Aviation Centre in Oakey, Queensland, replicates the Tiger’s two separate cockpits – one for the pilot and the other the Battle Captain – and can be operated either coupled as one virtual aircraft, or independently. 
 
Formal accreditation of the FFMS was granted to Australian Aerospace by SIMULINC, a Canberra-based specialist group retained by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to advise on flight simulator standards and accreditations. 
 
When announcing accreditation of the Tiger FFMS, SIMULINC observed that it was: “one of the best presented simulators SIMULINC has been involved with, and one we are confident will prove to be a useful and valuable training aid”. 
 
The team which prepared the FFMS for accreditation comprised representatives of Eurocopter and Australian Aerospace (Test Pilot/software/project management), Thales (simulator manufacture), Kellogg Brown & Root (courseware) and HELISIM (accreditation consultant). 
 
Commenting on the achieving of accreditation, Joseph Saporito, Chief Executive Officer of Australian Aerospace, said: “The integrated Eurocopter/Australian Aerospace project management team ensured that the Tiger Test Pilot and Design Office experts became fully immersed in the assessment of the simulator’s fidelity and its comparison with flight reality, thus helping towards accreditation. 
 
“This accreditation will permit the teaching of the whole transition course necessary for the training of the first squadron of Tiger pilots without limits, before Initial Operational Capability (IOC)”. 
 
The simulator will officially be handed over to the Australian Army next month.  
 
Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a Division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace, defence and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approx. 14,000 people. In 2006, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 3.8 billion euros, orders for 615 new helicopters, and a 52% percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s products account for 30% percent of the total world helicopter fleet.