Aerospace and defense contractor Airbus has been contracted to deliver simulator cockpit upgrades for the German Eurofighter aircraft.
The company will act as the main contractor within the industrial Pilot Synthetic Training System (PSTS) consortium, and will upgrade the simulators at the main operating base (MOB) in Laage in addition to introducing simulator cockpits at all Eurofighter MOBs in Germany.
The first contract includes the upgrade of existing full mission simulators (FMS) and cockpit trainers (CT) in Laage and the provision of two additional FMS according to the new standard, extending the training capability from two to four simulators.
As outlined by the company, the upgrade will enable the German Air Force to perform four-ship training at a single location and multi-ship training at distributed networked locations. Due to the new design of the visual display systems, the building can accommodate the four FMS within the existing simulator halls without major infrastructure adaptions.
The second contract includes the replacement of 10 cockpits in the FMS and CT at all the German Eurofighter bases in Neuburg, Laage, Wittmund, Nörvenich and the central integration facility at Airbus Manching.
With the introduction of modern cockpit replicas within the PSTS, a major sub-system of all Eurofighter simulators will be renewed to guarantee best performance of the pilot’s working place for the next decade, the company added.
All PSTS cockpits for the German MOBs will be equipped with a full suite of cockpit displays and control panels including a newly developed facsimile head-up-display. It will also comprise a G-seat motion cueing system, an anti-G inflation system as well as a breathing air system, all controlled by a cockpit linkage system developed by Airbus. The entire cockpit will be night vision goggle compatible.
Furthermore, the FMS will be equipped with an LED projection system, which provides a high-resolution out-the-window view for pilots, regardless of the time, day and weather conditions in which the training takes place.
The PSTS consortium is composed of three partners: Airbus Defence and Space, Indra and CAE.
