The prime has been selected to deliver training for the operation of military transport aircraft.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The German Air Force has awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to Rheinmetall for the delivery of simulation and training services for personnel operating Airbus-built A400M Atlas military transport aircraft.
The company has been tasked with supplying the Technical Training Centre of the German Air Force’s Department North at Wunstorf Air Base with several high-fidelity training rigs, including augmented reality (AR) capability.
The equipment is tipped to provide effective, highly realistic training of maintenance and repair personnel, without involving the aircraft.
“By combining the training rig with supplementary AR, the concept developed by Rheinmetall Electronics enables a comprehensive, integrated approach to training that encompasses the relevant maintenance procedures, including all work steps,” Rheinmetall noted in a statement.
According to the company, the training rigs are detailed replicas of various parts of the A400M aircraft, enabling maintenance training of pre- and post-operational activities.
“The AR system is able to depict activities that cannot be practised on the training rig, ensuring better overall comprehension in each training situation, while simultaneously placing tasks conducted on the individual rigs into the proper context,” Rheinmetall added.
“…Representing a well-aimed expansion of the group’s comprehensive A400M Rear Crew Training product line, the training rigs and AR system significantly widen the spectrum of Rheinmetall training assets.”
In addition to the training rigs and AR, Rheinmetall also supplies additional cargo training devices to A400M operators around the world, including the A400M Cargo Hold Part Task Trainer (CPTT), different advanced Cargo Hold Trainer Enhanced (CHT-E) systems, and the Load Master Working Station Trainer (LMWST).
This latest award announcement comes just days after the UK Ministry of Defence selected Rheinmetall to support Spiral 3 of its Robotic Platoon Vehicles (RPV) program – a three-phase experiment to determine whether unmanned vehicles can improve the combat effectiveness and capabilities of dismounted troops at platoon level.
The British Army has ordered four Rheinmetall Mission Master SP – Surveillance Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (A-UGV) in an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) configuration and three Rheinmetall Mission Master SP – Cargo vehicles.
This builds on eight Mission Master vehicles procured in previous phases of the program.
[Related: Rheinmetall lands UK Robotic Platoon Vehicles contract]