First Royal Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ Flight Simulator Commissioned

: Posted On Monday, 30 March 2015 09:29

Naval Forces News - Australia

First Royal Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ Flight Simulator Commissioned

The Australian Minister for Defence, Kevin Andrews, and the Member for Gilmore, Ann Sudmalis, announced on March 27 that the first of two Royal Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ flight simulators had been commissioned into service.

Picture: CAE

The Seahawk Romeo training system is part of the $3.2 billion dollar investment that will deliver 24 new Seahawk Romeo naval combat helicopters. More than 100 long term jobs will be created in the Shoalhaven area to support the new Seahawk Romeo capability.

The training system will include two full motion flight simulators and a wide range of sophisticated maintenance trainers, allowing Navy’s Seahawk Romeo crews to safely train in Australia across a wide range of operational and mission related training scenarios.

HMAS Albatross in Nowra, has already begun training Seahawk Romeo crew, with a training capacity of around 80 students a year, including pilots, aviation warfare officers, sensor operators, and maintenance personnel.

The simulators will prepare RAN crews for advanced maritime combat operations from Navy ships all over the world. It is expected that the second simulator will be delivered in 2016. The Seahawk Romeo helicopters are on track to achieve an Initial Operational Capability at sea by August 2015.

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft made its first ever landing on the flight deck of a Republic of Korea Navy amphibious assault ship off the coast of the Korean peninsula, March 26, 2015. The Osprey departed from the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) nearby and landed on the ROK ship Dokdo (LPH-6111).

The MH-60R TOFTs for the Royal Australian Navy are based on the MH-60R TOFTs that CAE is delivering to the U.S. Navy.. Picture: CAE

In december 2012, CAE announced it was awarded a contract to develop two MH-60R tactical operational flight trainers (TOFTs) for the Royal Australian Navy under the United States foreign military sale (FMS) program. CAE USA will be the prime contractor responsible for the design and manufacture of two MH-60R TOFTs that will be delivered in 2015 to HMAS Albatross, located near Nowra in New South Wales and home of the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

The MH-60R TOFTs include both a full-motion operational flight trainer (OFT) that will be used to train Royal Australian Navy MH-60R pilots and co-pilots as well as a weapons tactics trainer (WTT) to be used for training rear-crew sensor operators in the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter. The MH-60R operational flight trainers for the Royal Australian Navy will include the CAE True electric motion system, motion seats, 220-degree by 60-degree Barco visual display, and the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator. The MH-60R OFT and WTT can be operated as standalone training devices, or networked to become an MH-60R tactical operational flight trainer to provide a total aircrew mission training system. The MH-60R TOFTs for the Royal Australian Navy are based on the MH-60R TOFTs that CAE is delivering to the U.S. Navy.