The first A400M Full Flight Simulator (FFS) designed and built by Thales for Airbus Military received European Aviation Safety Agency’s qualification for training on the 7 June at Airbus Military International Training Centre in Seville.

This qualification is a key enabling milestone that allows Airbus Military to start to train A400M flight crews for their complex missions in a safe environment.

The Full Flight Simulator utilises aircraft hardware and software that represents the initial configuration of the A400M aircraft cockpit and simulates the ground and flight operations of the aircraft in various natural and tactical environments. It includes an enhanced field of view visual system that is capable of supporting training in all aircraft man oeuvres, including air-to-air refueling and low level tactical operations. A six degrees of freedom motion system, on-board and off-board instructor stations and a record and replay system to aid crew briefing and debriefing is also provided.

As new aircraft data is made available, Thales and Airbus Military teams are also working to obtain Level D certification for this simulator. Peter Hitchcock, VP Avionics, Thales UK, said: “Thales is the leading provider of training solutions for Military Aircraft with contracts to provide A400M Full Flight Simulators and Flat Panel Trainers to Spain, France, Germany and UK. We are proud to offer our long-standing experience to help train pilots for this exciting and highly capable new aircraft”.

Thales is the main supplier of the A400M’s avionics system, covering cockpit displays systems, Head-up displays, Flight management systems, Integrated Modular avionics, Enhanced Vision System.

Through a joint venture with Airbus Military, Thales has also been selected by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the provision of its through life support training service, which includes the design, construction and management of the A400M training school, the installation and maintenance of full flight simulators and all synthetic training equipment, and support to the RAF’s own course design team and training staff.

The Atlas A400M is an all new military airlifter designed to meet the needs of the world’s Armed Forces in the 21st Century. Thanks to its most advanced technologies, it is able to fly higher, faster and further, while retaining high maneuverability, low speed, and short, soft and rough airfield capabilities. It combines both tactical and strategic/logistic missions, while being also able to be used as a tanker plane. With its cargo hold specifically designed to carry the outsize equipment needed today for both military and humanitarian disaster relief missions, it can bring this material quickly and directly to where it is most needed.

Conceived to be highly reliable, dependable, and with a great survivability, the multipurpose Atlas A400M can do the job of three of today’s different aircraft models in a single one. This means smaller fleets and less investment from the operator. Able to do more with less, the Atlas A400M is the most cost efficient and versatile airlifter ever conceived and absolutely unique in its capabilities.