L-3 Communications is set to consolidate operation and support of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircrew and maintenance trainers under a US Air Force contract potentially worth $74 million over 10 years. Part of the USAF's $3 billion Training Systems Acquisition II initiative, the F-16 Aircrew Training Devices (ATD) programme consolidates six separate sustainment contracts.
Under the ATD programme, L-3's Link Simulation & Training division will support all fieldedF-16 trainers, including 68 unit- level training devices (UTDs)deployed worldwide. The company will also upgrade F-16 weapon system trainers (WSTs), replacing the host computers, visual systems and interface electronics. The WSTs and UTDs were originally produced by Link.
A Link team will also operate and support the F-16 Training System Support Centre, which will be located at Hill AFB, Utah. The centre will be responsible for management of trainer configuration and concurrency with the aircraft, as well as development and distribution of visual system databases.
Meanwhile, Link has begun installing F-16 UTDs for the Egyptian air force under a $30 million contract. All four devices, simulating the Block 15, Block 32 and Block 40L F-16s operated by the Egyptians, will be installed by September. The trainers feature a three-channel spherical front-projection visual system with 60° vertical by 180° horizontal field of view.
CAE has won a C$40-million ($26 million) contract from Eurofighter Simulation Systems to provide the synthetic environment simulation for 27 aircrew training devices planned for the four Eurofighter nations. CAE had previously been named preferred supplier for the trainer visual systems, a contract worth C$170 million. The first devices will be delivered in 2004.Source: Flight International
