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Rheinmetall and its partner Thales will continue providing support services for the helicopter simulators used for training crews of the Tiger attack helicopter in France and Germany.
The four-year contract was awarded through the European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). This integrated service support contract will run from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025. For Rheinmetall, the contract represents sales in the ‘low double-digit million-euro range’.
Under the contract, Rheinmetall and Thales will upkeep a total of 20 modern Tiger simulators located at bases in Le Luc, Fritzlar, Pau and Phalsbourg, as well as providing service and maintenance support. The eight full-mission simulators and 12 cockpit procedure trainers enable crews to train using the latest configuration of the aircraft in service: in France, the Tiger Hélicoptère d’Appui et Destruction (HAD) Block 2, and in Germany, the Unterstützungs¬¬hubschrauber Tiger Step 2 Krypto. The French armed forces and the German Bundeswehr train their personnel in a modern virtual combat environment, contributing to full operational readiness and greater flight safety.
The Tiger simulators are among the most advanced full-mission simulators for attack helicopters anywhere. The Tiger is a highly sophisticated weapons system, whose replication in a simulator poses major demands in terms of hardware and software.
In the current order, Rheinmetall, Thales and OCCAR are building on years of successful cooperation in the field of simulation and training. OCCAR contracted with the Tiger Aircrew Training Means (ARGE TATM) working group to modernize the simulators currently in use. ARGE TATM is a joint venture of Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH and Thales AVS France SAS. This project was successfully completed at the end of 2019.
Future treatment of obsolescent features and further updates, such as the current installation of the latest maintenance releases, make continued cooperation in the Tiger domain appear likely, including follow-up orders.
