Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi presents, for the first time, the M-345 Ground Based Training Demonstrator Device

On the occasion of ITEC, the annual International Forum for the Military Training, Education and simulation sectors, held on 28-30 April 2015 in Prague, Alenia Aermacchi presents, for the first time, the M-345 Ground Based Training Demonstrator Device (GDD).

The M-345 GDD, painted in “Frecce Tricolori” livery, is an advanced flight simulator, representative of the flight qualities of the Alenia Aermacchi M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer) aircraft and offering a replica of the cockpit and the main flight controls of the aircraft.

The ground based training system – that include aircraft flight and systems simulators and computer based training devices – is a key component of the new M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer) “Integrated Training System”.

The M-345 HET represents the most recent solution proposed by Alenia Aermacchi for the basic-advanced phase of training syllabus for military pilots.

M-345 HET provides Air Forces with an economically affordable and effective solution, thanks to a significant reduction in acquisition and life-cycle costs, compared to those of powerful turboprop trainer aircrafts, which offer lower performance and lower training effectiveness, despite being in the same weight class and in some case equipped with similar top of the line on-board systems.

M-345 provides, in fact, a value for money solution that benefits from the jet performance and from the expanded flight envelope, both in terms of speed and altitude, which ensure more training per flight hour and higher training download capability from the subsequent Advanced/LIFT phase, providing important cost saving in producing a fast jet pilot.

With the M-345, flying the same number of flight hours, the student pilot can complete Phase 2 with a significantly higher skill level, also including the management of sensors and weapons and the air-to-air and air-to-ground engagement procedures. In concrete terms, the air force can reduce the basic phase flight hours, for instance, from 120 to 90 or maintaining the 120 hours including the introduction to tactics, thus reducing Phase 3 on the advanced trainer from 70 to 50 hours (more than 28% less), and achieving great economic savings.
The M-345 Ground Based Training System will have its e-learning component including the CBT and the PTD procedural simulator, further to an Operational Flight Trainer (OFT), a simulator which is likely to feature the same software as the PTD, with an additional 180° wide display and a life-like cockpit where the student pilots can use the same controls they will find on actual aircraft.

This simulator will allow for the introduction to tactics to be then completed in-flight with the ETTS, able to generate on the Multi Function Displays (MFD) the tracking of targets, friend or foe aircraft, threats and all the necessary elements to create an effective virtual operating scenario.