ADM APRIL 2005 - Training & Simulation-Thales celebrates critical mass

Thales Training and Simulation recently signed up its 200th employee, marking a new period of maturity for the Sydney-based firm.
The major theme of this years 10th annual SimTecT Conference and Exhibition is: "Simulation - Fulfilling the Promise: Successes and Visions for the Road Ahead".

Over the past decade in which SimTecT has showcased the very best on offer to both defence and civil customers, enormous advances have been made by Australian companies, not only in technological terms, but maybe more importantly in terms of creating a sustainable, world class industrial base.

There are no better examples of this than Thales Training & Simulation (TT&S), a unit of the Thales Services Division, Calytrix and Catalyst.

Since the inaugural SimTecT was held in 1996, TT&S in Australia has grown from relatively humble beginnings as Wormald Technology to the market leading position it now holds. With an Australian staff of more than 200, and an annual turnover in excess of $70m, TT&S is Australia's leading supplier of Training and Simulation solutions.

In 1996, Wormald Technology, with a staff of approximately 35, was under contract for the design and development of its first Simulator, the F-111 Mission Simulator for the RAAF. This entirely Australian developed device has been providing world class training to F-111 Flight Crew at RAAF Amberley.

Thales (fomerly Thomson CSF) acquired Wormald Technology in 1998 and immediately embarked on what it refers to as a "Multi-domestic Strategy". In layman's terms, Thales committed to building an organisation in Australia with the depth and breadth of capability to support both the local and regional markets. Thales not only provides the opportunity, but expects its international operations to contribute to the Thales Global supply chain. These opportunities are not restricted to Thales itself, but extended to local SMEs. Thales has developed a history of nurturing Australian SMEs on both local and international programs.

This Multi-domestic Strategy is consistent with the goals of the Australian Defence Aerospace Sector Strategic Plan: "... a policy approach for achieving long-term value for money in the procurement and support of Australian Defence Force (ADF) aerospace platforms from a responsive, sustainable and internationally competitive indigenous industry base. It also highlights the requirement for industry to invest not only in the sustainment of critical capabilities, but also in skills development, innovation, Research and Development, Small to Medium Enterprise engagement and global supply chain participation." (Foreword - The Australian Defence Aerospace Sector Strategic Plan)

In the ensuing ten years, this strategy has seen Thales deliver more Flight Simulators to Australian military and commercial customers than any other organisation. Thales is under contract to support more simulators in Australia than any other organisation. Thales, headquartered at Garden Island in Sydney, has operations and support staff based permanently at RAAF Base Edinburgh, HMAS Stirling, Brisbane, RAAF Amberley, and Puckapunyal and is contracted to provide support staff at Oakey, Townsville, Darwin and RAAF Williamtown.

Thales currently supports the ADF with simulation systems for the: F-111C, AP-3C, Tiger ARH, Collins Class Submarine, ASLAV and Wedgetail AEW&C. Additionally, Thales has recently supplied, or is supplying, Qantas and Air New Zealand with Full Flight Simulator solutions for the B737-800, B767-300, A330-200 and B777-200 aircraft. Thales is also performing a major technology upgrade to Qantas B747-400 Full Flight Simulators.

As a founding member of the Simulation Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), Thales has been a leading advocate in the pursuit of the SIAA aim to "Promote the knowledge, science and use of modelling and simulation". Thales continues to play a leading role in such forums as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Training System Integrated Capture Team (ICT). The JSF ICT is a joint industry/Commonwealth initiative to promote the capability of the Australian simulation industry to meet the requirements of the JSF Training System. The JSF Training System ICT members are a who's who of the Australian simulation industry with both simulator prime contractors and SMEs well represented. The JSF ICT is co-chaired by Will Howard, Managing Director Thales Training & Simulation and Mark Rheinlander, Managing Director Calytrix Technologies.

Calytrix Technologies, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, is a supplier of world-class software development tools that are especially well suited to training and simulation applications.

Both Thales' and Calytrix's capabilities have been recognised by Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the JSF Training Solution, with recent JSF contracts.

Thales has been contracted by LM to assist in the development of the Concept of Operations for the JSF Integrated Training Centre. Thales Australia personnel are working as dedicated members of the LM Integrated Product Team. Under this contract, Thales has engaged Catalyst Interactive to assist in the production of ITC promotional material.

Catalyst Interactive is an Australian simulation industry success story. Already responsible for the delivery of over 200 hours of e-Learning solutions for the ARH Tiger Helicopter, Catalyst, in conjunction with Kellogg, Brown and Root, has been shortlisted by LM for the development of JSF courseware.

Thales is a signatory to the recently announced JSF Industry Coalition (JIC) led by BAE Systems. Thales' membership of the JIC recognises both its position as Australia's lead provider of simulation solutions, as well as its commitment to nurturing opportunities for other members of the Australian simulation community.

Throughout the last decade, Thales has continued to design, develop and support the most sophisticated simulators currently in service with the ADF.

The AP-3C Advanced Flight Simulator (AFS), in service with the RAAF since January 2003, is the most sophisticated flight simulator in service with the RAAF today. The AFS utilises a Thales-developed state of the art 210 x 55 field of view collimated display system and the Thales StarForce intelligent Computer Generated Force (CGF). Together these systems provide the feature-rich tactical environment necessary for the RAAF to train pilots in both mission and flight skills. Through the Operation and Maintenance Support (O&MS) contract Thales has ensured that the availability and reliability demands of the RAAF have been exceeded every month.

Under the Wedgetail program, Thales is providing the B737 AEW&C Full Flight Simulator. This device is currently undergoing final testing prior to installation at RAAF Williamtown in mid-2005. This aircraft, and consequently the simulator, shares many features with the Boeing 737 based Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA). This represents a significant opportunity for Thales to further reinforce its Australian industrial base.

The new Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) simulator is the most advanced helicopter simulator in the world. The double dome facility, utilising Thales' PC based Image Generator ThalesView, will train both Tiger pilots and battle captains. Two state of the art simulation facilities are being established at the Army Aviation Centre Oakey and Robertson Barracks, Darwin.

Thales' UK parent is a member of the Air Tanker consortium that is earmarked for the provision and support of the UK Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA). The A330 based FSTA has much in common with the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport Aircraft (MRTT) recently ordered by the RAAF. Under the FSTA program Thales will, amongst other things, be responsible for the development of FSTA training devices including Full Flight & Mission Simulators. The combination of Thales experience in delivering and supporting the Qantas A330 Full Flight Simulator and the intellectual property that can be leveraged from the FSTA program enables Thales to propose a compelling solution for the delivery and through life support of the Air 5402 MRTT Full Flight & Mission Simulator.

The ThalesView Image Generator solution is based on a common software executable that addresses ground warfare, driving, helicopter, military aircraft, and synthetic environment applications. ThalesView is capable of running on a variety of hardware platforms ranging from personal computers with commodity graphic accelerators, through to high-end graphics supercomputers. Thales is currently under contract for the supply of more than 200 channels of ThalesView Image Generators to the ADF on the Wedgetail, ARH Tiger and ASLAV programs. Thales has established a global centre of excellence for the production of Visual Databases at the Thales Garden Island facility, Sydney. The investment that both the Commonwealth and Thales have made in ThalesView can be leveraged on future programs such as the AIR9000 Phase 2 MRH-90 Helicopter and MRTT.

Fundamental to the goals of the Aerospace Sector Strategic Plan is the ability to provide indigenous simulator support. Thales is under contract to support more simulators in Australia than any other organisation. Simulators currently supported by Thales include:

* Collins Class Submarine Platform Simulator;

* AP-3C Advanced Flight Simulator (AFS)

* F-111C Mission Simulator;

* Virgin Blue Flight Training Centre Brisbane;

* QANTAS Airways Ltd Flight Training Centres Sydney & Melbourne

Thales will also provide support services to the ARH Tiger Full Mission Simulator and Crew Procedural Trainers, Wedgetail AEW&C Full Mission Simulator and ASLAV Crew Procedural Trainers when they enter service.

In collaboration with Tertiary education institutes in both Queensland and South Australia, Thales has established a Simulator Technician Apprenticeship scheme to provide both a theoretical and practical education. This scheme represents an investment by Thales in the future of simulator support and is consistent with the goals of the Aerospace Sector Strategic Plan.