Rheinmetall Modernizing Simulators for German Navy NH90 Helicopter

Rheinmetall has won a contract to modernize simulators for the NH90 NFH Sea Lion naval helicopter for the German Navy.

Rheinmetall’s Bremen-based simulation specialists have been tasked with upgrading the “Functional Cockpit” Asterion cockpit trainer. The Functional Cockpit is part of the maintenance training rig for the NH90 developed and supplied by Reiser Simulation und Training GmbH for the German Navy Air Station in Nordholz. These simulators enable maintenance personnel of the Bundeswehr’s Naval Air Squadron 5 to carry out realistic maintenance and repair operations. The simulators will be completely modernized by 2024.

This upgrade will make it possible for Navy personnel to train for the latest configuration of the NH90 NFH Sea Lion naval helicopter. It thus marks an important milestone for use of the maintenance training rig in combination with the integrated “Functional Cockpit” Asterion cockpit trainer for the German Navy’s NH90 NFH.

Final acceptance testing of the world’s first Asterion cockpit trainer for the Army version of NH90 TTH took place back in December 2016. This simulator was then transferred to the international helicopter training centre at Faßberg in Lower Saxony. Then, in August 2017, Rheinmetall received an order to further develop its highly sophisticated Asterion training simulation software and to integrate it into Reiser Simulation und Training GmbH’s maintenance training rig, or MTR. The MTR replicates all relevant functions for the first expansion phase of the German Navy’s new NH90 NFH Sea Lion multipurpose helicopter in Nordholz.

Aided by data collected from the German Navy’s real helicopters, Rheinmetall will now adapt the software to the current configuration of the NH90 helicopter and integrate it into the Functional Cockpit. This will ensure that the behaviour of the training asset is identical to that of the original equipment, a vital prerequisite for effective instruction and training of German Navy maintenance and repair personnel.