The US Navy’s first upgraded MH-60S Sierra operational flight trainer (OFT) has re-entered service, following successful completion of a major upgrade and technology refresh at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, near San Diego in California, US.
Incorporating new technologies, the Lockheed Martin-built MH-60S OFT has been entirely upgraded by CAE, to ensure concurrency with other MH-60S training devices as well as the operational MH-60S helicopters.
CAE USA president and general manager John Lenyo said the company worked with the navy to complete the major technology refresh on the original MH-60S operational flight trainer on-schedule, while ensuring minimum training downtime.
The company will continue to provide technologies to help the navy lower risk, reduce costs and prepare helicopter aircrews for mission success, Lenyo added.
Upgrades to the fixed-based MH-60S OFT include the addition of motion seats, installation of upgraded image generator visual system and a new Barco CD2260 visual display system.
Additionally, the company conducted engineering updates to re-architect the hardware and software computing designs to bring MH-60S OFT to a common architecture with the navy’s suite of CAE-built MH-60S training devices.
Work on the MH-60S training programme was started in June 2004 by CAE, which is the prime contractor for the US Navy for the development of MH-60S OFTs and weapons tactics trainers (WTTs), as well as MH-60R tactical operational flight trainers (TOFTs).
The company has delivered seven MH-60S OFTs and five MH-60S WTTs for the US Navy to date.
Image: The US Navy’s fixed-based MH-60S operational flight trainer at NAS North Island, San Diego, California, US. Photo courtesy of CAE.
