Thales producing more Airbus flight simulators for Germany, France

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Thales will manufacture and deliver additional training simulators for Airbus' A400M transport and refueling aircraft to France and Germany, under an agreement between the two companies.

The A400M simulators -- the seventh and eighth by Thales -- will be delivered to the French and German air forces in 2019 and 2020, Thales said in a news release Tuesday.

"Thales is proud to have received such long-standing commitment from Airbus and we will continue to provide high-quality simulators to enable flight crews to train for their missions," Stephen McCann, vice president of Avionics activities at Thales in Britain, said in a statement. " Thales is committed to supporting the Airbus A400M platform through its development cycle with Airbus."

Thales has so far delivered five orders for A400M full flight simulators and two flat panel flight-training devices to France, Germany, Great Britain and the International Training Center in Seville, Spain. The company will deliver a sixth full flight simulator to Spain in 2018.

The two new A400M flight simulators will enable air crews to train for a variety of complex missions, including in-flight refueling and low-level tactical operations.

In Britain, the Thales/Airbus joint venture A400M Training Services Ltd. manages training, support services and maintenance of the simulators at the Royal Air Force at Brize Norton training school in Oxfordshire.

Thales provides the flight simulators through OCCAR, the EU agency for joint military procurements.

Thales is also an Airbus industrial partner for support operations at the Airbus A400M training center on a French air force base.