HAL and CAE lay foundation stone for helicopter training centre in Bangalore

Bangalore: CAE and HAL held a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for a new helicopter training centre in Bangalore on Monday. The facility— Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF)—is an equally-owned joint venture between HAL and CAE. The centre will be operational by mid-2010.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sanjeev Sahi, Director (HR), HAL, said that this facility would be first of its kind once operational. “HASTSOFF will offer Level-D simulator training to helicopter pilots and maintainers. By partnering with CAE, we are making sure the simulation technology is at the leading edge in order to play a key role in training and producing skilled and mission-ready helicopter crews. HAL is committed to enhancing the safety of helicopter operators in India and to provide a complete service offering for our military and civil clients of the Dhruv helicopter,” Mr Sahi said.
Mr Martin Gagné, Chairman of the HATSOFF Board of Directors and CAE’s Group President, Military Simulation Products, Training and Services, said HATSOFF will serve a critical need for enhancing safety and mission readiness.
The centre will be equipped with a CAE-built full-mission simulator featuring CAE’s revolutionary roll-on/roll-off cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various helicopter types to be used in the simulator. When fully operational, HATSOFF will be able to train up to 400 helicopter pilots each year. Initially, HATSOFF will offer comprehensive training to civil and military customers operating four helicopter types: the Indian Army/Air Force variant of the HAL-built Dhruv, the civil variant of the Dhruv, the Bell 412 and the Eurocopter Dauphin.
The training centre will feature multimedia classrooms, computer-based training, brief/debrief facilities, and a training management information system.
02/06/09 defpro.com