Rotorsim Signs Contract to Train Norway's NH90 Aircrews

Rotorsim, the consortium owned equally by AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and CAE today announced it has signed a five-year contract to provide NH90 flight simulation training to the Norwegian armed forces.

Rotorsim, as the provider of full flight and mission simulation training at the AgustaWestland Training Academy in Sesto Calende, Italy, will be at the heart of initial type, recurrent and mission training for the Norwegian NH90 aircrews.

The aircrew will fly Norway's NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) from the new Fridtjof Nansen Class Frigates and the Nordkapp and Svalbard Class Coast Guard vessels. The training will commence in 2011, following delivery of Rotorsim's NH90 full-mission flight trainer (FMFT).

This contract represents the first NH90 third-party training contract for Rotorsim.

Rotorsim is already the prime contractor responsible for the development of the Joint NH90 Training Program (JNTP) for the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. In 2011, Rotorsim will take delivery of one NH90 FMFT and an NH90 virtual sensor trainer for training rear crew sensor operators.

Following delivery of the NH90 training devices to the Rotorsim Training Facility in, Sesto Calende, Rotorsim will deliver aircrew simulation training services to the Netherlands and now to Norway.

"We're pleased Rotorsim is leading the development of the first NH90 training program for the naval variant of the helicopter, and equally pleased Norway has committed to train their NH90 crews at Rotorsim," said Marc Parent, CAE's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

John Ponsonby, Senior Vice President - Training, AgustaWestland added "We are delighted another NH90 customer has selected Rotorsim to meet its sophisticated training needs, using state of the art simulation to enable the operator to maximize the capabilities of its new NH90 naval helicopters."