Leonardo and Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 1 S.A., part of the PGZ Group, have signed a contract for the long-term support of the Polish Air Force M-346 Bielik fleet, improving the existing cooperation by allowing a further increase in fleet availability in order to meet Polish Air Force’s growing needs of training combat pilots.
Elbit Systems Ltd. was awarded a $36 million contract to supply four F-16 Full Mission Simulators (FMS) to the Polish Air Force. The contract will be performed over a 28-month period.
Tens of thousands of sorties are flown in Israeli Air Force simulators. Arie Egozi was granted special access to the training airbase, including a conversation with BGen Amnon Ein-Dar, Head of the Training and Doctrine Division.
Early this year, the canopy of an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F15 flew off when the aircraft was at 30,000 feet. The pilot and weapon systems operator managed to bring the damaged aircraft to a safe landing in a base in southern Israel. This after being exposed to extreme temperatures.
LtCol ‘R’, commander of the IAF’s connected simulators squadron, remarked: “They knew exactly what to do because they have been trained again and again in our advanced simulators.”
During a rare visit to the IAF’s connected simulators facility in the Hazor airbase (also known as Hatzor), I was able to briefly observe the uniqueness of this special squadron that has a major role in making IAF combat pilots among the best in the world.