Ingevideo Supplies Simulation Projectors for Training British Army and Royal Navy Pilots in the new AW159 Lynx Wildcat

Christie has announced that Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe, has acquired a significant number of the award-winning Christie Matrix StIM simulation projection systems to develop three simulators to be used by the British Army and Royal Navy to train their pilots in the use of the new AW159 Lynx Wildcat helicopter. The operation was carried out through Ingevideo, a Christie partner in Spain that specializes in simulation. Indra will design and develop the simulators in conjunction with AgustaWestland Limited, one of the world’s main helicopter suppliers.

The operation is part of the contract allocated to AgustaWestland by the British Ministry of Defence to design and develop an integrated training solution which includes the construction and equipping of a new modern training center for the AW159 Lynx Wildcat helicopter.

Christie Matrix StIM, an advanced DLP projection system based on LED technology, will be used in two simulators with Full Mission Simulator (FMS) movement and one fixed-based Flight Training Device (FTD) flight simulator. LED systems offer enhanced reliability, supportability and maintainability over current technology.

“Christie projectors meet the high standards of performance required by these simulators,” explains Juan Andrés García, Indra’s director of Helicopter Simulators. “After extensive prior tests, we chose these projectors because of their features associated with infrared simulation.”

The simulators enable the planning of training missions and can be configured to adapt to the specific needs of army and navy pilots. These systems have a 6-degree freedom of movement and reproduce vibrations to ensure that pilots experience the same feelings of acceleration as they would on an actual flight.  They also comply with the Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR-FSTD-H) standards, level D.

The systems developed by Indra will be installed in the new training center AgustaWestland is building at Royal Navy Airstation Yeovilton in southwest England that will be the home to the British Army and Royal Navy AW159 Lynx Wildcat squadrons. The training center’s simulators will be commissioned in 2013 for Army aircrew training and one year later for Royal Navy aircrew training.

The AW159 is the latest twin-engine multi-role, maritime and utility aircraft developed as a replacement for the extremely successful AgustaWestland Lynx family of helicopters. Designated the Lynx Wildcat by the UK MOD, the AW159 is the multi-role helicopter chosen by the UK to meet maritime attack, surveillance and land reconnaissance requirements.

This helicopter has a complete integrated flight software package which includes electro-optical imaging and electronic surveillance measures, as well as a self-defence suite, among others. All these systems are simulated and integrated in the simulators with the goal of providing the most realistic possible training.

The process that led Indra to opt for Christie simulation technology was very competitive and demanding, and lasted over one year, a period during which Ingevideo and the Christie Spanish office made various demonstrations for the client, as well as proportioning advice and consultancy services in the design phase and presale technical support.

“This is a very important project, not just in terms of the number of units sold, but also because Indra is the most technologically advanced company in Spain and one of the world’s leading IT multinationals, working to extremely high standards of performance,” says Marcos Fernández, Christie Country Manager for Spain and Portugal. “These simulators provide first class training for AW159 Lynx Wildcat helicopter crews, ensuring unique realism for the differing conditions pilots can expect.”

Miguel Ángel Piqueras, director of Ingevideo, declares: “We are delighted to be taking part in this project, involving such major companies and organizations as Indra, AgustaWestland Limited, Christie and UK MoD. The sheer magnitude of the operation is incredible, probably one of the most important ever undertaken in Spain in the field of infrared military simulation.”

The Christie Matrix StIM —a 1-chip WUXGA DLP 600 lumen LED projector— is the first LED simulation projection system to provide independent control over both the visible and infrared spectrum, thanks to its night vision stimulation capabilities. “It is also the first solid state, LED based illumination system that guarantees extraordinary image quality, exceptionally long life, low power consumption and low cost of ownership,” concludes Marcos Fernández.

The Christie Matrix StIM features Christie ArrayLOC, an innovative technology that automatically adjusts and balances the brightness, colour space and black levels of all the projectors in the display in real-time with no additional latency. The technology creates an exceptionally stable platform that provides the ultimate in scalability, with the LED light source and solid-state technology delivering more than 50,000 hours mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) for years of continuous, virtually maintenance-free operation.