Pennant Wins South African Hawk Training System Contract
Date: 3 March 2004
Pennant Training Systems Limited (Pennant) has announced the award of a six figure contract by BAE Systems plc for Phase 1a of a programme to supply a suite comprising: a Computer Based Instruction System (CBIS), a Virtual Aircraft Training System (VATS), and an Integrated Training Management System (ITMS) for the South African Air Force as part of the new buy of Hawk Mk 120 Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) aircraft; Phase 1a covers activities through to Preliminary Design Review in January 2003. Significant value attaches to the programme that is due for delivery and final acceptance by 17 February 2005 with upgrades planned for the period July 2005 - July 2006.
Under the contract Pennant will develop and supply the CBIS, VATS and ITMS to be installed as 2 electronic classrooms at a South African Air Force base. The Computer Based Instructional Systems will incorporate a Virtual Aircraft Training System for use by both ground crew and aircrew; this will be controlled by an extended Integrated Training Management Systems to provide evaluation of student performance and generation of student records.
The CBIS / VATS / ITMS will be a full emulation of the South African Hawk Mk 120 aircraft. A PC-based desktop training suite, the system will present a virtual Hawk aircraft with a graphical interface and systems emulation software delivering functionality for all aircraft systems, together with associated virtual ground support equipment. Both aircrew and ground crew will use the training suite for familiarisation and diagnostic skills development and enhancement.
Pennant press release
