The Royal Danish Air Force has become the launch customer for the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme. A memorandum of understanding was signed on 7 September, under which the first six students and six instructors will be sent into the programme by 2000.
The agreement, signed by Kurt Rosgaard, Commander Danish tactical air command and Lt Gen David Kinsman, Canadian Chief of Air Staff, is a one-off deal before the full commencement of the programme in 2000 when the first students join the programme.
The move to NFTC will save at least DKr1 million ($125,000) a year per pilot and will increase the flow of students to the Danish air force, which suffers from a pilot retention problem, Rosgaard says.
NFTC, operated by a group led by Bombardier, will train six Danish pilots annually for the next 20 years. Other likely early customers for NFTC include Singapore and the UK.
The programme is a four-phase flying training system with Raytheon T-6 Harvard II basic trainers and BAe Hawk 115 advanced jet trainers. The complete course lasts 17 months for Phase IV jet pilots, which includes 250h of flying instruction.
The industry team supporting the project includes Bombardier Services and British Aerospace, Raytheon, CAE Electronics of Montreal and Frontec of Edmonton. The complete package includes simulators and airfield and site support.
Source: Flight International
