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Milestone achieved in Nimrod MRA4 synthetic training requirement

11 September 2007

As part of the agreement Thales UK and BAE Systems acknowledged:

* the handover of the Aircraft Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) from Thales UK to BAE Systems
* authorisation from BAE Systems to Thales UK to proceed with an upgrade to the ASTA to meet the Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) 2009 start date for aircrew training. This upgrade will support the requirement to bring the ASTA up to the agreed initial production aircraft standard as they are delivered to the MoD.

The Nimrod MRA4 ASTA is a fully integrated suite comprising two dynamic simulators, two flight training devices, two rear crew trainers and a part task trainer. Thales has been responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of this suite of products for the RAF under a prime contract from BAE Systems.

The Nimrod MRA4 ASTA devices have been progressively installed and commissioned at RAF Kinloss in Scotland since 2004. The devices are to be utilised by the MoD to prepare the mission syllabus for the start of training - the recent milestone supports the Nimrod MRA4 programme in-service date of 2010.

Justin Walker, Vice President of Thales UK's MD Security Solutions & Services business says: "Thales and BAE Systems have worked closely with Defence Equipment & Support and the RAF customer to develop a product that complies with the end-user's demanding requirements. ASTA will provide the RAF with a sophisticated synthetic training suite that will allow them to achieve their ambition of maximising the transfer of training from the aircraft to the ground-based training system. This will increase the availability of the aircraft for operational missions while optimising flight and mission crew performance and capabilities."

He adds: "Thales is proud of the work accomplished to reach this milestone and looks forward to working with BAE Systems and the customer during the next phases of the aircraft programme."

About Thales

Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales' leading-edge technology is supported by 22,000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with forecast 2007 revenues in excess of €12 billion.

Thales UK is a major electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. Thales employs 9,000 staff in the UK, based at more than 50 locations. In 2006 Thales UK's revenues were over £1 bn.