The tech enterprise Rheinmetall and the European aeronautics and space company Airbus have transferred an A400M cargo hold simulator to the Bundeswehr’s 62nd Air Transport Squadron (LTG 62) at Wunstorf in Lower Saxony.
The Cargo Hold Part Task Trainer (CPTT) complements existing simulators and training systems at the German Air Force’s A400M Training Centre. In Wunstorf, cargo hold crews already train (among other things) on the advanced Cargo Hold Trainer Enhanced (CHT-E).
Airbus, manufacturer of the European A400M military transport aircraft, contracted with Rheinmetall in February 2021 to supply two CPTT training simulators to the Bundeswehr’s Wunstorf and Altenstadt bases. The order was worth a figure in the lower-two-digit million-euro range. The Air Movement Training Center in Altenstadt already took delivery of the training simulator at the end of 2022. Cargo personnel and paratroopers have been successfully training on the system ever since. The transfer of the second Rheinmetall simulator brings this elaborate project to a successful close.
The A400M CPTT is an exact replica of an A400M cargo hold, enabling cargo crewmembers, paratroopers and ground personnel to train in a highly realistic environment. The CPTT makes it possible to practise mission-specific alteration of the cargo hold, load preparation, loading and unloading, in-flight and ground procedures as well as cooperation between crewmembers. The system is equally suitable for initial and advanced training as well as refresher courses and mission rehearsal purposes.
Complex scenarios and emergency situations can be practised in complete safety. This way, training never ties up the original equipment, which remains available for actual operations. In addition to training operations, the CPTT enables users to evaluate, test and qualify procedures and configurations for new load types.
Besides the CPTT Rheinmetall has supplied various A400M user nations around the globe with other cargo training devices such as the Load Master Work Station Trainer/LMWST and the aforementioned CHT-E. With the transfer of the CPTT to LTG 62, a total of ten highly realistic A400M simulator systems from Rheinmetall are now assuring a high standard of training and instruction in the A400M cargo domain.
In 2019 Rheinmetall transferred a CPTT to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Moreover, CHT-E simulators have already been supplied to the Airbus International Training Centre (ITC) in Seville, the Royal Air Force in Brize Norton, the German Air Force in Wunstorf, and the French Army in Toulouse. There is an LMWST at the Airbus ITC in Sevilla, one at France’s national A400M training centre in Orléans, and another at the Royal Air Force National Training Centre in Brize Norton.