Christie, a global leader in visual display solutions, has played an instrumental role in helping the Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) Wedgetail AEW&C 737 (E-7A) Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) to retain its FSD-1 Level 5 accreditation with its new visual system.

Thales and Christie Digital Systems Australia Pty. Ltd. (Christie’s new Australian subsidiary that was formerly known as VR Solutions Pty. Ltd.) and a partner on the Wedgetail visual upgrade project, replaced the simulator’s calligraphic CRT projectors with a Christie Matrix StIM LED illuminated projection system. A new COTS-based image generation system running ThalesViewNG real-time software was also installed.

Christie Matrix StIM

Operating on the proven technology of the Thales 737NG-based flight simulator and Christie’s three-channel projection system, the Wedgetail OFT equips RAAF flight crews with operational realism in a fully representative cockpit with all the audio, visual and motion cues of the service environment. The new visual system continues to provide flight training sequences that are not adequately or safely conducted in flight, including aircraft emergencies, air-to-air refueling operations and electronic warfare self-protection operations.

“In addition to providing significantly better color and brightness uniformity, sharper imagery, and imperceptible edge blending. , the new projection system delivers unsurpassed reliability and growth potential and ultimately lower lifecycle costs,� noted Michael Otero of Thales Australia.

Lin Yu, vice president, Christie Asia Pacific, was equally proud about the achievement. “We are honored to contribute to the successful accreditation of the new Wedgetail visual system. Christie Matrix StIM is the first simulation system to provide simultaneous and independent control over both the visible and near-IR spectrum using LED illumination. With its real-time balancing and optimization of color, brightness and black levels on a frame-by-frame basis, it offers a virtually maintenance-free, environmentally-friendly simulation solution for RAAF.�

The RAAF Wedgetail AEW&C 737 (E7-A) Operational Flight Trainer, originally manufactured by Thales Australia and Thales UK, has been in service since 2006.