Barco delivers LCoS-based display systems for Eurofighter simulators
Kuurne, Belgium - Barco, a global leader in visualization for simulation and training, announces the first display installations for the Eurofighter Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) program together with French company Sogitec. The program comprises eleven Barco display systems for the Eurofighter cockpit procedures trainers and full-mission simulators, with deliveries planned to continue through 2010. All systems are equipped with Barco's liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS)-based SIM 7 projectors.
The Eurofighter is a multirole aircraft developed by an international consortium of three partner companies, and is poised to play an increasingly larger role in the continuing modernization of various European and global defence forces. To prepare pilots for handling this aircraft, realistic simulation of various training scenarios is essential to the success of the program.
Eurofighter Simulation Systems (ESS), which leads the Eurofighter ASTA program, is a joint-venture company that includes CAE GmbH and Rheinmetall Defence Electronics (Germany), Thales Training & Simulation Ltd. (United Kingdom), Selex Galileo (Italy), and Indra SA (Spain). ESS also provides flight simulators for the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, while CAE is the company leading the design and development of the visual systems for the Eurofighter ASTA program.
CAE, through its partner Sogitec, purchased five Barco SEER mini-domes for the EFA's cockpit procedures trainers, each equipped with eight SIM 7 projectors. For each of the six full-mission simulators, the display system will use sixteen Barco SIM 7 projectors. Both training environments immerse the pilot-in-training into the simulation, by offering constant eye-relief, razor-sharp visuals and a highly realistic sense of contrast. With the aid of Barco's display systems, Eurofighter pilots will train for a wide range of tasks, such as landing, takeoff, weapons delivery, night flight, and formation flight in normal, adverse, and emergency situations.
“The SIM 7 provides a unique combination of high brightness and projector resolution needed to meet stringent fast-jet display requirements of the Eurofighter program”, said Adolfo Klassen, CAE's Chief Technology Officer. “CAE has worked closely with Barco in the past year to ensure the SIM 7 is up to the challenge.”
“CAE has been an important and long-standing Barco customer, while Sogitec is one of our key partners in the training and simulation industry. This contract is a testament to the high quality and visual performance that our LCoS projectors bring to the Eurofighter training program,” said Dirk Hendrickx, Vice President of Barco's simulation business. “It is also a testament to our ability to service the world's leading simulation companies.”
Barco's SIM 7 projector is specifically engineered for realistic flight simulation training. It offers a native QXGA resolution (over 3.2 million pixels), the deepest black levels (dynamic contrast ratio of more than 2,000,000:1), and a unique smear reduction technology that maintains the sharpness of fast-moving images typically used for fast jet simulation. The SIM 7 is optimized for multi-channel visualization with technology advances such as non-linear image warping, multi-sided edge blending, color matching, and brightness control.
About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3500 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of euro 725 million in 2008.
© Copyright 2009 by Barco - May be reproduced by professional press only
