A GIANT Soviet Union-built aircraft has landed in Scotland to deliver the first flight training simulator for new submarine-hunting jets.
A full-scale Poseidon cockpit replica was driven more than 200 miles from Prestwick Airport to RAF Lossiemouth after being flown in from Orlando, Florida.
The huge Antonov AN-124 cargo aircraft was delivering one of two simulators that will be installed in the new £100 million strategic facility built by Boeing Defence UK.
RAF Lossiemouth will also hold other training devices as well as three of the RAF’s nine Poseidon aircraft.
Last month the 333,000 square metre facility which will be home to the Poseidon MRA Mk1 fleet at RAF Lossiemouth wan handed over to the Ministry of Defence.
The facility includes a three-bay hangar and accommodation for two squadrons, as well as state-of-the-art training equipment and facilities for those working on the fleet of nine Poseidon aircraft.
The Antonov An-124 is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union (USSR).
Until the Boeing 747-8F, the An-124 was, for thirty years, the world's heaviest gross weight production cargo airplane and second heaviest operating cargo aircraft, behind the one-off Antonov An-225 Mriya.
The An-124 remains the largest military transport aircraft in current service.
The first of the “game-changing” fleet was delivered to the RAF last October, with the operational flight trainer (OFT) equipment able to simulate complex training scenarios and reduce the cost of carrying out live, in-flight procedures.
The simulators and new facility managed by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) are part of a £470m UK Government investment in the coastal RAF base in Moray, north-east Scotland.
Mark Corden, project manager for training in the Poseidon delivery team, said: “The OFT simulators provide training specifically for the pilots who will be flying the Poseidon aircraft.
“They also have the compatibility to link up with the mission simulators used by the rear crew, allowing them to train together.
“It’s an essential part of making sure the pilots are fully prepared to operate the new fleet of aircraft.”
Designed and built by Boeing Defence UK (BDUK) and local construction partner Robertson, more than 300 employees worked on the building at Lossiemouth during the peak of the two-year project.
Once operational in the autumn, the facility will be the workplace for 470 additional military and civilian personnel, taking the total number of people working out of the base to about 2200.
Mr Corden added: “The weight of the simulator is not such an issue. It’s the width and height, which make it too big to be transported by any RAF aircraft, such as a C-130J, A400M or C-17.
“The Antonov is one of only a few aircraft in the world large enough to transport it.”
The Poseidon jets will enhance the UK’s tracking of hostile maritime targets, working to protect the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.
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