One of the world’s largest cargo planes, the Antonov AN-124, is due to land at RNZAF Base Ohakea this week, carrying vital equipment for a new high-tech training facility for New Zealand’s P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.
The aircraft is delivering parts for a full-motion flight simulator that will be installed inside Te Whare Toroa, No. 5 Squadron’s purpose-built training facility. The project is being led by the Ministry of Defence in partnership with Boeing, and is part of a wider $2.3 billion programme that brought four P-8A Poseidon aircraft into service in 2023.
Sarah Minson, deputy secretary of capability delivery at the Ministry of Defence, says the facility will deliver major improvements in how crews train.
“The P-8A Poseidon aircraft training facility will be a critical tool for the New Zealand Defence Force, improving training capabilities, reducing risk to crew and aircraft, and providing significant savings in Poseidon operating costs,” she says.
The new simulator will provide immersive and realistic training for both aircrew and maintainers, allowing the squadron to train for complex scenarios without needing to use the actual aircraft.
“Simulation training tools provide a safe and secure space for crew to learn and maintain skills on aircraft systems, reducing risk as well as the number of hours required for flight training. They also increase the availability of aircraft for NZDF operations,” Minson says.
“The full-motion P-8A Poseidon flight simulator is designed to look and move like a real cockpit, and will allow crew to train for a range of scenarios in a realistic environment, from emergency situations to poor weather conditions.”
Construction of the simulator facility is expected to be completed by 2026. Similar systems are already in use by New Zealand’s defence partners, including the United States Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force.
Since entering service last year, the Poseidon fleet has taken part in operations ranging from sanctions enforcement flights over North Korea to a successful search for three missing Fijian fishermen, and post-earthquake reconnaissance in Vanuatu.
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The Antonov AN-124, a Ukrainian-built strategic heavy airlifter, is one of the heaviest cargo aircraft ever produced. First flown in the 1980s, it was designed to transport outsized and weighty cargo including military vehicles, satellites and aircraft parts.
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