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Collins Aerospace Expands F-35, CH-47F Support for Royal Netherlands Air Force

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Collins Aerospace signed two new Letters of Intent (LOI) with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) building upon existing projects in support of their F-35 and CH-47F programmes.

As part of the first LOI, Collins plans to integrate its F-35 simulator helmet into TNO’s ultimate motion simulator, DESDEMONA, at RNLAF’s F-35 Pilot Readiness Centre (PRC) in Soesterberg, The Netherlands. This simulator’s spatial disorientation programme will help provide insight into physiological dynamics that may further drive helmet innovation, like better understanding adverse conditions as they occur to ensure pilots maintain control of their aircraft. This joint initiative will develop a single, integrated training environment to provide new operational benefits to the F-35 community.

“Offering F-35 pilot dynamic training and testing in the human centrifuge, as well as the DESDEMONA simulator, will be a high-end capability within our PRC F-35 concept,” said Deputy Commander of the RNLAF, Major General Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan. “Together with our partners, we are supporting the fifth generation of dynamic testing, training and helmet fitting, while driving continued innovation.”

Collins has been working with the RNLAF for the past year to develop the world’s first PRC outside of the United States delivering on-location helmet fitting and dynamic testing for F-35 pilots. The PRC, located at the RNLAF’s Centre for Man in Aviation, recently achieved Initial Operating Capability.

Collins signed another LOI together with the RNLAF with the intention of creating a service centre at the Logistics Centre Woensdrecht (LCW) Air Base. The new centre will help provide a robust and agile supply chain for both the F-35 Helmet-Mounted Display and CH-47F avionics components to support the RNLAF and other operators in the region. Work to establish the F-35 and CH-47F avionics depots, and to place local support personnel, is slated to begin in early 2026. -shp/collins/aaa (Image: Collins)