Farnborough 2022: Aeralis, Ascent sign future military flight training agreement

The Aeralis modular jet trainer aircraft sits at the hear of an MOU signed between the airframer and Ascent Flight Training. (Aeralis)

Ascent Flight Training and Aeralis signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to the future provision of military flight training at the Farnborough Airshow.

Signed on 21 July, the MOU will see the flight training provider and the designer of a new modular jet trainer aircraft work together “to envision the flying training system of the future and explore potential collaboration opportunities for the delivery of military flying training in the United Kingdom and overseas”.

As noted in the announcement, Bristol-based staff from both companies will jointly analyse how a modern modular aircraft design could perform in a future aircrew training system, where it offers benefits such as lower acquisition and operating costs and modern avionic systems integrated with the ground-based training equipment. The companies will also assess innovative training technologies, which will provide insight into the type of live/virtual training system design of the future.

Ascent Flight Training is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Babcock International to deliver the UK Military Flight Training Service (UKMFTS) programme. UKMFTS is a public-private partnership agreement that has been designed as a complete overhaul for the entire British military flying training infrastructure, covering all fixed- and rotary-wing military training used by the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm, and Army Air Corps, that comprises elementary flying, basic flying, fast jet, rotary-winged, multi-engine pilot, and Royal Navy (RN) maritime helicopter-observer training.