Sea King ASaC Training

Personnel serving on our Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) Squadrons, who fly the Sea King Mk7 helicopter, undergo thorough training to prepare for Maritime Operations and more recently land operations in Afghanistan.

The Mk7 Sea King is kitted out with highly advanced sensors, 849 Squadron teaches aircrew how to operate the technology onboard the aircraft and trains them in Anti-Air Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare and Surveillance and Control.

771 Squadron helps personnel to adapt to new procedures and skills necessary for flying in the hostile environment of Afghanistan. Aircrew learn how to fly and land the helicopter at night using night vision goggles and in the sandy conditions encountered in desert regions where the downdraught from the helicopters causes a huge dust cloud reducing visibility to almost zero.

Our full motion Sea King Flight Simulator provides invaluable training for all Royal Navy Sea King aircrew, enabling them to experience the challenges of flying before getting airborne for real. The simulator is fitted with high definition LED projectors which display what the pilots can see from the actual helicopter cockpit.

It also allows aircrew to operate in both normal light and with night vision goggles – an invaluable training aid especially when practicing night operations and landing on unlit landing sites and the flight decks of ships. The projectors are fed with realistic visual images providing challenging simulator training for current and future Front Line Operations.

Recent upgrades designed to enhance training for the front line, include a full Defensive Aids Suite and a new Afghanistan package with bespoke graphics and hostile operating environments.