Qatar Civil Aviation Authority awards Tower Simulator contract

Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) has contracted Micro Nav Limited (Micro Nav) to design, deliver and commission a 360° 3D Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower simulator for Hamad International Airport, as well as a technical refresh of the existing BEST simulators. This includes civil works, hardware, software, consoles, training and a long-term support agreement.  

The BEST 3D Tower simulator is to be installed in the newly finished Air Traffic Control Centre and Training facility at Hamad International Airport and is the most technically advanced 3D tower simulation system and immersive training environment.

Comprising the latest Micro Nav Visual Display System, the simulator features a curved Glassfibre Reinforced Plastic (GRP) screen and Automatic Display Alignment System (ADAS) with split mode display operations and enhanced viewing capability, to complete the 360° 3D ATC tower environment.

The new BEST 3D Tower simulator utilises 18 high-performance projectors, each operating a solid-state optical engine and exhibiting stable high performance, reliability and longevity. The tower environment consists of a 360° Display System, Tower/Ground Controller positions, Flight Delivery/Clearance Delivery position, Supervisor position, Pseudo Pilot positions, a mini 3D tower with a single Controller position, ATC Controller consoles, equipment racks and furniture. The 3D tower simulator will be used for individual tower simulation training or connected to the APP/ACC simulator to run combined exercises for integrated training.

The existing BEST 3D Tower simulator and BEST Radar simulator, complete with BEST Link, will be updated with new hardware, the latest software, and connected with the new 360° BEST 3D Tower simulator for integrated exercise scenarios and sharing of data and resources.

The BEST product suite at Hamad International Airport includes BEST Tower, BEST Radar, BEST Talk, BEST Speech, BEST Link, BEST 3D and BEST 3D Create.

Gabriele Marca, Projects, Contracts & Procurement for QCAA, commented, “This award builds on the longstanding relationship between QCAA and Micro Nav, who already successfully provided QCAA with a tower simulator system. The technical requirement was to deliver the world’s leading ATC training tower capability integrated to the existing APP Simulator; Micro Nav supported the QCAA throughout the procurement process to ensure the technical requirement was met. It is a very challenging project that will allow QCAA to put into operation the new training facility and we look forward to working with Micro Nav during the delivery process to achieve our demanding operational environment.”

Michael Saunders, Sales & Marketing Director at Micro Nav said, “This is a very exciting project. Micro Nav is honoured to be chosen once again by the QCAA as its simulation provider for what will be a flagship installation and reference site for both parties.”