On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the press service of the 8th Kraków Air Transport Base, named after Col. pilot Stanisław Jakub Skarżyński (8 BLTr.), announced that the Full Flight Simulator (FFS) Class D for the medium transport aircraft Airbus C295M has accumulated 5,000 flight hours since September 2017.
Photo: 8. BLTr.
The CAE 7000 C295 FFS simulator, developed by the Canadian company CAE Inc. in collaboration with the European company Airbus Defence and Space (part of the Airbus Group), provides a realistic representation of flight conditions on the C295M.
Thanks to cooperation with experienced pilots, aviation industry specialists, and the use of state-of-the-art technologies, along with the expertise of former military pilots, the 8th Base conducts comprehensive training programs, including:
- Advanced tactical training;
- Emergency situation training;
- Flight technique assessments;
- Low-altitude flights;
- Airdrops of troops and cargo;
- Night vision goggle (NVG) flights.
The simulator includes a CAE True electric motion system with six degrees of freedom, a high-fidelity CAE Medallion-6000 visual system, and a state-of-the-art computer-generated tactical environment. It features an Open Geospatial Consortium Common Database (OGC CDB) software architecture, which is also used in the SW-4 helicopter simulator and the M-346 Master aircraft training systems.
Initially, training for Polish pilots on C295M aircraft, which reached 100,000 flight hours on December 31, 2024, was conducted at Airbus’s facility in Seville, Spain. On January 25, 2017, the Ministry of National Defense signed a contract with Airbus for the delivery of a Class D FFS simulator to the 8th Air Transport Base (8. BLTr.), making it the third such training center in the world. The acceptance and installation took place on September 8 of the same year, and training sessions were inaugurated ten days later. The simulator allows for the training of up to approximately 40 crews per year.
The Polish Air Force operates sixteen C295M aircraft (one was lost in a tragic crash near the 12th Air Base in Mirosławiec on January 23, 2008). The first eight aircraft (with an option for four more) were purchased on August 28, 2001, under a contract with the then EADS Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) for the equivalent of 211.5 million USD. The first aircraft were delivered two years later. Subsequently, an additional 11 aircraft were procured through a sole-source contract due to growing operational needs: two in 2007, two in 2008, and five in 2012-2013.
These aircraft have been carrying out key missions for the Polish Armed Forces for years—ranging from humanitarian operations to combat missions—both domestically and as part of Poland’s allied commitments to NATO and the UN. Their operations extend across Europe, Africa, and Asia, including missions such as Operation Neon-E (evacuation of the first Polish citizens from the Gaza Strip).
On December 13 of last year, the State Treasury – Armament Agency, on behalf of the Ministry of National Defense, signed a contract worth 102.7 million EUR net (437.77 million PLN net / 538.46 million PLN gross) with the Spanish company Airbus Defence & Space (part of the European Airbus Group). The agreement covers the modernization and standardization of Poland’s C295M fleet (Contract for the modernization of C295M transport aircraft).