FINAF and Patria Team Up to Establish an International Flight Training Center

(September 17, 2008) -- Patria and the Finnish Air Force have signed a contract to team up to establish an international flight training centre. The facility, called the Nordic Pilot Training Centre, or NPTC, will offer military flight training to foreign customers utilising Hawk aircraft operated by the FINAF's Training Air Wing at Kauhava air base.

The Ministry of Defence, Defence Command Finland, Finnish Air Force, and Patria have been involved in the development work of an international flight training concept since 2003. The contract now signed is based on a report prepared by a working group set up by the Ministry of Defence to carry out a feasibility study on various options for international flight training in Finland. The contract defines general guidelines and work-sharing in the setting up and running of the training center.


As the training platform, the NPTC offers the upgraded Hawk of the Finnish Air Force. The advantages of Kauhava include airspace, which is extensive by European standards and more than sufficient for tactical and weapons training.

The training scheme meets high international standards since it is based on the Finnish Air Force's efficacious training methods that have been successfully applied for more than a decade in the training of the service's F-18 Hornet pilots. The Training Air Wing, which is responsible for advanced and lead-in training of Finnish pilots, was awarded an ISO 9001:2000 Certificate of Approval of its Quality Management System in recognition of excellent training by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance on January 17, 2007.

NPTC training syllabi will be tailored to ensure that each customer can be offered training to deliver just the competence they require and bring pilots up to a level that enables them to convert to modern fighters upon completion of training. Considerable interest has already been shown in military flight training at Kauhava.

Source : Patria Oyj