On 11 January, the foundation stone of the new C-17 Aircrew Training System (Simulator) building of the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) was laid at the Hungarian Defense Forces’ 47th Air Base in Pápa (western Hungary). This part of the building will house the offices and workshops for the operators of the C-17 simulator, as well as classrooms and briefing rooms for aircrew training.
The “groundbreaking” of this high-value project was symbolically performed by Gregory Clark on behalf of the customer, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, NATO Airlift Management Program Office, and Imre Etl on behalf of the contractor, the construction company STRABAG. The central element of the new building covering an area of around 1,438 square meters is a 14-meter-high simulator bay, to which a ground floor section is attached. The facility to be developed in the project will be built on the site of a former fighter aircraft stand. In addition to the simulator technology, the construction company’s staff will also provide comprehensive mechanical engineering, power (high and low voltage), roads, parking lots, pavements and landscaping around the building besides constructing a reinforced concrete support structure for the building.
The training unit will be topped by a high-performance solar panel system which, together with a heat pump heating and cooling system, will provide renewable energy to support the environmentally friendly operation of the building. Electric car charging stations will also be installed on the parking lot around the building, which enable the refueling of SAC vehicles. The design of the building started in 2022, while construction is expected to be completed in March 2025, after which the C-17 simulator equipment will be installed. As of September 2025, the personnel of the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) will have the opportunity to practice the wide range of missions flown as requested by military airlift operations.
