M1 Support Services (M1) has been selected to advance to the fourth and final phase of the US Army’s Flight School Next competition. Flight School Next (FSN) is the US Army’s initiative to modernise Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) training.
“We are honored to advance to Phase IV,” said George Krivo, Chairman and CEO of M1. “In this next phase, Team M1 will demonstrate our comprehensive, innovation-rich solution to produce more proficient Army Aviators on time and on budget.”
M1’s “Flight School First” is a comprehensive turnkey training and simulation solution featuring an AI-enabled virtual training environment, advanced simulation, proficiency based learning, and safe, rugged, and reliable Robinson R66 training helicopters.
“We are excited to demonstrate several game-changing technologies to accelerate learning and build student pilot proficiency,” said Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Tom Drew, M1’s Executive Programme Director for FSN. “M1 brings an immersive training experience and significant increase in flight hours to fundamentally transform Army flight training.”
M1 supports all branches of the military in managing, operating, and sustaining large scale aviation training enterprises, including Army flight training at Fort Rucker. At Fort Rucker, M1 currently supports more than 500 rotary-wing aircraft dispersed across five primary airfields, flying up to 400 sorties per day and 240,000 flight hours per year.
The M1 consortium consists of M1, General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC), Quantum Helicopters, and the University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation (UNDAF). M1 says that together with its teammates, it is ready to “deliver leading technologies and commercial best practices to exceed the Army’s objectives for FSN”.
Bell also announced that it had been selected to advance to Phase IV.
Image: Robinson
