Kawasaki Brings Loft Dynamics' New Multi-Pilot Flight Simulator to Asia

(CONNECT) Loft Dynamics has announced that its new H145 Multi-Pilot Virtual Reality (VR) simulator  is to be installed at Kawasaki Heavy Industries' training centre in Gifu, Japan. Kawasaki will use it there for initial training, instrument flight training, cockpit teamwork training, as well as for regular training sessions and exams for pilots in emergency medical services, law enforcement, disaster response, and other safety-critical fields.

The first fully immersive flight simulator for multiple H145 crew members had been launched just a few weeks ago. On July 21, 2026, Loft Dynamics, a manufacturer based at the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich, announced that Babcock France - one of the leading private operators of civilian air rescue services in France - had become its first customer to sign a contract for the flight simulator at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The new multi-crew simulator for the helicopter built by Airbus Helicopters is an upgraded version of the H145 simulator. It is the world's first—and so far only—full-motion VR flight simulator certified by the major aviation authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). According to a statement, he also obtained the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) FTD Level 7 qualification in Japan in May 2026.

Kawasaki will now be the first organisation in the Asia-Pacific region to use the new simulator. Kawasaki has been contributing to the development, manufacturing, and customer service of the Airbus BK117/H145 family for nearly five decades. The company also offers Airbus Helicopters-certified H145 training courses throughout Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.

"The H145 Multi-Pilot VR simulator from Loft Dynamics significantly expands our capabilities in this area," said Hitoshi Kawaguchi, head of the BK117/H145 program at Kawasaki. "By combining immersive multi-pilot training with aircraft data provided by the original manufacturer, we can offer pilots more opportunities to develop their skills, prepare for complex missions, and train using the same procedures they would follow in a helicopter."

Loft Dynamics CEO Sebastien Borel describes Kawasaki's decision to deploy the new simulator as "an important step toward establishing aircraft-specific VR training for multiple crew members in the Asia-Pacific region." According to Borel, however, this decision also reflects a much broader shift: VR is “well on its way to becoming the global standard in aviation training.” ce/mm