Thoroughbred Technologies (Pty) Ltd, t/a ThoroughTec, has been awarded a R9.448 million contract for the maintenance and repair support of driver simulators used by the South African Army.

The work follows a R8.8 million contract for the upgrade and extension of driver simulators for the Joint Operations Division of the South African National Defence Force in January as well as two orders worth R3.4 million for maintenance and repair work on the Army's simulators and virtual battlefield training systems for the Rooikat armoured car, Ratel ZT3A2 antitank guided missile vehicle and Olifant Mk2 main battle tank. These are all located at the South African Army`s vehicle training centre in Bloemfontein.

In addition to this work, ThoroughTec was in September 2007 contracted through Project
Hoefyster to develop a set of simulators for the Army`s new generation Badger infantry combat vehicle. Denel Land Systems (DLS), awarded ThoroughTec an R88.5 million contract to design, develop and supply 60 Badger simulators and eight instructor stations to the Army under the seven-year contract.

"Our latest CYBERWAR simulators will ensure the South African Army is able to train its Badger crews to operate the vehicle safely and effectively under all conceivable scenarios likely to be encountered in African peace-support and security missions," ThoroughTec MD Robert Letschert said at the time. "This new simulator system will augment our CYBERWAR – train as you fight, fight as you`ve trained – philosophy," he added.

ThoroughTec was also involved in the establishment of a Virtual Aircraft Training System (VATS) for ground and aircrews at 85 Combat Flying School as part of Project Winchester, the acquisition of 24 BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers. The operational flight trainer soft- and hardware was developed by BAE Systems Australia and installed by ThoroughTec. Pilots have to fly the Hawk about 430 hours and pass a number of courses before graduating to the Saab Gripen.