Collins Aerospace, RNLAF and TNO officials during a signing ceremony. Credit: Collins Aerospace.

Collins Aerospace has signed two letters of intent (LOI) with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) to support the RNLAF’s F-35 and CH-47F programmes.

The LOI was signed by Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) managing director Marja Eijkman, RNLAF deputy commander major general Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan, and Collins Aerospace Avionics Service and Support vice-president and general manager Lisa Steffen.

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Under the first LOI, Collins is planning to integrate its F-35 simulator helmet into the TNO’s DESDEMONA motion simulator, at the RNLAF’s F-35 Pilot Readiness Centre (PRC) in Soesterberg, the Netherlands.

Located at the RNLAF’s Center for Man in Aviation, this PRC recently achieved initial operating capability (IOC).

For the past year, Collins has been working with RNLAF to develop a PRC outside the US to provide dynamic testing and helmet fitting for F-35 aircraft pilots.

DESDEMONA’s spatial disorientation programme is expected to provide insights into the physiological dynamics and drive helmet innovation.

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Additionally, the joint effort will provide new operational benefits to the F-35 operators by developing a single integrated training condition.

The second LOI, signed with RNLAF, involves creating a service centre at the Logistics Centre Woensdrecht (LCW) Air Base.

The centre will provide a supply chain for the F-35 helmet-mounted display (HMD) and CH-47F avionics components to support RNLAF and other operators in the region.

Work to set up this centre and to place a local support team is expected to commence in early 2026.

Steffen said: “We’re currently providing performance-based logistics (PBL) avionics support to the Air Force’s CH-47F fleet at the Gilze-Rijen Air Base, and we look forward to now bringing depot repair capability for the F-35 and CH-47F platforms at LCW – both of which will provide seamless support to the armed forces.”