CAE has been awarded a series of contracts worth C$220m ($176m) to provide simulation products and upgrades as well as training services for global military customers.
Under a subcontract from Lockheed Martin, the company will design and manufacture a C-130J weapon systems trainer for the US Air Force Air Mobility Command, and deliver it to Yokota Air Force Base in Japan in 2018.
The second contract was awarded by Australia’s Defence Material Organisation and Lockheed. This requires CAE to upgrade and enhance elements of the C-130J training system at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Richmond on the north-western outskirts of Sydney.
The contract covers upgrades to the tactical environment software in the CAE-built C-130J full-flight and mission simulator, and supply of CAE Simfinity desktop trainers and instructor tools, as well as the CAE Simfinity virtual maintenance trainers for RAAF’s C-130J groundschool and maintainers.
RAAF Air Mobility Group Air commander commodore Warren McDonald said: "We rely on our C-130J Hercules to fly in some of the toughest flying environments on earth, and deliver effective results when they arrive.
"To provide this service, it’s essential for our air force to have training systems that are flexible, intuitive, and can recreate a wide range of scenarios accurately.
"New and updated training systems at No. 285 Squadron have significant potential to capitalise on the learning skills of new student aircrew and technicians, who are already heavily exposed to computer-based courseware and simulation devices."
A series of upgrade and modification contract amendments from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) require the company to provide simulator training services at Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility, located at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Benson in Oxfordshire.
CAE also received a contract from Alenia Aermacchi to supply an M-346 full-mission simulator (FMS) and M-346 part-task trainer (PTT) to the Italian Air Force’s Galatina Air Force Base near Lecce.
The two companies have already supplied one M-346 FMS and one M-346 PTT to Galatina, which will also be updated by CAE to support networked training as well as integrated live-virtual-constructive training.
Apart from supporting multiple air forces, the company will also provide logistics support and maintenance services on the UK Army’s suite of Warrior infantry fighting vehicle direct and indirect fire trainers at army bases at home and Germany, under a four-year contract with the MoD.
In addition, CAE will provide configuration management of the army’s Common Instructor Operating Station for Precision Gunnery that is used to assess overall performance when training precision gunnery tasks.
