CAE announced last week they have been awarded an United States Army contract to provide comprehensive initial and recurrent training for more than 600 U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force fixed-wing pilots annually. It was awarded as a firm-fixed-price contract for over US $29 million for the base period and six one-year options through September 30, 2023. The total contract value over the next eight years is expected to be approximately US $200 million.
CAE USA will be responsible for the turnkey training services at a new company-owned, company-operated training center to be built at Dothan Regional Airport in Alabama. The center will be close to the U.S. Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) at Fort Rucker.
“We are honored and proud that the U.S. Army has selected CAE as its training systems integration partner of choice for fixed-wing training,” said Gene Colabatistto, Group President, Defense & Security, CAE. “We will be bringing together live, virtual and constructive training by providing the U.S. Army with a modern and flexible training program that will help ensure safe, high-quality training for Army fixed-wing aviators. This is another great example of CAE leveraging its training systems integration expertise to provide a comprehensive, turnkey training solution.”
The Army Fixed-Wing training program will train experienced Army rotary wing aviators transitioning to fly the Army’s fleet of more than 350 fixed-wing aircraft. A new initial-entry fixed-wing (IEFW) training program will be available for entry-level Army students to begin the career track to fixed-wing aircraft much sooner. In addition, the Army Fixed-Wing training program serves as the formal training unit for Army C-12/RC-12 King Air recurrent training, and provides annual training to U.S. Air Force C-12 King Air pilots.
Construction for the new training center will begin immediately. It will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, a training system integrated learning environment and other modern facilities. A suite of training devices is being constructed for the center, including two CAE 7000XR Series C-12 King Air full-flight simulators (FFSs) and two re-configurable CAE Simfinity C-12 King Air integrated procedures trainers (IPTs). CAE will also be developing two other CAE 7000XR Series FFSs, referred to as motherships, featuring CAE’s roll-on/roll off (RORO) cockpit design. This design enables cockpits representing various aircraft types to be used in the simulator. Four cockpits featuring various configurations of the C-12 King Air aircraft used by the Army and U.S. Air Force will also be created. Two will be installed on the full-flight simulator mothership and the other two can be connected to a docking station and be used as Level-6 equivalent flight training devices.
Live-flying training utilizing six new Grob G120TP aircraft will also be provided. CAE also plans to design and manufacture two Grob G120TP flight training devices and a suite of desktop trainers and courseware to support the training program. For live C-12 King Air training, a fleet of 10 C-12U King Air aircraft owned and maintained by the U.S. army will be used.
“The Army Fixed-Wing training program we are developing will be a truly world-class military training program that balances ground-based training with live flying,” said Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA. “We will be leveraging our latest training capabilities, such as upset recovery training and CAE Flightscape brief/debrief systems, to deliver scenario-based training specific to the Army’s fixed-wing requirements. This will also enable us to grow our offering of providing a comprehensive, military-specific ab-initio training program that other U.S. government agencies as well as international militaries will be able to use.”
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About CAE
CAE is a global leader in the delivery of training for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare markets. Their mission is to design and integrate the industry’s most comprehensive training solutions, anchored by the knowledge and expertise of 8,000 employees, world-leading simulation technologies and a track record of service and technology innovation spanning seven decades. Their global presence consists of 160 sites and training locations in 35 countries, including joint venture operations, and the world’s largest installed base of flight simulators. Each year, they train more than 120,000 civil and defence crewmembers, as well as thousands of healthcare professionals. www.cae.com