Last week, Montreal-based CAE confirmed the award of several military contracts worth approximately $140 million.
The deals included an option exercise by the United States Air Force (USAF) for the fourth year of KC-135 tanker aircrew training services, numerous KC-135 simulator upgrades, a new contract from the USAF to provide operations and maintenance support for new KC-135 boom operator weapon systems trainers (BOWST), a contract to develop a military helicopter full-mission simulator for an undisclosed customer, and a contract to perform a range of upgrades on the German Air Force Tornado simulators.
As the prime contractor on the KC-135 ATS program, CAE USA will continue to provide classroom and simulator instruction as well as provide additional training support services as new KC-135 BOWST are incorporated into the overall KC-135 training program.
The company’s CAE Elektronik GmbH unit will perform upgrades to the German Air Force Tornado full-mission simulators to ensure concurrency with the avionics software system Tornado (ASSTA) combat efficiency improvement program that is currently being performed on the air force’s fleet of Tornado combat aircraft. In addition, CAE will upgrade and enhance the simulator interface system as well as address obsolescence issues.
“Our position on enduring platforms like the KC-135 tanker, and various military transport aircraft and helicopters continues to yield opportunities for CAE in the United States and abroad, particularly as our defence and security customers look to leverage simulation for an increasing portion of their training curriculum,” said Gene Colabattisto, CAE Group president, Military Products and Training and Services. “These contracts with multi-year options enhance our visibility in an otherwise hard to predict defence environment. We have been increasingly focused on long-term training services contracts in the United States and around the world, which give our business greater predictability, and we see a solid pipeline of opportunities globally.”