CAE To Develop C-130J Fuselage Trainer for Royal Australian Air Force

CAE Australia has won a contract from Australia’s Department of Defence Capability and Acquisition Sustainment Group (CASG) to develop a C-130J fuselage cargo compartment trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The C-130J Fuselage Trainer (FUT), which will be delivered to RAAF Base Richmond in spring 2018, will beused to provide high-fidelity training to loadmasters. The RAAF’s C-130J loadmaster aircrews have responsibility for the loading and unloading of cargo on the C-130J Hercules aircraft as well as ensuring proper aircraft weight and balance.  

“The new fuselage trainer marks the first time that our C-130J loadmaster workforce will have a dedicated training device that accurately reflects the configuration of this aircraft," said Air Commodore Richard Lennon, Commander of the RAAF's Air Mobility group. "The C-130J fuselage trainer will complement our c-130j full-mission flight simulator and other training devices, providing our c-130j workforce with immersive, full-crew mission training in a virtual environment."

CAE will serve as the prime contractor responsible for the overall design, development and delivery of the c-130j fut. CAE will be leveraging the design and simulation software already developed for the C-130J FUT delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force. CAE will also oversee a team of subcontractors that includes Lockheed Martin and Airbus Defence & Space, which will have responsibility for hardware modifications to an ex-RAAF C-130H fuselage that will provide the physical platform for the new c-130j fuselage cargo compartment trainer.

"We are pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with the royal australian air force's air mobility group as their c-130J training partner," said peter redman, vice president and general manager, cae asia/pacific, defence & security. "The RAAF is one of the world's leading air forces in the application of simulation-based training to cost-effectively support the preparation and readiness of their aircrews, which ultimately contributes to mission success."

CAE provided the RAAF C-130J Full-flight and Mission Simulator (FFMS) used at RAAF Base Richmond, as well as CAE Simfinity Desktop Trainers and instructor tools used as part of the RAAF's C-130J groundschool. CAE also provides a range of training services on-site at RAAF Richmond to support the RAAF's c-130j training program, including simulator and live flying instruction and maintenance services.