CAE to Provide Additional PC-21 Simulator to France

The French Air Force has awarded CAE a deal to provide Pilatus PC-21 full-mission ground-based simulator.

“CAE today announced it signed a contract amendment last February with Cognac Formation Aero, a joint venture of Babcock France and Dassault Aviation, to provide an additional Pilatus PC-21 full-mission ground-based simulator to support pilot training for the French Air Force,” the company said in a release Wednesday.

The pilot training for the French Air Force is delivered under the Programme de formation modernisée des équipages de chasse (Jet Pilots Modernised Training Program, “the Program,” formerly known as FOMEDEC).

The Program is designed to train future French Air Force fighter pilots.  CAE was previously subcontracted to develop a comprehensive PC-21 ground-based training system that was delivered in 2019 and included two PC-21 full-mission simulators and a suite of PC-21 part-task trainers.

“The addition of a third PC-21 full-mission simulator will significantly increase the synthetic training capabilities of the French Air Force at the Cognac-Châteaubernard Air Base,” said Marc-Olivier Sabourin, Vice President and General Manager, Defence & Security International, CAE.

Similar to the first two PC-21 full-mission ground-based simulators, the new PC-21 simulator will feature a Pilatus-provided PC-21 cockpit integrated with a range of CAE simulation and synthetic environment technologies, including the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator, Open Geospatial Consortium Common Database (OGC CDB) architecture, and computer-generated forces software.

The new PC-21 full-mission simulator will be delivered in 2022 to the Cognac-Châteaubernard Air Base in southwest France. CAE currently provides on-site maintenance and support services on the PC-21 ground-based training system and will continue to provide these services on the new simulator.

The Program, managed by Babcock France in partnership with Dassault Aviation, delivers a comprehensive pilot training solution for the French Air Force featuring the provision and support of 17 PC-21 training aircraft, PC-21 ground-based training system, and modernized training facilities.