CAE Wins Military Contracts Worth $70 Million

CAE announced it has won a series of military contracts valued at more than C$70 million. They include a contract from the United States Navy to develop two MH-60R tactical operational flight trainers (TOFTs) for the Royal Australian Navy under a foreign military sale program, a contract from the Australian Defence Force to provide King Air 350 simulator services, and a contract from the Royal New Zealand Air Force to provide C-130 training. "CAE has a long history of providing the Australian Defence Forces with world-class flight simulators and training services, and we are pleased our MH-60R training systems will play a role in preparing the aircrews who will operate Australia's next-generation multi-role naval helicopter," said Gene Colabatistto, Group President, Military Products, Training and Services, CAE. "Our strong position on programs that have long-service lives ahead of them, such as the MH-60R helicopter, will continue to drive opportunities for CAE's comprehensive portfolio of simulation-based products and services. In addition, our established presence in Asia and the Pacific will provide for growth opportunities as these regions become more important to defence customers worldwide". The MH-60R TOFTs include both a full-motion operational flight trainer (OFT) that will be used to train Royal Australian Navy MH-60R pilots and co-pilots as well as a weapons tactics trainer (WTT) to be used for training rear-crew sensor operators in the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter. The MH-60R operational flight trainers for the Royal Australian Navy will include the CAE True electric motion system, motion seats, 220-degree by 60-degree Barco visual display, and the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator. The MH-60R OFT and WTT can be operated as standalone training devices, or networked to become an MH-60R tactical operational flight trainer to provide a total aircrew mission training system. The MH-60R TOFTs for the Royal Australian Navy are based on the MH-60R TOFTs that CAE is delivering to the U.S. Navy. CAE has signed a contract with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to provide Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 training until 2018. CAE will deploy a CAE 5000 Series full-flight simulator (FFS) representing the King Air 350 with Proline II configuration to a training facility in Sale, Victoria. Under terms of the contract, CAE will provide simulator services for Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) King Air 350 aircrew who train on the aircraft for a range of missions, including tactical support, maritime surveillance and light transport. "The simulator services provided by CAE will play a key role in the cost-effective training of RAAF pilots, air combat officers and RAN aviation warfare officers," said GPCAPT Gregory Hoffmann, Officer Commanding Training Aircraft Systems Program Office (TASPO).