CAE Defense & Security has been awarded the competitive, re-compete contract for the Fixed-Wing Flight Training Service programme by the United States Army. The contract provides comprehensive initial and recurrent training for more than 600 U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force fixed-wing pilots annually.
The firm-fixed-price award has an approximate total value of US$250 million (£202 million) through 2032 distributed from an initial base period and seven single-year options.
CAE Defense & Security has provided army fixed-wing training at the company-owned company-operated Dothan Training Center in Alabama since the initial contract award in 2016. The state-of-the-art facility, near the U.S. Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) at Fort Rucker supports initial and recurrent training for transitioning army rotary-wing aviators and army initial-entry fixed-wing students.
“CAE provides a world-class training programme that balances academics, simulation, and aircraft flight training,” said Merrill Stoddard, Vice President and General Manager, CAE Defense & Security Readiness Solutions. “We leverage modern training solutions to deliver scenario-based training specific to the army’s fixed-wing requirements.”
The Fixed-Wing Flight Training Service programme features academic, simulation and aircraft flight training, including the CAE Trax Academy which augments the current ground-based training assets with self-paced virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) training in both the C-12 and Grob G-120TP. CAE also provides Grob G120 TP flight training devices and a suite of desktop trainers and courseware in addition to a fleet of C-12U King Air aircraft owned and maintained by the U.S. Army and operated by CAE instructors to deliver C-12 King Air aircraft flight training.