CAE announces military simulation contracts

CAE has announced that it has won a number of military contracts from Airbus Military, BAE Systems and the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) for simulation-based training devices. The company announced the contracts, valued at more than C$55 million, 22 August 2012.

The orders include a contract from Airbus Military to develop a C295 full-flight simulator (FFS) for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). Under this contract, CAE will design and manufacture a C295 FFS to support the training requirements of the RAFO, which recently ordered eight C295 aircraft for tactical transport and maritime patrol. 

According to CAE, the RAFO's C295 FFS will be designed to meet the standards of Level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators. The C295 FFS will feature the CAE True electric motion system, CAE Medallion-6000 image generator, and the common database (CDB) architecture, which enables real-time mission training capabilities. The system is scheduled for delivery in 2014. 

CAE will also provide maintenance and support services for the Indian Air Force's (IAF’s) Hawk synthetic training devices under a five-year contract issued by BAE Systems. The contract will see CAE India provide on-site maintenance and support services at IAF Base Bidar where the IAF operates a Hawk flight training device, two Hawk cockpit procedures trainers, and a Hawk avionics part-task trainer. CAE India will provide a range of training support services, including hardware and software engineering, troubleshooting, and logistics support. 

For the UK MOD, CAE will perform major visual system and additional upgrades on the Royal Navy's (RN’s) Lynx Mk8 full-mission simulator as well as the Royal Air Force's (RAF’s) C-130J dynamic mission simulators.

According to the company, as part of the RAF C-130J Hercules Synthetic Training Equipment upgrade programme, it will replace the current visual systems on two C-130J dynamic mission simulators with the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator. CAE will also add a visual system to the RAF's C-130J fixed-base flight training device, and perform database updates. The visual system and related upgrades will be completed at RAF Brize Norton during 2013.

CAE will also upgrade the visual system on the RN's Lynx Mk8 full-mission simulator located at RN Air Station Yeovilton with the CAE Medallion-6000 visual system. As part of the upgrade programme, CAE will replace the legacy image generator as well as update the visual display system. CAE will additionally provide new databases to be used by the RN for training. The RN Lynx Mk8 visual upgrade programme is scheduled to be complete by March 2013.