Simulation and training specialist CAE on 26 January announced it will buy Bombardier’s military aviation training business for $19.8 million.
The purchase makes CAE the prime contractor in charge of NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Cold Lake, Alberta, according to a CAE announcement. The programme involves basic pilot training and advanced training for prospective fighter pilots of the Royal Canadian Air Force and allies.
CAE will be responsible for operating base facilities, ground-school classroom instruction and simulator training once the deal is finalised later in 2015, the company says.
Bombardier’s military training division employs 200 workers at the NATO training center, which was established in 2000 with 700,000km2 at the two Canadian air force bases. The programme also involves live training on Beechcraft T-6 and BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk training aircraft. In addition to Canada, pilots from the air forces of Denmark, the UK, Singapore, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, also will train at the NFTC.
Marc Parent, CAE's president and chief executive officer, says the company plans to expand the NFTC programme.
"We are also proud to now operate one of the world's premier military pilot training programs and deliver the total training required, including support for live aircraft training, to produce the military's next-generation fighter pilots,” Parent says in a statement. “We plan to expand the NFTC program, and leverage our new capabilities into future integrated training systems programs worldwide."
Source: FlightGlobal.com
