Canada-based CAE, which leads the civil manufacturer market, is also responsible for the majority of military devices, with 19% of the market. L-3 Link Simulation & Training follows with 18% while FSI gets 11%. Thales and Boeing each have a 9% share, with the remaining 35% of the market made up of other manufacturers.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing lead the list of aircraft manufacturers, with respective shares of 22% and 20%. Helicopter manufacturers Sikorsky and Bell Helicopter account for 9% and 5%, while Beechcraft has a share of 8%. The remaining share of manufacturers account for 36%.
When looking at aircraft types, the data shows that there are more than 230 simulators for the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, representing 10% of the market. Simulators for the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II are second in volume with a 6% share while devices for the F/A-18 Hornet, UH-60 Black Hawk and SH-60 Seahawk each have a 4% share.
The majority of the transport/tanker simulators are for the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and its C-130J update, which collectively account for close to 50% of the simulators in that sector.
Combat-aircraft simulators account for 35% of the market while helicopter simulators total 31%. Training aircraft, special mission and transports/tankers account for 13%, 12% and 8% respectively. UAV simulators currently represent only 1% of the share of military simulators.
The US is where 55% of the world’s aircraft military simulators are based, with a total of 1,220 devices. With more than 600 simulators, the US Air Force alone accounts for nearly half of the devices in the US – and 27% of the world total. The US Navy and US Army have shares of 22% and 19% respectively in the US. France, the UK, Canada and Australia account for shares of 5%, 4%, 3% and 2%, while the balance of 31% of simulators are located in other countries.
Flight training devices account for 14% of all military simulators, followed by operational flight trainers. Full mission simulators and full flight simulators have a shares of 12% and 11% respectively while weapon systems trainers account for 6%.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
