In what is the first major contract awarded under the UK Ministry of Defence's Private Finance Initiative, the Royal Air Force is to farm out aircrew training for its fleet of medium-support helicopters to CVS Aircrew Training, which is a consortium of CAE Electronics of Canada and UK companies Vega and Serco.
The contract is worth around £275 million ($458 million) over 20 years to CVS, representing a saving of 15% over what it could achieve, says the MoD.
The RAF is aiming to cut costs by making more use of simulators for low-level and night-flying training.
CVS will set up the training operation at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire and is scheduled to start training pilots for the RAF's Boeing Chinook, Eurocopter Puma and EH Industries EH101 Merlin support-helicopter fleets in mid-1999.
Source: Flight International
