CAE USA Will Continue to Provide Through 2027 if Options Exercised
CAE USA has been awarded a USN contract to continue providing comprehensive T-44C PEGASUS aircrew training services at NAS Corpus Christi, TX, the company announced on 6 January.
Awarded as a base one-year contract with additional one-year options through mid-2027, the contract is valued at more than $70 million (€56.7 million). The company currently provides T-44C aircrew training services to the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), under a contractor-owned, contractor-operated training programme. The T-44C is the Navy’s variant of the KING AIR aircraft, used for intermediate and advanced multi-engine pilot training.
“We started delivering T-44C aircrew training to the Navy in 2013 [and the service] has selected CAE USA to continue providing the essential training services for CNATRA’s multi-engine training pipeline,” commented Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA.
CAE USA provides qualified instructors who deliver all the required T-44C classroom and simulator training at NAS Corpus Christi. CAE owns, operates and maintains a suite of T-44C training devices that are used extensively as part of the training syllabus. The company is also introducing new virtual reality trainers based on the Microsoft HoloLens that will be used for T-44C familiarisation and procedural training tasks. This will enable greater student throughput, by freeing the T-44C training devices and aircraft for more advanced training. In total, more than 400 USN, USMC and international students train annually on the T-44C at Corpus Christi.
“The Navy T-44C aircrew training programme is a great example of how CAE partners with our military customers to introduce digital innovations such as virtual reality technologies that help contribute to more efficient and effective training,” observed Dan Gelston, Group President, Defense & Security, CAE.