CAE USA Wins $450 Million US Army Contract

CAE USA has been awarded a United States Army contract to provide rotary-wing flight training instructor support services.

Under terms of the contract, which was awarded as a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for over US$50 million for the transition and base one-year period, CAE USA will provide classroom, simulator, and live flying instructor support services for the US Army's Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

The total value of the contract, including the one-year base contract and then eight one-year options through March 31, 2016, is expected to be more than US$450 million.

The US Army's Initial Entry Rotary-Wing (IERW) training program is responsible for providing the training required to qualify new Army helicopter pilots. Approximately 900 students annually receive academic (classroom), simulator, and live flying training on TH-67 Creek and UH-72 Lakota helicopters. Following graduation from the IERW training program, aviators are assigned to continue helicopter training on one of the Army's frontline combat helicopters (UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, or CH-47 Chinook) or transition to the Army fixed-wing flight training program that is also run by CAE. The Army's IERW program also supports initial helicopter training for the US Air Force.

Approximately 300 people will become CAE employees and will be based at Fort Rucker. CAE will be supported on the program by small business subcontract partners, including Navigator Development Group and Cardinal Point.