General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a unit of General Dynamics, has secured a $1.7 billion contract to provide flight school training support services for the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence, with AVT Simulation as its small business teammate. The five-year base period contract includes seven option years and will involve training roughly 4,000 entry and graduate level students in multiple cargo, attack, utility, and training helicopter platforms, using high-fidelity simulation technology. The program is expected to be the primary training program for all Army rotary wing aviators at Fort Novosel, Alabama (Formally Fort Rucker). Under the agreement, GDIT will own, operate, maintain, and upgrade flight simulators and provide related training and program management services.

The Enhanced Reconfigurable Collective Training Devices (eRCTDs) built by AVT will provide high fidelity collective training for all Army Rotary Wing Aviators. Over 20 eRCTDs will be built, all with modern visual systems. Each simulator can reconfigure into variants including the UH-60 Blackhawk, AH-64 Apache, and CH-47 Chinook.

“AVT has been preparing for this day for decades with our previous Rotary Wing Collective Training programs and certain strategic hires with Army Aviation backgrounds,” said AVT Simulation Founder and CSO, Robert Abascal. “It is our honor to be chosen for this effort by the GDIT Team, who has been working on Flight School XXI since inception. When delivered, these collective training devices will be the most advanced with leading edge technology perfect for the Flight School mission.”