AUSA 2020: CAE USA close to securing first international full-spectrum fixed-wing training customer

CAE USA expects to contract its first international customer for a full fixed-wing flight training programme by the end of 2020 or early in 2021, according to a company official.

Ray Duquette, CAE USA president and general manager, told Janes on 15 October during the Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA’s) annual trade show that this customer will train on the company’s Grob G 120TP twin-seat turboprops before returning home to fly on its own platforms. The Grob G 120TP is the same aircraft CAE USA uses to train US Army fixed-wing pilots before they go on to fly the service’s Beechcraft C-12 Hurons.

A Grob G 120TP twin-seat turboprop in CAE colours. The company is close to contracting its first international customer for a full-spectrum training programme covering academic, simulation, and live-flight services. (CAE USA)

The customer will train at CAE USA’s Dothan Training Center in Alabama. The company owns and operates six G 120TPs at Dothan.

A full fixed-wing flight training programme includes academic, simulator, and live flight training. The deal will be a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) arrangement through the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Security Assistance and Training (AFSAT) programme. CAE USA, along with Wyle Laboratories, is on the Multi-Aircraft Flight Training 2015–20 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) federal contact vehicle.

Under the FMS programme, the US uses the Pentagon’s acquisition system to procure defence articles and services on behalf of its partners. The Department of State approves individual programmes on a case-by-case basis.