LM Awards CAE $24 M to Develop Hawk 128 FMSs for UK MFTS Program

(Burgess Hill, UK, June 10, 2008) -- CAE today announced that Lockheed Martin has awarded CAE U.K. plc a contract to design and manufacture two Hawk 128 full-mission simulators (FMSs) and related training support services as part of the U.K.'s Military Flying Training System (MFTS) program. The contract is valued at more than C$24 million (pounds sterling 11.8 million). Contract options for maintenance and support services could bring the total value to more than C$48 million (pounds sterling 24 million).

The U.K. MFTS program is a private finance initiative (PFI) led by Ascent, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and VT Group. Ascent will provide comprehensive training to all new U.K. military aircrew across the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force (RAF).

Under terms of the contract, CAE will develop two Hawk 128 FMSs as part of the new Hawk 128 ground-based training system. The Hawk 128, manufactured by BAE Systems, was selected as the U.K.'s new advance jet trainer aircraft. The two Hawk 128 FMSs will be delivered in the summer of 2010 to Ascent's training centre at RAF Valley.

The CAE-built Hawk 128 FMSs will feature a high-fidelity replica of the Hawk 128 cockpit with CAE's Medallion(TM)-6000 image generator producing the visuals displayed on an 11-foot front-projection dome display. The Hawk 128 FMSs will also feature the CAE-developed common database (CDB), a new and open standard database architecture that is both rapidly updateable and enables correlated distributed mission training. Following delivery of the Hawk 128 FMSs, Ascent has the option to contract CAE to provide on-site maintenance and support services.

"We are extremely pleased that Lockheed Martin has selected CAE for the development of the Hawk 128 synthetic training equipment," said Nic Anderson, Managing Director of CAE U.K. plc. "The U.K.'s MFTS program is a long-term PFI that will provide a number of simulation equipment opportunities over the next 25 years, so we are excited to win this competition and be involved from the outset."

Source : CAE

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