CAE to develop C-130J fuselage trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force

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World Defense & Security Industry News - CAE Australia
 
 
CAE to develop C-130J fuselage trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force
 
CAE yesterday announced that CAE Australia Pty Ltd was awarded a contract from Australia's Department of Defence Capability and Acquisition Sustainment Group (CASG) to develop a C-130J Fuselage Cargo Compartment Trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
     
CAE to develop C 130J fuselage trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force 640 001A RAAF C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft
(Credit: Australian Department of Defense)
     
The contract was signed during CAE's fiscal 2016 fourth quarter and included in the total value of contracts CAE announced yesterday.

The C-130J Fuselage Trainer (FuT), which will be delivered to RAAF Base Richmond in Spring 2018, will be used to provide high-fidelity training to loadmasters. The RAAF's C-130J loadmaster aircrews have responsibility for the loading and unloading of cargo on the C-130J Hercules aircraft as well as ensuring proper aircraft weight and balance.

"The new fuselage trainer marks the first time that our C-130J loadmaster workforce will have a dedicated training device that accurately reflects the configuration of this aircraft," said Air Commodore Richard Lennon, Commander of the RAAF's Air Mobility Group. "The C-130J fuselage trainer will complement our C-130J full-mission flight simulator and other training devices, providing our C-130J workforce with immersive, full-crew mission training in a virtual environment."

CAE will serve as the prime contractor responsible for the overall design, development and delivery of the C-130J FuT. CAE will be leveraging the design and simulation software already developed for the CC-130J FuT delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force. CAE will also oversee a team of subcontractors that includes Lockheed Martin and Airbus Defence & Space, which will have responsibility for hardware modifications to an ex-RAAF C-130H fuselage that will provide the physical platform for the new C-130J Fuselage Cargo Compartment Trainer.

"We are pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with the Royal Australian Air Force's Air Mobility Group as their C-130J training partner," said Peter Redman, Vice President and General Manager, CAE Asia/Pacific, Defence & Security. "The RAAF is one of the world's leading air forces in the application of simulation-based training to cost-effectively support the preparation and readiness of their aircrews, which ultimately contributes to mission success."

CAE provided the RAAF C-130J Full-Flight and Mission Simulator (FFMS) used at RAAF Base Richmond, as well as CAE Simfinity desktop trainers and instructor tools used as part of the RAAF's C-130J groundschool. CAE also provides a range of training services on-site at RAAF Richmond to support the RAAF's C-130J training program, including simulator and live flying instruction and maintenance services.