CAE USA wins contracts for US Army Special Operations Forces mission rehearsal and training systems
February 16 2004 - 8:45AM
PR Newswire (US)
CAE USA wins contracts for US Army Special Operations Forces
mission rehearsal and training systems - Initial contract valued at
approximately US$43 million - Negotiations continuing for contracts
valued at more than US$42 million TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 16
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (NYSE: CGT; TSX: CAE) - The US Army
Program Executive Office - Simulation, Training, and
Instrumentation (PEO-STRI) has awarded CAE USA a contract valued at
more than US$43 million (C$57 million) to provide a new MH-47G
Chinook combat mission simulator (CMS) and begin design for
refurbishment and upgrade of the existing MH-60K Black Hawk CMS for
the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment - Airborne.
Negotiations between the US Army and CAE are continuing and will
result in additional contracts for CAE to design an open,
standards-based common environment and common database architecture
as well as the development and manufacture of an MH-60K Block 1
CMS. These additional contracts are expected to be valued atmore
than US$42 million (C$56 million) and will be signed later this
year. CAE has already begun work to design MH-47 and MH-60 desktop
and part task trainers based on CAE Simfinity(TM) technology for
the Army's elite Night Stalkers unit under a US$5 million contract
signed several months ago. "Our special operations forces are often
the first ones called to action, so we need sophisticated and
realistic mission rehearsal and training systems," said Major Mike
Newell, assistant product manager, Special Operations Forces
Training Systems, US Army PEO-STRI. "The new MH-47 and MH-60 CMSs,
combined with the pending delivery of the MH-6 Little Bird CMS,
will give our special operations aviators the tools required to
practice and validate missions as ateam to ensure mission success."
The MH-47G and MH-60K Block 1 CMSs will include the common avionics
architecture system (CAAS), which is designed to provide the Army's
special operations MH-47, MH-60 and MH-6 helicopter fleets with a
common avionics capability. The two new CMSs will feature the CAE
Medallion-S(TM) image generator and a large field-of-view display
system. In addition, the Black Hawk and Little Bird simulators will
include the ability to simulate flight of aircraft with "doors
off". One of the key technical innovations will be CAE's
development of the common environment/common database architecture,
which will significantly enhance mission rehearsal capabilities.
The MH-47G CMS will be delivered to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, in
early 2006 while the MH-60K CMS will be scheduled for delivery
later that year. "The US special operations forces are the tip of
the spear in the war on terrorism and the Department of Defense
recognizes that these elite forces need the best training and
equipment to ensure the highest probability of success," said John
Lenyo, president and general manager, CAE USA. "We are committed to
designing and delivering some of the most advanced training systems
in the world for the Night Stalkers, and believe CAE's technology
leadership will continue to position us for the expanding training
requirements of the special operations community." CAE is a leading
provider of integrated training solutions and advanced simulation
and controls technologies to military,civil aviation and marine
customers. The company generates annual revenues in excess of C$1
billion and employs about 5,500 people in Canada, the United States
and around the globe. DATASOURCE: CAE INC. CONTACT: Media contacts:
Arthur C. Perron, Vice-President, Government and Media Relations,
(514) 340-5370, ; Defense/trade media: Chris Stellwag, Director,
Marketing Communications MS&T, (813) 887-1242, ; Investor
relations: Andrew Arnovitz, Director, Corporate Communications and
Investor Relations, (514) 734-5760, ; Contact at U.S. Army: Mary W.
Trier, PEO-STRI, (407) 384-3521, ; High-resolution downloadable
photos are available in the Photo Gallery section of CAE's Web
site: http://www.cae.com/en/photos.shtml
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