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| P-8A Poseidon (File Photo) |
Tampa, Fla., USA, June 29, 2015 - (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) - CAE today announced that Boeing has ordered simulator hardware for four additional P-8A Poseidon operational flight trainers (OFTs).
Two of the P-8A OFTs are for the United States Navy, which will bring the Navy's total to 18 P-8A OFTs. The other two P-8A OFTs are part of a United States Cooperative Program via the P-8 Production, Sustainment, and Follow-On Development Memorandum of Understanding (PSDF MOU) with the U.S. Navy to provide the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with a comprehensive P-8A training system.
The contract for the two RAAF P-8A OFTs was signed in CAE's fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 and included in the value of contracts announced on April 8, 2015. The contract for the two U.S. Navy P-8A OFTs was signed in CAE's first quarter of fiscal year 2016.
The P-8A OFTs for the RAAF will be similar to the P-8A OFTs that CAE is already developing for Boeing for delivery to the U.S. Navy. CAE designs and manufactures the P-8A OFT hardware to Level D standards, the highest qualification for flight simulators. CAE also provides the 737-800 OFT software baseline and simulation-based software lab environment that is used for P-8A OFT development and integration tasks. CAE then delivers the simulators to Boeing, who installs and integrates software specific to the P-8A aircraft.
"We are pleased to be supporting Boeing and the U.S. Navy in developing the P-8A simulators for the Royal Australian Air Force, marking the first international sale of a comprehensive P-8A training system," said Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA. "The Navy has significantly increased the amount of synthetic training it does as part of the P-8A training program, and the high-fidelity P-8A operational flight trainers developed by CAE and Boeing play a key role in the overall P-8A training curriculum."
The two P-8A OFTs for the RAAF are scheduled for delivery to RAAF Base Edinburgh in late 2017. The two additional P-8A OFTs for the U.S. Navy are scheduled for delivery to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in 2017.
The P-8A Poseidon is a new long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft currently being developed for the U.S. Navy by prime contractor Boeing. The P-8A is a derivative of Boeing's next-generation 737-800 aircraft and is used for maritime and littoral operations. The U.S. Navy's warfighting requirement is 117 P-8A aircraft, and these aircraft are replacing the U.S. Navy's current fleet of P-3C Orion aircraft. The Indian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force are the first international customers of the P-8.