CAE Awarded Contract to Upgrade NATO E-3A AWACS Training Devices

CAE today announced it has signed a contract amendment with the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Program Management Agency (NAPMA) to perform avionics updates on the E-3A flight deck simulator and E-3A flight training device located at NATO Airbase Geilenkirchen in Germany.

The avionics updates to the training devices relate to the latest standards of the advanced Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems currently being implemented on NATO’s fleet of 14 E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The avionics updates to the E-3A flight deck simulator will be complete in 2021.

“CAE has supported the training of NATO E-3A aircrews for almost 40 years, and these simulators continue to play a key role helping ensure the readiness of the E-3A aircrews from 16 nations who carry out a range of critical missions,” said Marc-Olivier Sabourin, Vice President and General Manager, Defence & Security International, CAE. “The avionics upgrades we will deliver continue our longstanding support of the E-3A training devices, and we look forward to supporting the NATO E-3A AWACS mission through 2035 as part of the Final Lifetime Extension Program of the fleet.”

CAE designed and manufactured the original NATO E-3A flight deck simulator that entered service in 1982.  Since that time, the simulator has been continuously upgraded and enhanced to ensure concurrency with the aircraft and enable E-3A aircrews to conduct more synthetic training.  The E-3A flight deck simulator is currently qualified to Level D, the highest for flight simulators.  The CAE-built E-3A flight training device is qualified to Level II and is used to support familiarization and procedural training for aircrews prior to full-mission training in the E-3A flight deck simulator.

CAE is currently responsible for maintenance and support of the E-3A training devices in addition to providing a cadre of instructors and mission system operators to support the delivery of training to NATO E-3A AWACS aircrews.