RCAF Extends NATO Flying Contract; upgrades to CT-155 & CT-156

By: David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen 

The Royal Canadian Air Force has extended the contract for the NATO Flying Training in Canada program until 2023.

CAE provides ground-school classroom and simulator training, and supports the live flying training of military pilots in Moose Jaw and Cold Lake. In addition, CAE will also add new capabilities and perform a range of upgrades and updates to the overall NFTC training system and aircraft over the next several years, the firm noted in a news release. The modified operating period of the NFTC contract includes a one-year option for government to extend the contract through 2024 if it wants.

The original NFTC 20-year contract was scheduled to expire in 2021. The extension allows the Canadian government the time it needs to evaluate how it will provide aircrew training in the future.

“Since acquiring the NFTC program in October 2015, CAE has worked closely with the Royal Canadian Air Force on a range of initiatives to help improve the quality and efficiency of training,” Joe Armstrong, Vice President and General Manager, CAE Canada, said in a statement. “As the training systems integrator on the NFTC program, we will now continue to make enhancements and improvements that will sustain NATO Flying Training in Canada well into the next decade.”

In addition to modifying the operating period and extending the NFTC contract through 2023, CAE will also add new capabilities and perform a range of upgrades and updates to the overall NFTC training system and aircraft over the next several years, the firm noted. According to CAE, the new capabilities as well as upgrades and updates include:

Upgrades to the two existing CT-155 Hawk flight training devices (FTDs);
Upgrades to the three existing CT-156 Harvard FTDs;
Minor upgrades, ongoing maintenance and obsolescence management for the fleet of CT-155 Hawk aircraft;
Minor upgrades, ongoing maintenance and obsolescence management for the fleet of CT-156 Harvard aircraft.

As the prime contractor for the NFTC program, CAE pointed out that it operates the NFTC base facilities, delivers the ground-school classroom and simulator training, and supports the live flying training on a fleet of Beechcraft T-6 (CT-156 Harvard) and BAE Systems Hawk (CT-155 Hawk) aircraft.

The NFTC program combines basic, advanced, and lead-in fighter training as part of the comprehensive military pilot training program, the firm noted.

Canadian officer assumes American command of 80th Wing

U.S. 80th Operations Group Commander Colonel Paolo Baldasso (left) transfers command of the 89th Flying Training Squadron to Royal Canadian Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Rhett Chambers during an April 22, 2016, Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program change-of-command ceremony held at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. The handover represented the first time a Royal Canadian Air Force officer has been appointed as a squadron commander in the 35-year history of the program. PHOTO: Debi Smith, USAF photo

RCAF Press Release

From Sheppard Air Force Base

Royal Canadian Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Rhett Chambers assumed command of the 89th Flying Training Squadron on April 22, 2016, in a ceremony at the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. The change of command ceremony marked the first time in the 35-year history of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program that an RCAF officer has been appointed to a squadron command position.

He has 4,000 flying hours to his credit; 330 of those he amassed during 75 missions in Afghanistan. His wife, Major Martine Chambers, retired last year after serving for 23 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Lieutenant-Colonel Chambers joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994. Many of his flight hours were spent in CT-114 Tutor, CH-139 Jet Ranger, CH-146 Griffon, and CT-156 Harvard II aircraft.

The 89th Flying Training Squadron traces its lineage to the Second World War 89th Pursuit Squadron. As part of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program, 89th Flying Training Squadron trains 250 pilots a year in the T-37 twin-engine jet-powered Cessna Tweet. Designed specifically for training purposes, the Tweet is used for undergraduate pilot, undergraduate navigator, and tactical navigation training, during which students learn the fundamentals of aircraft handling, and instrument, formation and night flying.