CAE Australia has signed a teaming agreement with Cobham Aviation Services to establish Team AUStringer, which will respond to the Project Air 5428 Phase 3 Aviation Mission Training System solicitation for the RAAF.
The newly formed Team AUStringer will combine training, training technology and operational expertise to present a proposal to the Commonwealth for a 'sovereign, transformative and enduring' mission training system.
The Aviation Mission Training System (AMTS) will be utilised to train the RAAF’s mission aviators, including electronic warfare officers, maritime patrol and response officers, air battle managers, air traffic controllers and other mission specialists. The AMTS, to be deployed at the Air Academy located at RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria, will feature a comprehensive training solution, including ground-based and airborne training and a digitally-enabled integrated learning environment.
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“We look forward to leading Team AUStringer and leveraging our collective experience to develop a modern, integrated mission training system that leverages the latest digital technologies to optimize the blend of live and synthetic training capabilities to produce RAAF mission aviators,” said Matthew Sibree, Managing Director, Indo-Pacific, CAE Australia. “As the world’s leading platform agnostic simulation and training pure play company, CAE is ideally suited to lead this pursuit by leveraging our training systems integration capabilities and the significant investments made in our digitally immersive training technologies capable of producing high-quality mission-ready aviators more efficiently and effectively.”
Team AUStringer says its AMTS will provide the knowledge, skills, ground-based training and live airborne training necessary to develop proficiency to operate in a fifth-generation mission environment. Graduates will proceed to operational conversion training at RAAF frontline units for assignments on a variety of aircraft types, including the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, F/A-18 Super Hornet multi-role fighter, E/A-18 Growler electronic warfare aircraft, E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and others.
The AMTS will also deliver all the instruction necessary for air traffic controllers and operations officers to develop the fundamental aviation knowledge required to support RAAF missions.
“Cobham, as the largest employer of mission aircrew in Australia outside the ADF, is well positioned to provide deep airborne operational capability and mission expertise as part of Team AUStringer,” said John Boag, CEO, Cobham Aviation Services. “Cobham has more than 25 years experience in delivering aviation services to the Australian government. We recruit, train and deploy our own mission aviators to conduct a range of special operations in complex environments. We are thrilled to be teaming with CAE Australia to build Australia’s sovereign industry capability.”
The moniker “Team AUStringer” draws its name from Austringer, a word of French origin related to falconry and training birds of prey to hunt. Since the Aviation Mission Training System will be responsible for training RAAF mission aviators on tasks such as command and control, submarine hunting, and electronic warfare, the companies believe the name “Team AUStringer” offered an appropriate connection.
CAE currently supports the initial training of United States Navy naval flight officers (NFOs) who graduate from training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and proceed to some of the same operational aircraft in service with the RAAF, including the P-8A Poseidon, F/A- 18 Super Hornet and E/A-18 Growler. The US Navy makes extensive use of the CAE-built Multi-Crew Simulator for training mission aviators and CAE also delivers academic and simulator instruction.