Image courtesy Babcock
 
The €795 million contract, awarded by the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) will see student pilots trained on 22 new PC-7 MkX Pilatus aircraft (above) and on 12 training simulators provided by Babcock France at the Salon-de-Provence Air Base before they specialise as either fighter or transport pilots.

 
In addition to the provision of aircraft and simulators, this contract will include through-life support of the aircraft, infrastructure and pilot equipment.
 
The contract will create more than 100 new roles in the Salon-de-Provence and Le Cannet-des-Maures regions including engineers, technicians, project managers and administrators who will help deliver nearly 11,000 flight and 6,500 simulator training hours to approximately 120 students per year.
 
Since 2018, Babcock France has been working alongside the French Air and Space Force to provide modern training systems on flight simulators and 26 existing PC-21 aircraft at Cognac-Châteaubernard Air Base.
 
Babcock’s Chief Executive Aviation & CEO France, Pierre Basquin, said: “The French Air and Space Force and French Navy play leading roles in national and international security. We are delighted to support our customer with their air-based training requirements, further enabling them to focus on delivering critical military aviation needs.
 
“This new long-term contract underpins our strong relationship with the French Air and Space Force and places us as its main capability support partner in fighter pilot training programmes.”