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Defence

Babcock to provide French air force training solutions

Babcock France has been awarded a new 17-year contract for the provision and support of military air training solutions for the French Air and Space Force and French Navy.

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.

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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.
 
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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.”

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