The RCAF will start accepting bids in 2021 for a $5 billion contract to provide future flight training requirements according to Defence News. The air force wants to combine the two training streams now providing fresh pilots into one and increase the number of pilots produced each year. The air force will send draft bid packages to prequalified bidders for the Future Aircrew Training Program (FAcT) before the end of the year. “We’re very focused on getting this to contract,” Air Force Col. Pete Saunders, director of air simulation and training, told Defence News. “In the end, the foundation of the Air Force is our ability to generate qualified aviators. That is what FAcT is all about.”
In the current system, new pilots undergo advanced training in Harvard II turboprop singles at CFB Moose Jaw in a program run by CAE. After graduating from the Harvard, the new pilots are either assigned to train for fighters at Moose Jaw (on the BAE Hawk) or head to Southport, Manitoba for multi-engine or helicopter training. That program is run by KF Aerospace. With the announcement that the airforce wants flight training under one roof, KF Aerospace and CAE joined forces to form SkyAlyne, which is one of four prequalified bidders for the new contract. Other contenders are Babcock Canada, Leonardo Canada and Lockheed Martin Canada.