
Arlington company receives $18M to develop F-16 jet simulators, training for Taiwan
A U.S. defense modeling subsidiary, partially based in Tarrant County, was awarded an $18.37 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense to develop and provide a fighter jet training simulation program for the Taiwan Air Force.CAE USA Inc., which has an Arlington office, received a hybrid fixed-price, undefinitized contract Jan. 30 for a training simulator for F-16 Fighting Falcon, the aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics and now manufactured by Lockheed Martin.Manufacturing facilities for the F-16 — initially in Fort Worth — were relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2017, to increase production of the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet at a major assembly facility based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.The F-16 — the latest version of which is known as the Viper —- is one of the most common military aircraft in the world and is used by 25 nations, including the island of Taiwan.The contract to the U.S. wing of the Canadian modeling developer provides for the procurement of “hardware and software development, integration testing, and delivery of software for the TAF Block 20V F-16 Mission Training Centers,” according to the contract. The performance simulator program will be based in Arlington, with work expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2026.Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $8.8 million were obligated to CAE USA at the time of the contract.The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Training Directorate, Simulators Division, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, is the office that contracted with CAE USA.CAE, following the acquisition of L3Harris Military, said it is the leading provider of F-16 pilot and maintenance training. “We build high-fidelity training solutions on proven common hardware and software systems that extend the integrated F-16 training baseline and can be customized to meet each customer’s unique requirements,” the company said. “Customers worldwide are benefiting from our suite of F-16 training devices, ranging from concurrency and technology upgrades of fielded systems to delivery of new F-16 pilot and maintenance trailers.”The company’s simulators include high-fidelity F-16 flight and aero models, integrated for F-16 systems, weapons and sensors, CAE said.Taiwan, which purchased 66 F-16s in 2019, is the largest operator of F-16Vs in Asia and has over 200 aircraft in its fleet. The island has been converting its F-16 A/B aircraft to the F-16V standard, which has advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems to defend itself from China.Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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