CAE USA wins US$300M USAF C-130 training recompete through 2035

CAE USA won a US$300-million competitive recompete to keep training U.S. Air Force C-130H Hercules aircrews through December 2035, the Montreal simulation giant said — a defence services win for its American unit days after President Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on Canadian-origin goods in U.S. federal civil procurement.

The award locks in CAE as prime contractor for the C-130H Aircrew Training System, a role it has held since 2018. Work covers program management, instruction, maintenance, logistics, cybersecurity and upgrades for pilots, flight engineers, navigators and loadmasters. The fleet includes nine full-mission simulators and more than 45 training devices.

Training runs from Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas — home to the C-130H formal training unit — plus Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia and Air National Guard sites in Wyoming, Minnesota and Missouri. CAE framed the nine-year extension as nearly two decades of USAF partnership once the original term is counted.

Trump’s Sept. 16 memorandum directs officials to identify Canadian-origin items that can be pulled from federal civil procurement, citing Canada’s Buy Canadian preferences. It does not clearly cover defence services or U.S.-incorporated subsidiaries — leaving CAE USA’s Tampa-based win intact for now as the Canada–U.S. trade fight widens beyond goods into government purchasing.