Flying F-16 fighter jets, Top Aces pilots will embody the enemy with the U.S. Air Force in combat training for the next five years, a deal that could earn up to 230 million CAN to the Quebec company.
Posted yesterday at 4:10 p.m.
The world’s first private operator of this type of military aircraft, Top Aces has just won its first major air training contract with an adversary in the United States – the country that spends the most on defense in the world. Based in Montreal along the Trans-Canada Highway, the specialist in combat training services already counts the Canadian and German armies among its clients.
“These are years of investment for us,” says Erin Black, corporate communications manager. It’s big for us. It probably opens doors for something else besides showing other countries what we can do. »
The 26 F-16 fighters from Top Aces, which had been purchased from the Israeli army, will end up on two bases: Eglin, in Florida, and Luke, in Arizona. From next month, they will camp the role of the belligerents for American pilots of F-35 – the fighter plane built by Lockheed Martin presented as the most advanced from a technological point of view – as well as F-22.
For the company founded by former military pilots in 2000, the contract represents the culmination of a long process. In 2019, the company was one of seven selected for a framework contract worth up to US$6.4 billion. Top Aces managed to get their piece of the pie.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time, and it finally became real,” says M.me Black.
If the contract allows Top Aces to grow, the benefits will be seen further south of the border. It is on the two American bases that the company will need pilots, mechanics and engineers.
The United States has decided to join the list of countries that outsource the role of the adversary, which reduces costs in addition to providing more productive training hours for its pilots. In Canada, Top Aces had obtained a 480 million contract with the Canadian National Defense. Renewable, the agreement could reach 1.4 billion by 2031.
Top Aces currently has some 380 employees – including approximately 160 in Quebec – spread across Canada, the United States and Germany. The workforce of the company will swell thanks to this new contract. Mme Black, however, did not quantify the magnitude of the planned hiring.
The company counts the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ) among its shareholders. The placement of Quebecers’ woolen socks is estimated at between 50 and 100 million, according to its most recent annual report.
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- 780 billion US
- This is the estimated military budget in the United States for fiscal year 2022
Source: United States Government