Vancouver, BC, October 13, 2010 — NGRAIN, a leading provider of interactive 3D equipment simulation solutions that maximize the effectiveness of training programs and maintenance support systems, today announced that it has been awarded a multi-million dollar subcontract by CAE to support the Maintenance Training Program (MTP) for In-Service Support of Canada’s CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin. NGRAIN estimates that approximately 35 Canadian employees (within the company and/or its subcontracting partner firms) will support the program which will leverage NGRAIN software solutions to develop 3D-enabled maintenance training programs. Working with CAE, NGRAIN will deliver virtual maintenance training solutions for a range of CC-130J subsystems including the main landing gear, flight controls, auxiliary power unit and others. These solutions will demonstrate defined procedures in French and English as well as support the evaluation of a maintenance technician’s performance throughout each task as part of the overall MTP solution.
“We are excited to work with CAE, a leading provider of simulation and modeling technologies to defence forces worldwide,” said Paul Lindahl, CEO, NGRAIN. “This program is designed to guarantee that technicians are completely qualified and meet 100 percent of their performance-of-maintenance criteria. This program will reduce the reliance on active aircraft to achieve training objectives. This is critical to training throughput and reducing costs – two values at the core of NGRAIN.”
With NGRAIN’s differentiated 3KO® (3D Knowledge Object™) approach to building interactive 3D simulations and its award-winning Virtual Task Trainer product, CC-130J instructors and technicians alike will be able to view the aircraft’s complex systems and gain an understanding of the correlation of parts, watching and practicing procedures virtually before working on an in-service aircraft. The solutions are easily integrated into any common Microsoft® Windows computing platform and the content can be reused and modified as needed to ensure that training reflects modifications made to the aircraft or its maintenance procedures. In addition, NGRAIN 3KO content is conformant with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) to support reusability and distributed learning environments and has been approved for the Canadian Air Forces Integrated Information Learning Environment (AFIILE).
“NGRAIN’s technology is proven to improve comprehension and accelerate learning of complex technical information,” said Martin Gagné, CAE's Group President, Military Products, Training and Services. “Working with NGRAIN is a natural fit for this program and an example of how we support the government’s IRB policy on procurement to bring together small and mid-sized Canadian companies to deliver innovative training programs for Lockheed Martin and the Canadian Forces.”
Earlier this year, CAE was awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin to lead the design, development and delivery of a comprehensive CC-130J maintenance training suite. CAE is designing and manufacturing a suite of products that includes two CC-130J fuselage systems and servicing training devices, one CC-130J integrated cockpit systems training device, CAE Simfinity laptop and desktop-based virtual maintenance trainers and courseware. Following delivery of the CC-130J aircraft maintenance technician training suite in 2013, CAE will then manage the in-service support for the CC-130J aircraft maintenance technician training program at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
