CAE[CAE] USA has reached out to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions [KTOS] with a new multi-million dollar subcontract award for M1A2 Abrams Battle Tank maintenance training systems.
Under the subcontract award, Kratos will provide Hands On Trainers (HOTs) hardware to CAE USA under its contract with the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) for the delivery of maintenance trainers for the M1A2 Abrams System Enhancement Package (SEP) Version 2 (V2) and the M1A1 Abrams Situational Awareness (SA) main battle tanks.
Following final hardware/software integration and testing by CAE USA, the systems will be delivered to the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga., the Army Ordnance School at Fort Lee, Va., and the Army National Guard Total Force Training Center at Gowen Field, Idaho, Kratos said yesterday.
The M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 and M1A1 Abrams SA HOTs are both full fidelity trainers that provide a true-to-life environment for training and evaluating turret mechanics. The M1 Abrams trainers support all of the critical tasks necessary to train Military Occupational Specialty maintenance specialists whose mission is to assure the performance and availability of these platforms. General Dynamics [GD] produces the Abrams.
The M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 and M1A1 Abrams SA are the latest version of the Army’s trusted line of Abrams main battle tanks.
Phil Carrai, president of the Kratos Technology and Training Division, said, “We are very pleased to work closely with CAE USA to assist the U.S. Army to ensure the readiness, reliability and operational effectiveness of the M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 and M1A1 Abrams SA. As a leading manufacturer for maintenance training systems for over 10 years, Kratos is an established partner for high performance training systems. Kratos has again been selected as a key partner of CAE USA for the delivery of high performance training systems for the Abrams and Bradley platforms.”
The award comes after the recent announcement that Kratos received $6.4 million in contract awards to support maintenance training for key Army Aviation platforms, including its full-fidelity Black Hawk Avionics Trainer (BHAT-M) for the M model of the UH-60.
Kratos provides numerous training solutions to the Army and other military services with a specific expertise in command, control, communications, computers, combat platforms, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) and maintenance training solutions for mission critical Warfighter platforms such as the CH-47F Chinook, AH-64A Apache, M2/M3A2 ODS Bradley, M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and M147 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.