CAE wins special ops contract

CAE Inc.'s U.S. division received a $16 million contract to develop and implement a common database architecture for an elite unit of the Army's airborne division, the company said today.

The contract is divided into two phases, each worth $8 million, over the next three years, Toronto-based CAE said. During the first phase, CAE will develop the new architecture and standard; during the second phase, the company will implement the architecture in two combat-mission simulators that it is designing for the Army's 160th special operations aviation regiment.

The architecture will reduce the time it takes to correlate multiple databases in simulated mission-rehearsal systems, CAE said.

Once completed, the federal government will have unlimited rights to the technology standard and make it available to other special operations command and Defense Department users, CAE said.

CAE employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide and provides integrated training solutions and advanced simulation and controls technologies to military, civil aviation and marine customers. The company had profits of $89.7 million on revenue of $842 million in 2003, according to its annual report.