Babcock France, part of Babcock International, has been awarded a new 17-year contract to support military air training solutions for the French Air and Space Force and French Navy, the company announced on 10 January 2025.
The EUR 795 million contract, awarded by France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) defence procurement agency, will see student pilots trained on 22 new PC-7 MKX Pilatus turboprop aircraft and on 12 training simulators provided by Babcock at Salon-de-Provence Air Base before they specialise as either fighter or transport pilots.
In addition to the provision of aircraft and simulators, the contract will include the through-life support of the aircraft, infrastructure and pilot equipment.
The contract will create more than 100 new roles in the Salon-de-Provence and Le Cannet-des-Maures regions, including for engineers, technicians, project managers and administrators, who will help deliver nearly 11,000 flight and 6,500 simulator training hours to approximately 120 students per year.
Since 2018, Babcock has been working alongside the French Air and Space Force to provide modern training systems on flight simulators and 26 PC-21 aircraft at Cognac-Châteaubernard Air Base.
“The French Air and Space Force and French Navy play leading roles in national and international security. We are delighted to support our customer with their air-based training requirements, further enabling them to focus on delivering critical military aviation needs,” Babcock Chief Executive Aviation and CEO France Pierre Basquin was quoted as saying in a company press release. “This new long-term contract underpins our strong relationship with the French Air and Space Force and places us as its main capability support partner in fighter pilot training programmes.”
