'$10 billion over 25 years': SkyAlyne industry event highlights scale of FAcT project

SkyAlyne held an industry event this week at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, with hundreds of attendees who heard presentations on the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program — a program that includes a commitment to returning $10 billion back into the country’s economy, much of that in and around Moose Jaw. 

“FAcT is one of the largest programs in Canadian defence history, and it is important for us to ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to become part of it,” explained Denean Tomlin. 

Business representatives from across the country were in Moose Jaw to discover how they can be part of the program — from transportation to food services to local hiring to Indigenous representation, Tomlin made it clear that the project has the potential for all hands on deck. 

Tomlin is head of SkyAlyne’s Industrial and Technological Benefits/Value Proposition commitment, which is the portion of spending that the company must prove has been returned to the Canadian economy. 

“The program itself, FAcT, is a 25-year, $10 billion program, with a B,” she said. “My responsibility is ensuring that SkyAlyne and all of its subcontractors can achieve $10 billion worth of value in economic benefits to Canada. 

“There are so many opportunities in all regards, from the construction phase and the training phase and investments in areas like innovation, we need to reach out to all the companies, the small and medium businesses, the Indigenous-owned companies, the academic institutions, because everybody has an opportunity to provide some value to this 25-year program.” 

Business representatives had lunch and networked following presentations from SkyAlyne, as well as the two companies that make up SkyAlyne: CAE and KF Aerospace.  

Anyone who missed the event can sign up as a potential subcontractor at skyalyne.ca/suppliers.  

Construction is already underway at the FAcT program’s main bases, including 15 Wing in Moose Jaw, and at Southport, Man. Eventually, FAcT will consolidate all existing military flying training in Canada. 

Those training services are currently provided through two separate contracts, consisting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Flying Training in Moose Jaw, operated by CAE, and the Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS) Services program, operated by KF Aerospace in Southport. 

Aircrew training for air combat systems officers and airborne electronic sensor operators is currently being delivered in-house by the RCAF. The FAcT program combines these requirements into a single contract, including maintenance and infrastructure services. 

More than 70 new training airframes will eventually be purchased, with basic flying training all taking place in Moose Jaw. So far, SkyAlyne has signed contracts for 19 advanced Airbus H135 helicopters, 23 Grob G 120TP aircraft, and 19 state-of-the-art Pilatus PC-21 aircraft. 

Scott Greenough explains the role of CAE in delivering flying training to the Royal Canadian Air Force (photo by Gordon Edgar)

Scott Greenough, director of NATO Flying Training with CAE, and a 25-year RCAF veteran pilot, including a stint as commandant of Moose Jaw’s 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, said the program is significant for Moose Jaw. 

“We’ve been operating out of the base (at 15 Wing) for decades, with hundreds of employees living, working, raising their families in Moose Jaw and contributing to the local economy. We now get another chance, another 25 years to keep it going,” Greenough said. 

“There’s going to be lots of opportunities for local contractors and companies to participate in the construction of the new facilities and the new training centre, and then we’re going to continue to have hundreds of employees working out at the base and continuing to live in Moose Jaw, so I think it’s a great opportunity.” 

Greenough reflected on his many years as a pilot and pilot instructor with the RCAF, saying he was a little envious of the new pilots who will benefit from FAcT. 

“I went through this program as a student pilot back in the ‘90s, when it was all military, in the Tutors out there, and then came back 10-15 years later and participated in the NFTC program, and now we’re looking at this Future Aircrew Training program, and there’s just been this slow and steady increase in the technology, increase in the capabilities. 

“The airplanes that graduating student pilots are going to now are just so much more complex than the airplanes that I graduated into. And so, it’s super exciting to be able to leverage the advancements in modern technology and modern simulation. These airplanes we’re going to acquire are an order of magnitude more complex than, say, the Tutor aircraft. 

“We couldn’t be happier that we get to participate in taking aircrew training to the next level and preparing these next generation of Air Force pilots to get into these modern machines out at the pointy end of the Canadian Forces.”