Rheinmetall and Thales announced in a joint press release on 17 May that they were subcontracted by Lockheed Martin in March to provide training services for the C-130 air transport squadron being formed by France and Germany.
The two European companies have been tasked with certifying the Franco-German multinational training centre organisation in Évreux in Normandy where the squadron will be based.
Rheinmetall and Thales were subcontracted in March by Lockheed Martin to provide training services for the C-130 air transport squadron. (Armée de l'Air/Etat Major des Armées/Sandra Auguste)
They will provide personnel and services to qualify the centre during the first quarter of 2024: the year training will begin. The training centre is to be certified as an approved training organisation by the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile, the French civil aviation authority.
The initial establishment and certification phase could be followed by an optional operating phase, for which Thales and Rheinmetall said they would provide all management personnel, qualified flight and ground crew instructors, and maintenance personnel to operate all training devices.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the training centre and the squadron’s C-130J transport aircraft, while Thales and Rheinmetall are providing training services as subcontractors on a 50:50 basis.
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