The U.S. Navy awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to FlightSafety Services Corporation today for Aircrew Training Services (ATS) in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) program.

The five-year base contract is for $220,766,476 for TH-73A ATS, which includes availability on 18 Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTDs). The total contract value is $363,492,518. FSTDs are scheduled be available in calendar year 2021 and will continue through calendar year 2026.The government received two proposals for the contract.

“This ATS contract is a key component to the Advanced Helicopter Training System because it provides contract instructors and state-of-the-art FSTDs for the new Leonardo TH-73A helicopters,” said Capt. Holly Shoger, Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems (PMA-273) program manager. “The TH-73A will provide a modern helicopter training platform that will serve rotary and tiltrotor training requirements into the foreseeable future. These new helicopters will ensure the Navy has the capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.”

The procurement of this ATS includes Contractor Instructional Services and FAA-equivalent Flight Training Devices that will improve pilot training and skills by using current technologies and a modernized training curriculum that reflect the capabilities in the current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard inventory.

Using a skills-based approach to training with just-in-time methodology, and by incorporating modern technology, AHTS will help produce Rotary Wing Aviators at a higher quality and more efficiently. Aviators will be ready to meet the challenges faced in the Fleet and the advanced rotary wing and intermediate tilt-rotor training requirements for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard through 2050.

The award is the culmination of a competitive source selection process supported by personnel from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA).

PMA-273, at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, oversees AHTS.