2011: Another 8 Years for the C-130 ATS Training Contract

C-130 ATS
(click for cutaway)

Lockheed Martin recently announced an 8-year, $270 million contract to continue offering its C-130 Aircrew Training Systems (ATS), which provide simulators, computer training, and instruction to C-130 pilots in the USA and around the world. Graduates of the formal school are considered mission-qualified, and can report directly to active units – but not C-130J units. The new C-130J family are very different aircraft internally, and have their own C-130J Maintenance and Aircrew Training System (MATS), with its own instructors and sites.

ATS training includes all crew positions, refresher courses, cockpit resource management (initial and recurring), Instrument Refresher Courses, and the Instructor Preparatory Course. The contract also includes a security program, an Environmental Health & Safety program, a scheduling office, a student publications library, and learning center operations. Behind the scenes, a full Training System Support Center (TSSC) supports ATS operations & maintenance, research, and development engineering.

Like its C-130J MATS companion program, the C-130 ATS schoolhouse is headquartered at Little Rock AFB, AR. ATS also provides training at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, GA; Dyess AFB, TX; McChord AFB, WA; Minneapolis Air National Guard Base, MN; and Yokota Air Base, Japan. Lockheed Martin says that nearly 12,000 students from more than 25 countries depend on C-130 ATS for their training needs every year, and draw on 150 instructors to do so.