Cascade Aerospace is one of Canada’s leading aerospace and defence contractors and is focused on providing long-term integrated aircraft support. The company has been using CCC’s services to set up government to government (G2G) contracts with foreign militaries.
Read about Cascade’s journey in establishing successful contracts with North American military customers.
About Cascade Aerospace
Cascade Aerospace (Cascade) began operating as the Conair Group in 1969 and specialized in providing aerial firefighting. While the company developed, operated, and maintained its fleet of some 90 aircraft, the company acquired some unique expertise that enabled it to offer third-party maintenance and modification.
In 1993, the company officially began offering maintenance services as part of its core capabilities and in 2001, the maintenance division broke off to become Cascade Aerospace. The company also built a brand-new, 230,000 square-foot facility that serves a variety of military and commercial aircraft.
Today Cascade is a leading Canadian specialty aerospace and defence contractor providing complex in-service support and aircraft modernization solutions to domestic and international military, commercial, government and OEM customers.
It specializes in all models of the Lockheed Martin C-130, Boeing 737, 757 and Viking Q400/CL-215/415 aircraft types, is an authorized Lockheed Martin C-130 Service Center — one of only two authorized Lockheed Martin C-130J heavy maintenance centers in the world.
Headquartered in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Cascade also has a satellite office in Trenton, Ontario where it provides the Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) with on-site support for its fleet of legacy Hercules C-130 and Super Hercules C-130J.
C130s in Cascade Aerospace’s hangar. Source: Wikipedia.
C130s in Cascade Aerospace’s hangar. Source: IndustryToday.com.
Source: Cascade Aerospace
First contract with first international military C-130 customer
In 2013, under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Canadian and Mexican governments, Cascade was contracted to provide modernization and sustainment for two Mexican Air Force C-130K Hercules aircrafts and operational and technical training for Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (FAM) personnel at the company’s Canadian headquarters.
When speaking to Industry today digital magazine about the evolution of the contract, then Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Cascade, Benjamin Boehm said, “When we first approached them (FAM) with a solution for their C-130 aircraft, they were interested in what we had to offer right away, however, given the way the country’s bidding system is set up, they were going to have to go through numerous other sales agents’ bids and entertain offers that they weren’t really interested in anyways, which created a bit of an obstacle in getting the deal done in a timely manner.”
To overcome this obstacle, the company reached out to CCC and had them negotiate and enter into a government to government (G2G) contract with the Mexican government. Through CCC’s International Prime Contractor program , the deal overcame the need for a competitive tendering process and the contract was structured for Cascade Aerospace to head the program.
The contract included:
- A comprehensive Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) program including enhanced sustainment activity
- An upgrade to the avionics system including the installation and integration of advanced Rockwell Collins avionics suite, digital fuel quantity indication and engine instrument display systems
- Incorporation of the short pod Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) modification
- Operational and technical training for personnel.
Follow-up G2G contract with FAM
In 2018, after the delivery of the two upgraded C-130K Hercules aircrafts from the first G2G contract, Cascade once again leveraged CCC’s International Prime Contractor program to perform avionics modernisation of one FAM’s L-100 (C-130) Hercules aircraft.
Under the terms of the new G2G contract, the company was responsible for the installation and integration of Rockwell Collins’ advanced Flight2 digital avionics suite. The upgrade would establish a common cockpit configuration for the entire FAM C-130 fleet and enhance the fleet’s capability. The contract also included delivery of operational and technical training for Mexican Air Force personnel at the company’s facility and headquarters in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
As quoted in Aviation Today, Cascade’s Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, Kevin Lemke said “the upgrade of this aircraft will establish a common cockpit configuration for the entire FAM C-130 fleet thereby enhancing fleet capability as well as providing efficiencies in maintenance, training and operational availability.”
$45M USD contract with the U.S. Department of Defense
The contracts with the Mexican Air Force are not the only opportunity where Cascade used CCC’s services. In 2021, under CCC’s U.S. DoD Prime Contractor program, Cascade was awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the installation of critical upgrades to C-130J cargo aircraft.
Valued up-to USD $45 million, the contract provides for installation of government provided BU 7.0/8.1 kits in C-130J aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force. The work will once again be performed at the company’s facilities in British Columbia and is expected to be completed by October 2025.
Other successes
Cascade Aerospace continues to have successes on the international stage. In 2020, the company announced that it won the publicly tendered contract to perform structural and special inspection (6 yearly) and other maintenance work for one of the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) C-130B aircraft.
Cascade will perform the structural inspection, the special inspection, overhaul components and provide additional maintenance work in accordance with the BAF’s Maintenance Program.
Source: Cascade Aerospace
Source: Cascade Aerospace
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About CCC
The Canadian Commercial Corporation is a federal crown corporation and is only the Canadian agency that offers commercial advocacy, collaborative project development, and international contracting expertise to help Canadian businesses secure contracts with foreign governments at the national, state, and municipal level.
Our International Prime Contractor is a fee-based program where we sign government to government (G2G) contracts with foreign government buyers for the sale of Canadian solutions.
Our U.S. DoD Prime Contractor program is a free program funded by the Government of Canada and supported by the U.S. Government, to help Canadians sell their products, services and solutions to the U.S. military. To learn more about CCC and how we can help you, contact us.
Last updated: August 2022
