Growth predicted in maritime simulations.

• Author: Versprille, Allyson

Simulation and training company CAE is looking to maritime markets outside the United States to grow its portfolio, said an executive at the Montreal, Canada-based firm.

The CAE brand to this point has been closely associated with aviation and aircrew training, said Gene Colabatistto, group president of CAE Defence and Security. However, "the maritime side is going to be the growth area for us."

Colabatistto noted that two countries--Australia and Canada--plan to make large investments in their shipbuilding programs in the coming years.

In 2011, the Canadian government awarded a contract of approximately $ 19 billion to Halifax Shipyard to build 21 new combat vessels--including 15 Canadian surface combatants and six Arctic offshore patrol ships--over a 20 to 30-year period. The surface combatants will replace the Royal Canadian Navy's Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class frigates. Canadian shipbuilding is stable and well-resourced, especially when compared to the country's fighter program, which is experiencing delays as the new Liberal Party government considers pulling out of the Pentagon's F-35 program, Colabatistto said.

In Australia, the government will spend approximately $64 billion on shipbuilding over the next 20 years, an August press release from its Department of Defence Ministers said.

"They're going to have schoolhouse training programs, shipboard training [and] training ashore," Colabatistto said. "It's a great opportunity to look inside the training enterprise and see where we can fit."

Most of the opportunities CAE will be pursuing in the maritime market will...