Military Training and Simulation Contracts in Europe 2026

Training and simulation is bought in two places at once

European training and simulation procurement is structurally split, and the split determines who can win.

The first route is embedded: simulators are a line item inside a platform contract, awarded to the platform prime, and reach specialist suppliers only as subcontracts. The UK New Medium Helicopter award is the current example. The contract was signed with Leonardo UK Ltd on 23 March 2026 for £989,469,800 over 91 months, and the published requirement lists, alongside 23 aircraft, '2 x aircrew and rear crew Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTD) at the UK Main Operating Base', instructor and aircrew training courses, and courseware. [1] The Ministry of Defence states that the programme secures 3,300 British jobs. [6] No standalone simulator competition will be run for those devices.

The second route is standalone: a training capability is competed in its own right. The Netherlands awarded the Replacement of Initial Military Flight Training Capacity to Pilatus Aircraft Ltd at €121,000,000, published on 12 February 2025, covering both training aircraft and flight simulators. [2]

In value terms the embedded route is usually the larger, and it is the one that specialist suppliers most often miss.

The Dutch H225M simulator requirement

Dfensio flagged the Dutch H225M requirement on 14 January 2025, more than a year before the expected tender. The Ministry of Defence stated it in plain terms: 'The Netherlands has a requirement for two H225M Caracal flight crew simulators for tactical, full mission training. The requirement consists of two cockpit trainers, two rear cabin trainers and two deployable mission rehearsal trainers.' The stated aim was 'the realisation of a realistic and affordable tender'. [3]

For a simulator house, a motion-system supplier, an image-generator vendor or a courseware developer, that is a complete requirement description, with the device mix already defined and the specification still open. The tender is expected from 2026.

Training and simulation programmes flagged by Dfensio

Values are as published by the contracting authority. Where only a domain envelope is published, the table says so.

Belgium has published the clearest training investment map in Europe

Belgium's 2026-2034 programme separates four distinct training programmes in the air domain alone. [4]

Fiche Z 130, the European Operational Training Infrastructure (OTI) programme, is worth €202,632,173 with first commitment year 2026 and settlements 2027-2032. Its official description is explicit about the industrial object: 'international collaboration on key training centres, the use of networked simulators to expand training capacity and increase interoperability for F-35 nations', the development of 'an operational training environment, preferably in Europe', and 'the acquisition of simulated ground threats like emitters and surrogates that could be put to use for the coalition'.

Fiche Z 131, NATO Advanced Flight Training Europe, is worth €101,620,000 with first commitment year 2027. It describes 'a collaborative structured training and qualification programme for future air combat pilots', building on the Basic Flight Training Concept and intended to increase 'production volume, quality, and system resiliency'.

In the land domain, fiche Z 024 covers 'a mix of weapon system simulators (Caesar, Griffon, Jaguar, MMP, ...) as well as the necessary updates and acquisitions for indoor and outdoor training simulation systems such as Training Centre Sim, Small Arms Tactical Trainer', with first commitment year 2026 and settlements 2027-2032, classified 'New contract(s)'. A special operations short take-off and landing flight simulator sits separately at fiche Z 097, first commitment year 2029.

Four named programmes, four first commitment years between 2026 and 2029, three of them classified as new contracts: a two-to-four-year working window.

Where the openings are for specialist suppliers

Emitters and surrogates are a distinct market. The Belgian OTI line explicitly funds simulated ground threats for coalition use. Threat-emitter manufacturers, RF surrogate builders and range instrumentation firms are addressed by this line.

Networked and distributed training is where interoperability money goes. Both the OTI programme and NATO Advanced Flight Training Europe are collaborative by design. The procurement objects are connectivity, data standards, security accreditation and distributed mission operations infrastructure, not simply devices.

Platform contracts are the real simulator market. The New Medium Helicopter award carries two full flight simulation training devices, instructor courses and courseware inside a platform contract. [1] A simulator supplier's route to that work is the platform prime, engaged before the design is frozen.

What Dfensio flagged

• Dutch H225M Caracal simulator requirement (six devices): flagged 14 January 2025, more than twelve months before the expected tender.
• Belgian European Operational Training Infrastructure programme, €202,632,173: flagged 18 July 2025 as a new contract with first commitment year 2026.
• Belgian NATO Advanced Flight Training Europe, €101,620,000: flagged 18 July 2025, eighteen months before the first commitment year of 2027.
• Belgian land simulator line (Caesar, Griffon, Jaguar, MMP): flagged 18 July 2025 as a new contract with first commitment year 2026.
• UK New Medium Helicopter embedded training content, two FSTD plus courseware inside £989,469,800: flagged 2 March 2026 at announcement, three weeks before contract signature.

Next steps for training and simulation suppliers

The practical sequence: identify the national training lines with a first commitment year of 2026 or 2027 and check whether the state has classified them as new contracts; engage the Dutch H225M requirement while the specification is still open; and, for embedded work, approach the platform prime while the training system requirements are still being written.