Defense contractor lands contract following Charleston-area expansion

AAI Services Corp., a designer and manufacturer of defense training systems, has landed two contracts to produce Air Force maintenance training simulators a year after expanding its operations by opening a manufacturing facility in Goose Creek.

The contracts for the company, a subcontractor for the Boeing Co. on the project, total $48.5 million. AAI Services will build a new landing gear trainer and armament trainer for the F-22 Raptor combat aircraft and upgrade an existing armament trainer and aft fuselage trainer. It already provides maintenance training simulators for the C-17 Globemaster III.

“AAI Services is pleased to have been selected to provide state-of-the-art training systems and services for America’s newest air superiority fighter,” said Paul Lavin, president of AAI Services Corp.

The company is considered one of the cornerstones of a burgeoning aviation cluster in the region, having opened its first facility here in 1997. It employs more than 250 people.