Dubai Airshow 2025 – CAE’s Digital Ecosystem revolutionising defence training and planning – EDR Magazine

Report on CAE’s Digital Solutions at Dubai Airshow 2025 and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

At the Dubai Airshow 2025, CAE presented a portfolio of advanced digital training and mission planning solutions, including CAERidge, CAE VISTA, and CAE+Tempo. These platforms demonstrate significant advancements in military readiness through collaborative 3D planning, immersive simulation, and adaptive remote learning. This report analyzes these technologies with a specific focus on their contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CAERidge: Collaborative Mission Planning and Sustainable Operations

Technological Overview

CAERidge is a cloud-based platform designed for multi-domain mission planning and rehearsal across air, land, and sea operations. It provides a secure, interactive environment for geographically dispersed teams to synchronize planning efforts. Key technical features include high-fidelity 3D visualization, dynamic scenario-building tools, and real-time data fusion. The system’s architecture supports remote access, multi-user collaboration, and integration with existing military simulation and Command and Control (C2) standards, ensuring interoperability within joint and coalition environments.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: CAERidge embodies innovation by leveraging resilient cloud infrastructure and advanced software to create a sophisticated digital planning environment. This promotes the development of reliable and sustainable technological infrastructure for critical operations.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: By enabling more precise and collaborative mission planning, the platform contributes to building effective and accountable institutions. Enhanced rehearsal capabilities can lead to more controlled operational outcomes, strengthening institutional capacity for maintaining security.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The platform’s compatibility with coalition standards and its design for multi-user collaboration directly support the formation of effective global partnerships. It provides a technical foundation for improved cooperation between international security forces.

CAE VISTA: Immersive Training for Enhanced Institutional Effectiveness

Technological Overview

CAE VISTA is an immersive training system for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and C4ISR operations. Utilizing a hybrid-cloud architecture, it delivers AI-driven synthetic scenarios and high-fidelity asset modeling. The system generates realistic sensor and emitter data streams, allowing for complex, multi-domain training without reliance on live assets. VISTA supports both individual operator training and interconnected mission rehearsals, with robust after-action review capabilities to ensure measurable training outcomes.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 4: Quality Education: VISTA provides a platform for high-quality, specialized technical education and vocational training for defence personnel. Its immersive and responsive scenarios facilitate advanced skill development in a safe and controlled digital environment.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: By shifting a significant portion of training from live exercises to a virtual environment, VISTA reduces the environmental impact associated with military operations. This includes lower fuel consumption, decreased carbon emissions, reduced noise pollution, and minimized land disruption, contributing to more sustainable operational practices.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: The platform’s highly realistic training scenarios prepare personnel for complex operational challenges, fostering more capable and effective security institutions. This advanced preparation supports mission success and institutional accountability.

CAE+Tempo: Advancing Quality Education and Responsible Consumption

Technological Overview

CAE+Tempo is an adaptive learning and maintenance support platform that combines immersive 3D graphics, interactive courseware, and remote learning technologies. It is designed to accelerate knowledge transfer and skill retention for technical and operational personnel. The system utilizes a cloud-integrated learning management platform to deliver self-paced or instructor-led content globally. Its adaptive learning algorithms tailor courseware to individual user proficiency, while performance analytics allow instructors to track progress and identify skill gaps.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

1. SDG 4: Quality Education: CAE+Tempo directly promotes inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. Its remote accessibility ensures that personnel can receive standardized, high-quality training regardless of their physical location, overcoming geographical barriers to skill development.
2. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: The platform fosters sustainable consumption patterns by virtualizing maintenance training. This significantly reduces the need for physical equipment, spare parts, and consumables during the learning process, minimizing material waste and promoting resource efficiency.
3. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: As an innovative digital solution, Tempo supports the development of a highly skilled workforce, which is essential for managing and maintaining sophisticated technological infrastructure. It represents a forward-looking approach to technical training and sustainment.

Integrated Impact on Global Sustainability and Security

The suite of solutions presented by CAE at the Dubai Airshow 2025—CAERidge, CAE VISTA, and CAE+Tempo—collectively represents a strategic vision for military readiness that is aligned with global sustainability objectives. By integrating advanced digital technologies, these platforms enhance operational effectiveness while promoting key principles of the SDGs.

The overarching impact includes:

• Fostering innovation and resilient infrastructure (SDG 9).
• Providing accessible and high-quality education (SDG 4).
• Reducing the environmental footprint of training activities (SDG 11, SDG 12).
• Building stronger, more effective institutions and partnerships (SDG 16, SDG 17).

In conclusion, CAE’s digital ecosystem demonstrates that advancements in defence technology can be harmonized with sustainable development, offering a model for future innovation in the aerospace and defence sectors.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

• The article extensively discusses “cutting-edge aerospace and defence developments,” “pioneering advances,” and “digital innovation.” This aligns with SDG 9’s focus on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. The technologies described, such as CAERidge’s “cloud-based architecture,” CAE VISTA’s “AI-driven synthetic scenarios,” and CAE+Tempo’s “immersive graphics,” are prime examples of technological advancement and innovation within the aerospace and defence industry.

SDG 4: Quality Education

• The article highlights advanced training and learning solutions. CAE+Tempo is specifically designed to “revolutionise maintenance and operational training” and “accelerate knowledge transfer and skill retention” for technical personnel. It uses an “adaptive learning management platform” to deliver self-paced content and assess user proficiency. This directly relates to SDG 4’s aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities, particularly in the context of technical and vocational training.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

• The context of the article is the Dubai Airshow 2025, an international event that “brings together cutting-edge aerospace and defence developments.” It serves as a platform for a company like CAE to showcase its technology to “military visitors and industry professionals” from various nations. This fosters international cooperation and public-private partnerships (between a private company and national defence entities) in the realm of science and technology, which is a core component of SDG 17.

Specific SDG Targets Identified

Target 9.5: Enhance scientific research and upgrade technological capabilities

• The article is a showcase of upgraded technological capabilities in the defence sector. It details how CAE’s solutions represent “pioneering advances in military readiness” through “next-generation visualisation, AI-powered scenario generation, and modular, cloud-enabled learning.” The entire article describes the results of significant investment in research and development to create these advanced systems, directly reflecting the goal of enhancing scientific research and upgrading technology.

Target 4.4: Increase the number of people with relevant technical and vocational skills

• CAE+Tempo is explicitly designed to prepare “technical personnel and operators for the rigours of real-world equipment handling.” It provides “hands-on procedural simulations” and “adaptive courseware” to build technical skills for maintenance and operations. The platform’s ability to facilitate “rapid qualification and certification of personnel” directly contributes to increasing the number of adults with relevant technical skills for their employment in the defence sector.

Target 17.6: Enhance international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation

• The Dubai Airshow, as described in the article, acts as a hub for international cooperation on technology. CAE presents its advanced platforms to a global audience, providing “hands-on demonstrations” and discussing “deployment models suited to national defence needs.” This event facilitates the dissemination of and access to advanced simulation and training technology on an international scale.

Indicators for Measuring Progress

Implied Indicator for Target 9.5: Investment in and application of advanced technologies

• While the article does not provide specific R&D expenditure figures, the existence and demonstration of highly sophisticated technologies like “cloud-based architecture,” “real-time data fusion,” “AI-driven synthetic scenarios,” and “adaptive learning algorithms” serve as a qualitative indicator of significant investment in innovation. The showcase of these “pioneering advances” implies progress in upgrading the technological capabilities of the industry.

Implied Indicator for Target 4.4: Effectiveness and accessibility of technical training

• The article implies metrics for measuring training effectiveness through features within the CAE+Tempo system. It mentions “performance analytics and assessment dashboards” that help instructors “track progress, identify skill gaps, and deliver targeted interventions.” The platform’s ability to “accelerate knowledge transfer and skill retention” and provide “rapid qualification and certification” can be seen as indicators of successful vocational skill development. The system’s remote access capability also points to increased accessibility of training.

Implied Indicator for Target 17.6: Formation of international technology partnerships

• The article points to the Dubai Airshow as a mechanism for building partnerships. The interactions between CAE and “military visitors and industry professionals” to discuss “customisation options and deployment models suited to national defence needs” are an indicator of partnership formation. The event itself, bringing together global stakeholders for technology demonstration and discussion, is an implied measure of international cooperation in the sector.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: edrmagazine.eu