The purchase includes Link, Doss Aviation and AMI, which provide military training in the United States, flight training to the US air force, and hardware for simulators, respectively.

Quebec-based CAE's chief executive Marc Parent said the acquisition will significantly broaden its defense and security footprint including capabilities for training on US fighter jets, bombers, helicopters, submarines and drones.

"We are adding new customers, experience on new platforms and building our depth of expertise to address all domains -- air, land, sea, space and cyber -- as well as expanding into adjacent markets such as mission and operations support," he said in a statement.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

CAE is the market leader in training commercial airline pilots, but recently started expanding into other businesses, including manufacturing medical ventilators, as the pandemic curbed most leisure and business travel.

Its purchase of Florida-based L3Harris, which was formed by the 2019 merger of Harris and L3 Technologies, is its largest acquisition to date, coming as the defense industry's outlook is brightening after several down years.