Cubic Corporation,
SAN DIEGO, CA: Cubic Defense Applications, the defense segment of Cubic Corporation, has received a $50.3 million development contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. to design and integrate an embedded version of its latest-generation air combat training system for the F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
This new training system is based on Cubic's successful pod-based P5 Combat Training System/Tactical Combat Training System technology, now operational in several locations.
Cubic is scheduled to deliver five prototypes consisting of airborne instrumentation and ground station planning and debrief software systems as part of F-35 System Development and Demonstration. The airborne training instrumentation will be installed in all F-35 stealth fighters, which are destined to replace multiple aircraft types in the United States and United Kingdom, as well as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey.
“The F-35 Internal Subsystem will be integrated in the aircraft as an embedded feature, like an avionics system, and is being designed for easy removal if the need arises,” said Philip J. Fisch, senior director of Business Development for Air Ranges for Cubic Defense Applications. “The subsystem is interoperable with P5 training systems now being produced, so fighter pilots using pod-based or embedded P5 systems will be able to train with F-35 pilots.”
Walter J. Zable, chairman and CEO of Cubic Corporation, said Cubic's air combat training system for the F-35 will represent a breakthrough in air combat training technology.
“It will be the first air combat training system installed in a fifth-generation aircraft that has the airborne components for tracking and recording weapons engagements placed in the aircraft itself,” Zable said. “Cubic's half-century tradition of innovation continues into the 21st century with this exciting new long-term program.”
Cubic and its partners, DRS Technologies Inc. of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and FAAC of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will use a P5 Internal Subsystem designed for Hornet and Harrier aircraft as the baseline for the F-35 Internal Subsystem. FAAC will assist Cubic in developing the weapons simulations for the F-35 and its new-generation weapons systems.
Cubic's user-friendly Individual Combat Aircrew Display System (ICADS(TM)) software — a key P5 component — will also be part of the F-35 combat training system. The ICADS software will be hosted on Lockheed Martin's OMS — Offboard Mission Subsystem — which handles a variety of functions.
The development contract also contains a requirement for a fully encrypted and exportable data link, a first-ever component for a Cubic air combat training system.
