With 40 years in the business, Cubic Global Defense is moving to bring forward the next generation of air combat training with its P5 combat training system.
Used by 15 air forces around the world, the system includes a wing-mounted pod and ground-based systems to offer real-time tracking of fighter jets and other assets during training missions. It is also fully integrated into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
A major step forward with the system is the integration of the virtual environment is another key feature of Cubic’s systems, allowing real aircraft to fly alongside or against simulated threats during training exercises.
“Sometimes you don’t have all the aircraft you want to fly the missions, so you could have some guys flying in the simulator, especially if you have low density, high demand aircraft like Growlers or E-2s,” says Waylan Cain, senior programme manager air ranges at Cubic.
That integration also offers major cost savings for large scale exercises such as Red Flag, which often involve multiple numbers of aircraft and a “big logistics and sustainment tail,” Cain says.
“When you introduce things like the JSF and the F-22 as well, to make it a real scenario to task the airplane to its combat capability, its cost prohibitive to put that much metal in the air,” he adds.
Cubic is also able to integrate training systems used by ground forces, allowing for much better training of combat strike support missions.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
