Cubic to develop air combat training system for F-35 fighter

Cubic Defense Systems has been awarded a contract for delivery of its latest-generation air combat training system for installation onboard the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) aircraft.

Awarded by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the $18.3m contract covers supply of airborne instrumentation and ground station planning in addition to debrief software systems as part of the F-35 system development.

Jointly developed by Cubic and its principal subcontractor DRS Technologies, using an embedded P5 solution as the baseline, the initial F-35 internal training subsystems will be deployed on the Block 3 F-35 stealth fighters.

Cubic Defense Systems president Dave Schmitz said the F-35 training subsystem will be embedded and integrated in the aircraft as they roll off Lockheed production line.

”Our tradition of innovation continues as we deliver a solution that leverages our customers’ prior investments and continues to advance the effectiveness of training events,” Schmitz said.

"The F-35 training subsystem will be embedded and integrated in the aircraft as they roll off Lockheed production line."

Engineering work for the training systems is scheduled to be carried out at the company’s facility in San Diego, California, US, and the air combat training system will be supplied to several countries receiving the F-35 aircraft, including Australia, Italy, Norway, as well as the UK and US.

Currently under development in three variants, the F-35 JSF is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft designed to conduct an array of ground attack, reconnaissance and air defence missions with stealth capability.

The variants include a conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft for the US and allied air forces, a short take-off and landing (STOVL) fighter for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and the Royal Navy and a carrier version (CV) for the US Navy.