Lockheed Martin on Wednesday showed off its new virtual training system for Joint Strike Fighter test pilots. The company expects to field the system in February. The preview offered a look at tomorrow’s state-of-the-art technology—offering a more-comprehensive approach to warfighter training than was true of its more elaborate and costly predecessors, said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed’s vice president for flight solutions. The pilot will train in an F-35 JSF “glass cockpit,” facing an interactive touch-screen computer interface that can be loaded onto a desktop or laptop. True to the multiservice, multinational scope of the project, pilots test in a virtual environment in all possible scenarios: Carrier-based operations, air-to-air combat, air to ground missions, and many others—all in desktop or laptop format. —Marc Schanz
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