Draken Europe and Collins Aerospace have entered into an agreement to introduce a new training system that will be used for the training of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots.
More specifically, the two sides will work on integrating Collins Aerospace’s joint secure air combat training system (JSAS) for use with Draken’s Falcon 20 fleet in support of operational readiness training for the UK armed forces.
The solution is comprised of aircraft-mounted JSAS pods plus a ground station, built in cooperation with Leonardo DRS, and offers high capacity, low latency, and multi-hop mesh networking using a software defined radio hosting multiple waveforms providing key enablers to achieve secure, live, virtual, and constructive (LVC), multi domain collective training.
With the first systems delivered to Draken Europe’s headquarters, these pods based on CRIIS (common range integrated instrumentation system), already used by the US Air Force and Navy for training and analysis, will be cleared for flight on the Falcon 20 fleet, with first trials by the end of 2021.
As part of Draken’s current operational readiness training contract with the MOD, JSAS pods will enable near real time combat training information to be viewed at the aircraft base, and be ready for de-brief immediately after landing. This interoperability is made possible by the multiple independent levels of security (MILS) architecture that ensures that classified data is protected while it is shared across platforms with the same security levels.
The system will be upgraded in time with a variant of the next generation Tactical Combat Training System – Increment II (TCTS II) pods enabling fully encrypted interoperability with all coalition platforms across legacy P5 and future P6 air combat maneuvering instrumentation (ACMI) waveforms.
Collins Aerospace said the agreement goes beyond system provision and includes a commitment to seek opportunities to demonstrate the technology more widely with coalition partners and to use it as a platform for introducing virtual and constructive training effects to benefit UK defense.
“We are incredibly excited to receive these highly advanced next generation systems to enhance our training capabilities and improve interoperability with our military customers,” said Paul Armstrong, CEO Draken Europe.
“JSAS enables the warfighter to train and improve joint tactics, techniques and procedures in a secure environment against a peer adversary threat, unlike anything that has been seen in the past,” said Heather Robertson, vice president and general manager, Integrated Solutions for Collins Aerospace.
