USAF awards Lockheed Martin new C-130J training contract

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract by the US Air Force (USAF) to provide new training devices to accommodate the growing pipeline of C-130J aircrews and maintainers for the aircraft’s Maintenance and Aircrew Training System II (JMATS II). The award, worth $156 million, was announced 1 May, 2012. 

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will develop 24 new training devices and provide programme management and engineering services under the USAF’s JMATS II system. The devices include weapons systems, enhanced integrated cockpit systems, loadmaster fuselage and loadmaster part-task trainers along with enhanced cargo handling system training aids.

Lockheed Martin has managed the C-130J Maintenance and Aircrew Training System since 2000 to provide a comprehensive range of training devices and support services, including aircrew and maintenance personnel instruction, program operations and engineering services. In August 2011, the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin the first phase of the JMATS II programme to provide weapons systems training devices.

According to the company, the devices provide ‘safe, affordable training alternatives that can free up critical C-130J resources to fly airlift missions’. The technology offers advanced flexibility, realism and networking capabilities for distributed mission operations; and the new integrated cockpit systems trainers allow both aircrews and maintainers to train on the same device for the first time.

The USAF Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command and Special Operations Command will use the devices for C-130J initial qualification and refresher training. The trainers are scheduled for delivery by 2016.