I/ITSEC 2023: CymSTAR introduces CymLITE Series Deployable Air Refueling Trainer

1st December 2023 - 14:13 GMT | by Flavia Camargos Pereira in Orlando

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DART can replicate the C-5 flight and its air refuelling missions. (Photo: CymSTAR)

The company has also used its platform at I/ITSEC 2023 to announce a new partnership with the Switzerland-based firm EDMS.

CymSTAR launched a new training capability at I/ITSEC 2023 in Orlando, Florida, this week. CymLITE Series Deployable Air Refueling Trainer (DART) is a high-fidelity aerodynamics, control loading and visuals solution, which replicates the C-5 flight and its air refuelling missions.

The immersive extended reality (XR) system simulates aircraft handling in turbulence, visual navigation, communication between the receiving aircraft and the tanker, formation flying, emergency procedures, safety protocols, familiarity with aircraft systems, and teamwork and crew coordination.

Speaking to Shephard, Daniel Marticello, president and CEO of CymSTAR, explained that it had been engineered to be a compact, ruggedised and deployable solution ‘more geared towards the mobility air forces cargo aircraft’, ‘but easily reconfigurable to C-17, C-130, B-52 and any large body aircraft that would require aerial refuelling training’.

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‘Oftentimes, when those mobility pilots and flight engineers deploy, they are unable to meet some of their training requirements,’ he stressed. ‘They normally would get in a full motion simulator back home, but DART allows them to do that in a deployed location.’

Also at I/ITSEC 2023, CymSTAR announced a partnership with the Swiss company ED Mission Systems (EDMS) to integrate training systems with mission-centric software and market the CymLITE Mission Combat Simulator (CymLITE-MCS).

CymLITE-MCS has been engineered to deliver realistic physics and dynamics for a diverse range of aircraft, including fixed and rotary wing platforms.

Its design features 3D cockpit recreations and high-resolution aircraft models with various weapon systems, including missiles, precision-guided munition and gun pods.

CymLITE Series Deployable Air Refueling Trainer. (Photo: Flavia Camargos Pereira)

The system can be tailorable with multiple theatre maps with high-resolution elevation topography, landmarks and dynamic weather conditions. It also allows for seamless connectivity with other networked simulators.

Other CymLITE-MCS applications comprise flight, operational, tactical and procedural training, mission rehearsal, fire support and coordination of air, sea and land forces combined arms operations. Moreover, it is planned to provide multi-domain mission support and training software.

CymSTAR has supplied several solutions to the US military including for the US Air Force Air Combat Command and Global Strike Command.

‘We built the E-4B simulator for the Air Force in 14 months,’ Marticello remarked. ‘We went from contract award to full capability fielded, including the building and the training centre in Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

As he pointed out, CymSTAR has 20 years of expertise in modelling and simulation and ‘has done everything from building brand new simulators from scratch to upgrading, modifying the host computers, the hardware and providing services like instruction, technical maintenance or logistics support for US military platforms’.

EDMS training environment on display at the I/ITSEC 2023. (Photo: Flavia Camargos Pereira)

EDMS, meanwhile, has specialised in military multi-domain mission rehearsal software environments, and solutions in service with European and NATO countries. At I/ITSEC 2023, it has been showcasing its training environment.

Marticello pointed out that EDMS's solutions provide high fidelity and different aircraft types already modelled including former Soviet Union platforms.

‘It really opens the door to some really good training for our forces to have a representative adversary aircraft correctly modelled’, he explained.

From his perspective, there is also a market share to support countries that continue operating Soviet legacy systems.

‘This provides them an ability to train on those aircraft with very little transition cost associated,’ he added.

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