News Details

Cubic Donates TOP GUN and Air Combat Training Displays to USS..

2004/06/17 09:03:44

Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum  SAN DIEGO, Jun 17, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cubic Corporation (AMEX:CUB) has sponsored exhibits in three locations on San Diego's new aircraft carrier museum in a salute to the naval aviators who helped catapult the company to success as the developer of the Navy's "Top Gun" air combat training system.  "Cubic owes a debt to the U.S. Navy for giving Cubic the chance to develop the airborne and ground instrumentation system for the world's first Air Combat Maneuvering Range," said Walter J. Zable, chairman and CEO of Cubic Corporation. "In 1973, we instrumented the range at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and shortly afterward instrumented Naval Air Station Miramar, home of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOP GUN. Ever since then, air combat training systems have been one of Cubic's core businesses."  Gerald R. Dinkel, president and CEO of Cubic Defense Applications, noted that Cubic has installed air combat training systems and display systems at more than 50 locations around the globe since the original "Top Gun" installation.  "We are proud to continue this legacy as the prime contractor for the next-generation P5 Combat Training System for training Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and National Guard aircrews," Dinkel said.  Cubic has sponsored a TOP GUN Timeline display and video in the Mach Combat flight simulator area on the Midway's Hangar Deck.  The Cubic-sponsored timeline was created with input from several former commanding officers and instructors at the Navy Fighter Weapons School who worked at TOP GUN when it was located at NAS Miramar: Ronald "Mugs" McKeown; Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham; John C. "Jack" Ensch; Jim Ruliffson; Chris Wilson and Steve Queen. Cubic also received assistance from Retired Navy Capt. Frank Ault, who headed a Vietnam-era study of U.S. air combat training deficiencies that helped bring about the creation of TOP GUN; and the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, the current home for TOP GUN. Cubic's timeline and a video accompanying it tell about the creation of the Navy Fighter Weapons School from 1965 to the present.  A second Cubic display highlights air combat training pods -- an important part of Cubic's original "Top Gun" training system at MCAS Yuma and NAS Miramar. Approximately the size of an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, the pods allowed ground stations to track and record aircraft movements and actions for real-time conversations with instructors and after action review. Cubic has mounted one of its air combat training pods aboard an F-14 Tomcat located atop an elevator connected to the Hangar Deck. Technical information about Cubic's pod technology is displayed nearby.  Cubic also is participating in a special simulated fighter pilot experience offered by Mach Combat aboard the Midway. Mach Combat is renovating one of the Ready Rooms that Midway aircrews used to discuss and debrief combat missions as part of a "Fighter Pilot School" experience. Students who enroll in the school will get tips on dogfighting and other aviation skills from veteran military pilots, and have an opportunity to see a Cubic-produced video on today's fighter pilot training technology in the renovated Ready Room. Then they will don flight suits and helmets and head down a ladder to the Hangar Deck to "fly a mission" in one of the simulators on the Hangar Deck.  Background information:  Cubic Corporation is the parent company of Cubic Defense Applications and Cubic Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Applications (CDA) provides realistic combat training systems for military forces, as well as mission support services for training and exercises, modeling and simulation, force modernization, educational services, curriculum design and development, web-based learning solutions, operations and maintenance and manufacturing services. The group also supplies products and systems for C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) applications, search and rescue avionics and radio communications for military and civil markets. The corporation's other major segment, Cubic Transportation Systems, designs and manufactures automatic fare collection systems for public mass transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at www.cubic.com.  SOURCE: Cubic Corporation  CONTACT: Cubic Corporation  Jan Stevens, 858-505-2174  Jae Lande, 858-505-2642  Customize your Business Wire news & multimedia to match your needs. Get breaking news from companies and organizations worldwide. Logon for FREE today at www.BusinessWire.com.  Copyright (C) 2004 Business Wire. All rights reserved.  -0-  KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MANUFACTURING  TRANSPORTATION  AIRLINES  GOVERNMENT  AEROSPACE/DEFENSE  PRODUCT  17-Jun-2004 09:00