Cubic Defense Systems Wins Contract for Country's First Rangeless A-10 Training.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MARCH 15, 2000

Cubic Defense Systems Inc., a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. (AMEX:CUB), has been awarded a $3.05 million dollar contract from the U.S. Air Force to expand air combat training capabilities at the Air National Guard's Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, Michigan.

The new contract brings the total awarded to Cubic for the Alpena Combat Instrumented Training Center (AKITS) to $6.4 million.

The expansion will make the Alpena center the world's first air base to offer rangeless training on A-10 aircraft. Rangeless training allows aircraft to prepare for battle in any available airspace without being tied to specific geography and ground ranges. Equipping A-10s with Cubic-designed technology will improve Alpena's training capabilities. A-10s are designed for close air support of ground forces and are used against all ground targets.

Cubic's "smart" pods, carried under the wings of aircraft used in training, contain electronics that record and calculate simulated firings of weapons and "kill" messages. The information, which relies on Global Positioning Satellite or "GPS" data, is viewed in real time via a computer data link to ground-based monitors. The system is completely portable, allowing training flights to be flown anywhere there is suitable airspace, over land or sea.

"Rangeless training is particularly important for the Air National Guard because it is not uncommon for a squadron to be based at a remote location within the states," said Rick Dickson, Cubic Defense Systems' Air Range Director. "With key software changes making the pods compatible with A-10s, we were able to give Alpena full rangeless capacity, making that combat training range one of the most advanced in the world."

Cubic's delivery of the 10 additional pods to Alpena is scheduled for completion by the end of May. The extra equipment will bring the total number of aircraft that can be simultaneously tracked at Alpena from 15 to 24. The Range Instrumentation Systems Program Office of the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is awarding a modification to a 1998 contract that introduced rangeless air training to the Alpena center.

Cubic's first deployment of its rangeless air training technology was the Kadena Instrumented Training System (KITS) in 1997 at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Included in the recent contract are an additional five pods to be delivered to Kadena.

Cubic Defense Systems is the recognized world leader in the development of air combat training systems. In addition to KITS and AKITS, Cubic recently completed upgrades of the Nellis Air Combat Training facility at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and the company was recently awarded a contract to provide rangeless air combat training in Canada.