Cubic Prepares Coalition Forces for Joint Air Operations During Exercise Maple Flag 2005.

SAN DIEGO -- The defense segment of Cubic Corporation (AMEX:CUB) said it helped prepare more than 5,000 ground and 300 air crew personnel from 11 nations for joint air operations during Exercise Maple Flag, one of the world's largest air combat coalition exercises held annually at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta.

Allied crews successfully trained together with Cubic's next-generation air combat training system during the recent event, held May through June. The upgraded system, called the CF-18 Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation System, or CF-18 ACMI, provides interoperable training in a realistic, simulated environment -- without reliance on a fixed range.

At Maple Flag 2005, the CF-18 ACMI supported more than 3,700 sorties over the vast, unrestricted airspace at the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range. Pilots and maintenance crews engaged in two daily missions that involved confronting air- and ground-based threats.

"The emphasis at Maple Flag is multinational, joint training. For mission success, coalition forces must rely on systems that allow them to train together and plan missions in concert," said Don Jacobs, Cubic Defense Applications' vice president for Air Combat Training Systems. "Cubic is very proud to provide the technology and expertise to make this possible."

During the exercise, the CF-18 system allowed interoperable training among nine different aircraft types: F-16, CF-18, Mirage 2000, Mirage F-1, F/A-18 Hornet, Tornado, Harrier, C-130, and AWACS aircraft. The system trained military crews from Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Israel, NATO Airborne Early Warning Control Forces (AWACS), and the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

With the aid of GPS technology, this "rangeless" ACMI system allows pilots to train in any available airspace without a fixed infrastructure. It features aircraft position and simulated air-to-air, air-to-ground, and ground-to-air weapons employment; real-time monitoring capabilities; and post-mission debriefs to capitalize on "lessons learned." The CF-18 system also uniquely integrates rangeless capabilities with an electronic warfare system, the Surface Threat Electronic Warfare System.

The main components of Cubic's ACMI systems are the instrumentation pods loaded onto the aircraft or packaged internally, as well as the display and debrief systems that provide the tactical aircraft picture. The mobile pods track and record aircraft events and position. The display system, called the Individual Combat Aircrew Display System, or ICADS, provides real-time exercise control and post-mission debriefs.

Cubic installed the Canadian Forces' first fixed range ACMI in 1982. In 2001, Cubic installed the current Canada "rangeless" system at both 4 Wing in Cold Lake and at Bagotville. In addition to Exercise Maple Flag, the system also supports daily squadron-level operations.

The Cubic Defense Applications group, one of Cubic's two major segments, is a world leader in realistic combat training systems, mission support services, and defense electronics. 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 website at www.cubic.com.