In Virtual Reality News
March 9, 2023 – Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries and Red 6 Aerospace have this week announced a new partnership that will deliver advanced 21st Century security capabilities across a spectrum of training and combat aircraft.
Red 6 is an augmented reality (AR) technology firm that provides applications for military air combat training, and is also a Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio company. The partnership will initially bring Red 6’s AR platform, the Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), into Lockheed Martin’s TF-50 aircraft and its variants. The AR system gives pilots and ground operators new capabilities to see and interact with synthetic threats in real-time, high-speed environments.
“Readiness and lethality are critical if our warfighters are to prevail against peer adversaries. Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries aircraft are ideal platforms for our augmented reality system. Advanced aircraft, together with ATARS technology, will deliver a paradigm shift in the quality, quantity, and cost of training future pilots,” said Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6.
Lockheed Martin recently submitted the TF-50A variant in response to the U.S. Air Force’s February 2023 request for information for a two-seater aircraft to cover three near-term missions including tactical training, adversarial air support and to serve as a tactical fighter surrogate. The TF-50A is configured as a light attack fighter/trainer with additional enhancements to include radar, electronic warfare system, tactical data link, and other capabilities to meet Air Combat Command requirements.
While the ATARS system is initially targeted for the TF-50 and variants, Lockheed Martin stated that it could eventually be applied to some of the company’s other operational platforms, such as the F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft.
“Our vision is to help our customers leverage emerging technologies to seamlessly and securely connect all assets in the joint battlespace and enable fast and decisive action,” said OJ Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager, Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin has made significant advances across the board in digital engineering and open architectures during the past few years, as well as strategic partnerships. These are enabling us to accelerate development, production, upgrades, responsiveness and sustainment across our platforms. One such example is this new partnership with Red 6, and we look forward to building advanced capabilities that support our customers’ needs.”
For more information on Red 6 and its augmented reality training solutions for fighter pilots, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin / Red 6
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.