AAI’s proven capabilities in the design, production, and sustainment of maintenance training devices have made us the choice of customers for three of the country’s most powerful modern aircraft — the C-17 Globemaster, the F-22 Raptor, and most recently, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
      
In early 2008, AAI received a competitive award from Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training, and Support to design and produce the F-35 Lightning II Aircraft Systems Maintenance Trainer (ASMT). Our F-35 Lightning II ASMT provides student maintainers comprehensive training on ground operation, maintenance, fault isolation, and testing procedures in a highly realistic simulated environment utilizing an interactive 3-D virtual aircraft environment.

The ASMT is configured to include one instructor operator station (IOS) and 12 student stations. The IOS offers real-time status of all student activities and automatically raises an alert if a student is performing below expectations. Responding to the alert, the instructor receives a representation of the student’s monitors, audio, and status relative to the training task process steps. The instructor can monitor the student, communicate with the student over the intercom, or even take control remotely of the student’s PC if desired. The sophisticated ASMT IOS allows the instructor to effectively monitor a large number of students, increasing training throughput and quality.

Student stations offer a realistic, 3-D virtual vehicle environment, as well as 2-D panels and displays. The student can navigate throughout the F-35 aircraft during maintenance training and select the virtual support equipment and tools required. A real F-35 portable maintenance aid is connected at each student station, allowing the student to monitor the virtual aircraft functions, run diagnostics, and display technical and task documentation.

     
Also, the instructor can enable different training modes for guided practice, free play, and graded testing of the students’ newly acquired skills. The students perform virtual system maintenance tasks with the added advantage of fault isolation for skill improvement.
           
AAI, teamed with the DiSTI Corporation of Orlando, Fla., is developing the F-35 ASMT as an essential element of the F-35 Training System. When combined with the Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training, and Support-developed system components, the ASMT will provide student maintainers a complete maintenance training capability.