Groundbreaking Collaboration: Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Red 6 Unveil Augmented Reality Advancements for the T-50 Aircraft

Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Red 6 today revealed they have commenced the development of engineering solutions and a technological blueprint to establish a pathway for integrating Red 6’s Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS) into the T-50 platform and related ground-based training systems.

The initial phase of technology integration includes a T-50 demonstrator and the Red 6 ATARS technology, which is electronically interconnected with the Lockheed Martin Prepar3D software simulation suite. This preliminary engineering solution grants Lockheed Martin and Red 6 additional insights into combining simulations that could ultimately incorporate embedded training for the T-50 initiative and terrestrial training systems.

“ATARS addresses essential training inefficiencies present in contemporary training platforms. There has never been a training setting that allows for virtual assets to be visually depicted in the actual outdoor environment, along with the capability to overlay this training into ground-based instruction, until now,” states Daniel Robinson, founder and CEO at Red 6.

ATARS is a multi-node, all-domain augmented reality (AR) system that provides a comprehensive outdoor synthetic training landscape for numerous users. Red 6 technology empowers pilots to experience the cognitive demands of physically operating aircraft while harnessing the advantages of synthetic environments, enabling them to engage in realistic, scalable, secure, simulated training scenarios while airborne amidst the most dynamic outdoor conditions.

“Our vision is to assist our clients in utilizing emerging technologies to seamlessly and securely link all assets for collaborative missions, facilitating rapid and decisive actions,” said Aimee Burnett, Vice President of Business Development for the Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin has made considerable strides in digital engineering and forged strategic alliances that enable us to expedite development across our platforms.

“One such instance is our ongoing collaboration with Red 6 as we aim to develop advanced 21st Century Security capabilities tailored to satisfy our clients’ requirements,” Burnett added.

Burnett further mentioned that the T-50 program continues to garner interest on a global scale. Lockheed Martin has recently put forth the TF-50A variant for the U.S. Air Force’s training program to fulfill three immediate missions: tactical training, adversary air support, and tactical fighter surrogate. The TF-50A is designed as a light attack fighter/trainer with enhancements that include radar, an electronic warfare system, tactical data links, and additional features to comply with Air Combat Command standards.

Lockheed Martin has also presented the TF-50N variant for the U.S. Navy’s training program. The TF-50N is distinctly configured to meet various U.S. Navy missions, including pilot landing qualification, adversary air, training/chase, and tactical surrogate.

Although the ATARS system is initially aimed at the T-50 program, it may ultimately be adapted for operational Lockheed Martin platforms such as the F-16, F-22, and F-35.

Red 6 is part of the Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio.