training  the  next  generation  of  fighter  pilots...

How RYAN AEROSPACE helped the US Air Force take fast-jet training from virtual to mixed reality Training the Next Generation of Fighter Pilots.

Every fast-jet pilot in the United States Air Force passes through Fighter Bomber Fundamentals (FBF), the course run by the 19th Air Force under Air Education and Training Command that turns raw flying skill into combat-ready judgement. It is flown in the T-38C Talon, the supersonic trainer that bridges undergraduate pilot training and the front line.

Preparing pilots for that jump has always meant a trade-off: live flying hours are expensive and finite, and legacy simulators could only take a trainee so far. The US Air Force set out to close that gap with something better, and RYAN AEROSPACE was chosen to help build it.

the  challenge...

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Department of Defense's bridge to commercial and dual-use technology, went looking for a faster, smarter way to train fighter pilots. The brief was ambitious: replace costly, purpose-built Weapon Systems Trainers with something more flexible, more realistic, and deployable in months rather than years, all without compromising the fidelity a fighter pilot needs to trust their training.

DIU selected Vertex Solutions to lead the program. Vertex, in turn, needed a hardware partner who already understood how to put world-class simulation technology into the hands of Air Force instructors at scale. That partner was RYAN AEROSPACE.

the  solution...

RYAN AEROSPACE had already proven itself on this exact mission. Through the earlier Pilot Training Transformation program, RYAN AEROSPACE designed and delivered around 300 virtual reality Immersive Training Devices to the US Air Force, built from day one with an upgrade path in mind.

That foresight is what made Fighter Bomber Fundamentals possible. Rather than starting from a blank sheet, RYAN AEROSPACE initially engineered an upgrade package that converted existing training devices from virtual reality into true mixed reality, giving the US Air Force a faster, lower-risk route to a dramatically more capable trainera and later, developed the entirely new "Immersive Training Device - Generation 2".

Across the life of the program, RYAN AEROSPACE went on to deliver around 37 mixed reality training devices in support of Fighter Bomber Fundamentals, engineered and built to withstand the pace and rigour of real Air Force flight lines.

built  on  partnerships...

Fighter Bomber Fundamentals brought together a tight team of specialists, each contributing exactly where their expertise mattered most:

Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) set the mission requirement and structured the program under an Other Transaction Authority contract, a mechanism built to move at the speed of technology rather than the speed of traditional defense procurement. Vertex Solutions won the program and led its overall development and delivery to the US Air Force. Bugeye Technologies supplied the precision avionics panels that give every trainee the tactile, true-to-cockpit feel of the T-38C.

RYAN AEROSPACE engineered and delivered the mixed reality hardware itself, the physical devices that bring the whole system to life on the training floor.

It is a genuine example of Australian aerospace engineering standing shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world, on one of the US Air Force's highest-profile modernisation programs.

the  impact...

Fighter Bomber Fundamentals shows what is possible when a proven manufacturing partner is given the chance to build on its own track record. RYAN AEROSPACE moved from delivering virtual reality trainers to delivering mixed reality trainers on a program timeline measured in months, not years backed by a delivery record the US Air Force already trusted.

For the US Air Force, it means fighter pilots training on hardware that looks, feels, and responds like the jet they are about to fly. For RYAN AEROSPACE, it stands as proof that Australian innovation can compete, deliver, and lead on the world's most demanding defense training programs.