Draken Europe, Collins Aerospace Collaborate on Next Generation Air Combat Training Systems

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Draken Europe and Collins Aerospace have signed an agreement that will introduce Collins Aerospace’s Joint Secure Air combat training System (JSAS) for use with Draken’s Falcon 20 fleet in support of operational readiness training for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

The solution is comprised of aircraft-mounted JSAS pods plus a ground station, built in cooperation with Leonardo DRS, and offers advanced, high capacity, low latency, and multi-hop mesh networking using a software defined radio hosting multiple waveforms providing key enablers to achieve secure, LVC, multi domain collective training.

With the first systems delivered to Draken Europe’s headquarters, these pods based on CRIIS (Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System), already extensively used by the USAF and USN for training and analysis, will be cleared for flight on the Falcon 20 fleet, with first trials by the end of 2021. As part of Draken’s current operational readiness training contract with the MOD, JSAS pods will enable near real time combat training information to be viewed at the aircraft base, and be ready for de-brief immediately after landing. This interoperability is made possible by the Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) architecture that ensures that classified data is protected while it is shared across platforms with the same security levels.

The system will be upgraded in time with a variant of the next generation Tactical Combat Training System – Increment II (TCTS II) pods enabling fully encrypted interoperability with all coalition platforms across legacy P5 and future P6 Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) waveforms.

The agreement goes beyond system provision and includes a commitment to seek opportunities to demonstrate the technology more widely with our coalition partners and to use it as a platform for introducing virtual and constructive training effects to benefit UK Defence. Collins Aerospace has 4,500 direct employees in the UK across 20 locations, including engineering, manufacturing, logistics and supply chain operations.

“We are incredibly excited to receive these highly advanced next generation systems to enhance our training capabilities and improve interoperability with our military customers. Our continued investment in this area, together with our extensive operational experience, allows us to adapt and optimise our training efforts to reflect the ever changing threat environment that our customers face in reality,” said Paul Armstrong, CEO Draken Europe. 

“JSAS enables the warfighter to train and improve joint tactics, techniques and procedures in a secure environment against a peer adversary threat, unlike anything that has been seen in the past. We're excited about the delivering this proven capability to Draken," said Heather Robertson, vice president and general manager, Integrated Solutions for Collins Aerospace.