Boeing Begins F-22 Training Installation at Tyndall Air Force Base
Boeing [NYSE: BA] has begun installation of new F-22 Raptor training facilities at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Training classrooms and equipment will be installed in stages, reaching full capability in early 2003 to support the arrival of F-22s later in the year.
Teamed with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney to design and build the F-22 for the U.S. Air Force, Boeing has lead responsibility for the training system, as well as for manufacturing the Raptor's wings and aft fuselage and integrating and testing its advanced avionics.
"Tyndall will be the first detachment set up for both pilot and maintenance training, " said Pamela Valdez, Boeing training system manager. "They'll be getting outstanding 21st century training facilities that will ensure both pilots and maintainers are well prepared when they receive F-22 aircraft at the base next year."
"Our training effort will ensure pilots and maintainers are able to take full advantage of the F-22's revolutionary blend of stealth, supercruise, integrated avionics, maneuverability and improved supportability," added George Muellner, vice president and general manager, Air Force Systems, a business unit of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
In the first stage, five fully automated electronic classrooms and two backshop labs for maintenance training will be installed. A full-size seat and canopy trainer and on-equipment structures trainer will follow. For pilot training, installation begins this October on a weapons and tactics trainer classroom. Two full mission trainers (FMTs), three instructional classrooms and 14 electronic workbook stations will also be housed in a 35,000 square foot facility. Boeing subcontractor L-3 Communications will install the weapons and tactics trainers and FMTs.
Tyndall AFB's Detachment 4, of the Air Education and Training Command's 372nd Training Squadron, will be the second F-22 maintenance training facility. Nellis Air Force Base, Detachment 13, celebrated the opening of its maintenance training facility in late 2001.
Similar facilities will be built at F-22 operational bases beginning in January 2004.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $23 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
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