Cubic adapts marksmanship trainer for current combat environments
U.S. Army-certified system now offers Warrior Skills Trainer enhancement

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Feb. 15, 2005 -- Since before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Kuwait have been using the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 (EST 2000) to practice their marksmanship skills before combat. The defense segment of Cubic Corporation (AMEX: CUB), manufacturer of EST 2000, today announced that Cubic has made modifications to its U.S. Army-certified virtual trainer that make it more realistic than ever before.

A new enhancement called the Warrior Skills Trainer (WST) can be added to EST 2000 that enables soldiers to traverse either on foot or in a moving vehicle.

“The new enhancement will better prepare soldiers involved in combat operations to cope with the weather conditions, convoy attacks and judgment issues that arise in the Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian environments,” said Terry Fiest, director of Business Development, U.S. Army Programs, for Cubic’s Simulation Systems Division in Orlando, Fla.

More than 300 EST 2000 systems are operational at Army installations throughout the world, including the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Korea, Germany, Afghanistan and Kuwait. These systems train soldiers in the use of small arms, as well as the 50-caliber M-2 machine gun and the 40mm Mark-19 grenade launcher. Three of the trainers were deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan in early 2003, just before the start of the Iraq war.

With the WST enhancement, the 90-degree single-screen field of view has been enlarged to three screens that afford a 180-degree field of view, and the system can be configured to function as a full 360-degree trainer.

“We have added additional computers and cameras, as well as enhanced graphics and the U.S. Army’s One SAF Test Bed that replicates a Southwest Asia scenario,” Fiest said. “We have also provided soldiers an opportunity to train dismounted or in multiple vehicles in a convoy scenario. Simulated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) can be preplanned, requiring soldiers to react to a convoy ambush as they would in Iraq.”

Fiest said Cubic has been working with the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) to increase the system’s realism since the war began in 2003.

Cubic’s Simulation Systems Division is part of the Cubic Defense Applications group. The Cubic Defense Applications group, one of Cubic's two major segments, is a world leader in realistic combat training systems, mission support services and defense electronics. The corporation's other major segment, Cubic Transportation Systems, designs and manufactures automatic fare collection systems for public mass transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company's website at www.cubic.com.