Air Force taps firm for electronic combat training

AAI Services Corp. won a $6.9 million contract from the Air Force to upgrade its electronic combat simulation system.

The T-25 Simulator for Electronic Combat Training system is software-based and hosted on commercial computers. It trains Air Force officers in electronic combat using interactive laboratory exercises and simulated missions. They are trained to identify different radar systems, missile threats and the means of avoiding them. The system is located at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Under the contract, AAI Services will design, manufacture and test an updated system that will include radar, weather simulation, airfield operations and terrain modifications. The company will update the system's student stations, add a new development station to the current Trainer Software Support Center and re-host the existing computer system.

AAI Services makes automatic test equipment for avionics, electronic warfare training systems, training simulators for combat systems and aircraft maintenance, and unmanned aerial vehicle systems. The U.S. military is its biggest customer. It developed and designed the original T-25 simulator for electronic combat training for the Air Force in the 1990s, replacing the previous AAI-developed electronic warfare training simulation system, which had been in operation since the 1970s.

AAI Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corp. of Hunt Valley, Md., which employs 2,000 workers and had 2005 revenue of almost $517.2 million.