Lockheed Martin on Wednesday showed off its new virtual training system for Joint Strike Fighter test pilots. The company expects to field the system in February. The preview offered a look at tomorrow’s state-of-the-art technology—offering a more-comprehensive approach to warfighter training than was true of its more elaborate and costly predecessors, said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed’s vice president for flight solutions. The pilot will train in an F-35 JSF “glass cockpit,” facing an interactive touch-screen computer interface that can be loaded onto a desktop or laptop. True to the multiservice, multinational scope of the project, pilots test in a virtual environment in all possible scenarios: Carrier-based operations, air-to-air combat, air to ground missions, and many others—all in desktop or laptop format. —Marc Schanz
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…