It’s called the P5 Combat Training System, and it’s purpose is to provide “rangeless operation and real-time monitoring,” according to officials at Eglin AFB, Fla. The P5 eliminates the guesswork for a range training officer, enabling the RTO to “provide real-time feedback to the pilots on how to improve a particular engagement and have them repeat it if necessary,” said project manager Maj. Scott Foreman. The pod records and can relay time, space, and position and provide real-time kill notification. Eglin expects to complete flight-testing this month.
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
