The US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has contracted Metrea Simulations to develop a virtual T-38C Talon supersonic jet trainer prototype for the US Air Force.
The agreement will deliver a T-38C flight model, cockpit, and associated training environment to support the aerial dominance training facilitated by the 19th Air Force and the Air Education Training Command.
The prototype will be created inside Metrea’s commercial gaming ecosystem, NOR.
It is built with Unreal Engine 5, a 3D creation tool that produces physics-based and fully immersive digital environments.
Users can utilize NOR through mixed-reality simulation rigs, VR headsets, or fully-physical simulators.
“Billions of users around the world are driving constant innovation in the commercial gaming ecosystem, but all too often military simulation users are stuck decades behind,” Metrea Simulations Managing Director Niclas Colliander stated.
“With NOR, Metrea has been building a simulation platform for military users that will constantly benefit from the improvements of the commercial gaming industry.”
“We are super excited to partner with DIU and the 19th Air Force to deliver this capability to help new pilots train better, faster, and orders-of-magnitude more affordably.”
US Air Force’s Latest Virtual Reality Contracts
HTX Labs received a contract earlier this September to deliver immersive training content and related support equipment for the US Air Force and Space Force.
In April, California-based GigXR signed a contract to develop an extended reality training module for the service’s 354th Medical Group in Alaska.
SimX, another simulator developer on the West Coast, received a contract a month earlier to build a virtual reality solution supporting en-route medical care training in the air force.
The firm was awarded a separate project in February to expand virtual prehospital casualty care preparations in the service.