Navy to build new F-35C simulation facility at West Coast base, which is likely to include networking

LEMOORE NAS, Calif. – U.S. Navy combat aircraft experts are ready to expand simulation and training capacity at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif., to enable Navy pilots of the Lockheed Martin F-35C carrier-based jet fighter-bomber to train together for combat missions without ever leaving the ground.

Officials of the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southwest in San Diego announced a $25.4 million contract Thursday to Soltek Pacific Construction Co. in San Diego to design and build a new F-35C simulator facility at the Central California jet base, which is headquarters for the Navy Pacific Fleet Strike Fighter wing.

The new F-35C simulator facility, which should be completed by October 2023, will house four simulators, administrative spaces, server rooms, and other support spaces. The new facility will be next to an simulator center at Lemoore NAS for pilot training and mission planning.

Related: Lockheed Martin to design and install F-35 simulation and training facility at Lemoore NAS

Lemoore NAS is home base for the Navy Pacific Fleet's growing number of F-35C fighter-bombers, which are to replace the Navy's inventory of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter-bombers. The F-35C has a tail hook and reinforced structure that enable it to take off and land from aircraft carriers.

Lemoore has 19 strike fighter squadrons, two of which have the F-35C, and the rest that still fly the Super Hornet. The base has hosted F/A-18 simulation and training facilities since the early 1980s.

The new four-simulator F-35C training facility will enable Navy pilots to fly a variety of different missions, ranging from elementary flight-control training to full-up synchronized missions and adversarial dogfighting.

Related: Lockheed Martin installs F-35 simulators at Marine Corps air station Yuma

Pilots should be able to fly the future simulators on their own, or with other pilots in the additional simulators either as teams or as adversaries. In addition, it's likely these simulators will have networking capabilities that will enable F-35C pilots at Lemoore train together with F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in other simulators on the base, or with other military pilots at other bases in the U.S. and throughout the world.

The Lockheed Martin Training and Logistics Solutions segment in Orlando, Fla., is responsible for designing, building, and installing the F-35C flight simulators.

For more information contact Lockheed Martin Training and Logistics Solutions online at www.lockheedmartin.com, Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil, or Soltek Pacific Construction at www.soltekpacific.com.