Vertex Solutions Completes Fielding of 25 T-38 Enhanced Immersive Training Devices Across 4 US Air Force Pilot Training Bases

USA – Vertex Solutions, a provider of advanced XR-enabled training systems, has confirmed the completed fielding of all 25 T-38 enhanced Immersive Training Devices (eITDs) across four US Air Force pilot training bases — concluding the production and deployment phase of a mixed reality flight training programme that originated as a prototype concept developed through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

• The 25 T-38 eITDs represent the full contracted production run under the VTRAD programme managed by the DIU, which served as the accelerant for the transition from prototype concept to operational capability. As of September 2025, 10 of the 25 devices had been installed; the current announcement confirms all 25 are now fielded and supporting active USAF pilot training.
• The devices are designed to enhance realism and decision-making for T-38 Talon jet trainer pilot trainees, providing mixed reality cockpit simulation capability that reduces reliance on live aircraft time while expanding training frequency and scenario variety across four training base locations.
• Industry partners contributing to the programme include Varjo (mixed reality headsets), RYAN AEROSPACE (simulator hardware), Bugeye Technologies (cockpit replicas), and Metrea (training services) — a consortium model that Vertex attributes as central to the programme's successful transition from prototype to scalable operational deployment.
• Vertex's USAF T-38 programme runs in parallel with a growing US Navy portfolio: in January 2026, Vertex was awarded a follow-on contract to deliver 13 additional T-6B Immersive Training Device Part Task Trainers and 50 modernisation retrofit kits across NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Whiting Field, demonstrating expanding adoption of the company's XR training model across US military undergraduate pilot training.
• The eITD programme reinforces a broader shift in military pilot training toward immersive, mixed reality devices as complements or supplements to full flight simulators — offering lower-cost, higher-frequency training exposure particularly suited to procedural rehearsal, systems familiarisation, and scenario-based decision-making.

Source: Vertex Solutions