At the German Air Force’s 2026 Timber Express exercise, Airbus has offered a glimpse of its vision for next-generation air combat training through the System Development Lab (SDL).

At its core, the system relied on the Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) testing framework, in which crews operating real aircraft were complemented by ground-based operators in simulators.

Within this approach, the SDL served as the constructive engine, injecting computer-generated synthetic allies and threats into the training environment for German Eurofighter and Tornado jets.

Read the full story on NextGen Defense: Airbus Injects Synthetic Allies, Threats Into Real Aircraft in German Exercise