Cubic History

Cubic started with one man's dream and a single product -- the Calorimetric Wattmeter.
The rest is history.
Travel through our timeline to learn more about our accomplishments throughout the years.

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

1950

Milestone Group

1951

Cubic Corporation is founded by Walter J. Zable at a small storefront in San Diego’s Point Loma.

Its only product is a device for measuring the power of microwaves.

1959

Cubic Corporation becomes a publicly traded company.

1960

1960

Cubic’s Geodetic Sequential Collation of Range satellite helps remap planet Earth and increase accuracy of ballistic missiles from outer space.

Milestone Group

1961

Cubic expands into the automated ballot counting market.

Becomes the world leader in land and off-shore surveying systems with Electrotape, Autotape and ARGO.

1963

Moves into first new building at Balboa Avenue and Ruffin Road in San Diego, California.

1967

Builds country’s first most advanced electronic scoreboard, installed in San Diego Stadium.

Milestone Group

1969

Acquires U.S. Elevator. By adding a computer control, it grew from the 23rd largest elevator company to the third largest before Cubic sold it to Thyssen in 1993.

Acquires Consolidated Converting Company, manufacturer of pizza boxes, toliet paper and toilet seat covers.

1970

1971

Enters transportation business with acquisition of small Los Angeles company that evolved as part of Cubic Transportation Systems.

1973

Installs first “Top Gun” instrumented air combat training system at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

1974

Wins first major Automated Fare Collection system contract for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco.

1976

Wins first Automated Fare Collection System contract overseas; providing a system to Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation.

1978

Cubic pioneers automated airline ticketing machines serving customers such as PSA, Eastern/New York Air and Southwest airlines.

Southwest walk-up counter and automatic ticketing machine.

1979

Cubic actively seeks more Automated Fare Collection business opportunities overseas by forming a joint venture company

1980

1980

Cubic introduces a computerized bus fare box.

1981

Cubic’s Air Combat Maneuvering Range system for the U.S. Air Force in Europe becomes operational.

1987

Develops Personnel Locator System and Ground Collision Avoidance System.

Milestone Group

1989

Britians's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher celebrates the opening of Singapore's Mass Rapid Tranist System by entering Cubic's transit gate.

Cubic's Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System and Personnel Locator System products are used during Persian Gulf War.

1990

Milestone Group

1990

Wins a contract for the first phase of Automated Fare Collection system in New York City, NY.

Wins U.S. Army contract for its first ground combat training system, which is used worldwide to gain the edge in combat readiness.

1991

Forms the Cubic Automatic Revenue Collection Group from Cubic Western Data and several smaller transportation acquisitions.

Milestone Group

Wins a contract for the Chicago Automated Fare Collection system.

With Cubic technology, Nellis Training Center/Air Warrior goes operational at Fort Irwin and Nellis Air Force Base.

Smart card technology is introduced in the Washington, DC. Metro area.

1994

Cubic Automatic Revenue Collection Group wins Cubic’s first contract in Guangzhou, China.

1995

Wins Kadena Interim Air Combat Training System contract.

Milestone Group

1996

Wins the Shanghai Metro Automated Fare Collection Contract.

Conducts first demonstration of its rangeless Air Combat Training System.

1999

Develops the first ISO 14443 compliant multi-protocol smart card reader.

2000

2000

Acquires Oscmar in Auckland, NZ establishing its gateway into the Asia Pacic training markets.

2001

Celebrates 50th anniversary.

2002

Rolls out the rst fully operational intermodal systems in the U.S. for Washington, D.C. and Chicago, IL.

2003

Acquires an Orlando-based manufacturer of virtual training systems.

2004

Develops the largest multimodal system in Europe, the London Oyster® Card.

2006

Wins contract from Lockheed Martin to design and integrate the air combat training system for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

2007

Wins 10-year support contract at the Joint Readiness Training Center, the U.S.'s primary training venue for troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

2008

Rolls out rst wholly contactless fare system in the U.S. for Atlanta, GA.

2009

Celebrates 50 years as a publicly traded company. First listed on the American Stock Exchange, Cubic is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE: CUB.

2010

2010

Receives a contract to provide Greater Sydney’s with electronic ticketing system.

2011

Selected by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to integrate, deliver, operate and maintain the agency’s next-generation open payments system that will accept bank cards and ultimately, mobile phone payments.

2012

CEO Walter J. Zable passes at age 97 as the world’s oldest CEO.

2014-2015

Acquires DTECH Labs, a leading provider of advanced communications solutions to expand Cubic’s specialized command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) business.

Cubic also acquires Intific specializing in game-based training; NEK to expand Special Operations Forces Training Business; and TeraLogics, a provider of live streaming video.

Milestone Group

2016

Wins Contract to Supply Fare Collection Equipment for Singapore Land Transport Authority’s Future Rail Line.

Abellio and Cubic trial U.K.’s first “Video Ticket Office” called NextAgent at Stansted Airport in London.

Milestone Group

2017

Wins $539.5 million contract from New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to replace iconic MetroCard System with new world-class fare payment system.

Deploys GATR SATCOM antennas and rugged IoT solutions to aid Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.

2018

Cubic Corporation’s subsidiary, ISR Systems, Inc., acquires the assets of Shield Aviation, a provider of autonomous aircraft systems (AAS) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services to expand the C4ISR portfolio.

Acquires MotionDSP, a leading provider of advanced image processing software for public safety, security and government applications.

Cubic’s GATR celebrates the opening of its new expanded facility in Huntsville, AL to accommodate its rapidly growing production and operations departments.

Deploys GATR SATCOM antenna to aid recovery efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Michael.

Cubic and Transport for New South Wales extend contactless payments to Sydney’s trains.

Acquires Trafficware, a leading provider of intelligent traffic solutions for the transportation industry.

Cubic rings the the closing bell at New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

2019

Cubic breaks ground on its new global headquarters.

Delivers next-generation fare payment system for the first phase of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) OMNY fare payment system.

Demonstrated Multi-Domain Live, Virtual and Constructive analytics and visualization platform (SPEAR) at USAF Red Flag Exercise.

Forbes magazine recognizes Cubic on “America’s Best Large Employers” list. It also names Cubic Corporation a Best Employer for Diversity.

Cubic announces partnership with Apple to bring Apple Pay to U.S. transit systems.

Deploys GATR SATCOM antenna and rugged IoT solutions to aid Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts.

Acquires GRIDSMART, a leading provider of intelligent traffic solutions.

Acquires Nuvotronics, a disruptive technology provider of microfabricated radio frequency (RF) products.

2020

Milestone Group

Completes construction on its new global headquarters.

Acquires Pixia, a commercial technology company that provides high-performance platform solutions to manage massive amounts of imagery data for U.S. Intelligence agencies and other customers.