The 412th Operations Group at Edwards AFB, Calif., recently staged a live-fly exercise to connect pilots with US-wide datalink networks, testing pilot skills for the first time in a simulated net-centric war. The goal was to track and kill targets quickly while testing out a 24/7 data network. Actual aircraft—F-16s and F-22s—participated with simulated players from Port Loma, Calif., to Patuxent River, Md., all under Joint Operability Test command and control at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. “It was the first time we have successfully tested net-centric operations using multiple [types of aircraft] in a large force exercise with both live and virtual players,” said Maj. Gregory Wood, 416th Flight Test Squadron pilot at Edwards.
When an E-3 Sentry battle management aircraft was damaged in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, it sparked a host of questions about one of the Air Force’s oldest, smallest, but most critical fleets. Experts say the service doesn’t have many options to answer those questions.