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.
U.S. Military Needs an EMS Warfare Czar
May 11, 2021
The Pentagon needs an overseer at the highest level for the joint electromagnetic warfare fight to coordinate responses to China and Russia, experts said at a Hudson Institute webinar. The services' fragmented approach can be overcome by the enterprise approach taken by U.S. adversaries, they said. Members of Congress on…