Pentagon watches Virtual Flag live from Europe through Hawaii

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KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  The 705th Combat Training Squadron, Distributed Mission Operations Center here conducted Virtual Flag 07-4 July 16-19. The Virtual Flag event is designed to prepare Airmen for major combat operations theaters, rehearse actual OPLAN and fully exercise the joint Theater Air Control System.

The week-long exercise brought joint forces together from Europe to Hawaii, spanning 12-time zones, using simulators at military installations to rehearse a complete theatre campaign, flying out a real-world Pacific Operations Plan. This unique large-force virtual training exercise integrated cyber operations and the MiG 23/29 Virtual Air Adversary Threat System for the first time and continued its partnership with space forces to integrate theater ballistic missile warning, personnel recovery operations and Global Positioning System jamming effects.

Virtual Flag 07-4 was the first instance where cyber operations were integrated into a virtual weapon system exercise at the DMOC for a distributed training audience at multiple sites. The cyber component of the exercise focused on information operations and dynamic targeting.

An Air Force asset was used to detect and report specific electromagnetic emissions created by an enemy target. These reported emissions stimulated a response from the Combined Air Operations Center that re sulted in destruction of the target. The event was showcased at the Warfighter Capability Demonstration Center at the Pentagon. Senior leaders saw firsthand cyber operations in action during the exercise.
The Virtual Air Adversary Threat System is a two-cockpit simulator that replicates a variety of MiG-23/29 adversary aircraft and weapon systems. VAATS was created in March from an existing DMOC F-16 simulator, and is the first step toward integrating Red Flag Aggressor pilots and tactics into the synthetic battlespace on a persistent basis.

By placing human pilots and thought processes into the adversary force, friendly aircrews receive significantly higher-fidelity training than they would get flying against a computer-generated foe, better preparing them for the real-world threats posed by current and emerging nations. The MiG-23/29 development team, led by the DMOC, includes the 64th and 65th Aggressor Squadron aggressors and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

The team is already working to incorporate additional capabilities into VAATS to replicate a wider range of adversary threats, enabling training against threats seen only in wartime.