European F-35 Pilots Take Part In Simulation Exercise To Evaluate Interoperability

The UK Royal Naval and Air Force Pilots teamed up with fellow F-35 pilots from Italy and the Netherlands as part of a series of simulation exercises to evaluate F-35 interoperability.

“We are working towards establishing an IOC interoperability baseline for the UK and F-35 Partner nations and helping them develop a Coalition Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and common tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs),” Tony Hall, F-35 Programme Manager for the interoperability trials at BAE Systems

The trial is part of a series of simulation exercises that links together facilities from multiple locations across the UK and creates a common synthetic environment that can evaluate F-35 interoperability with other UK platforms, BAE Systems said in a statement Tuesday.

The pilots flew the F-35 aircraft from desktop simulators - supplied by Lockheed Martin - at BAE Systems’ site in Samlesbury. Linking into the live scenario, a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) identified nearby ground threats from a hilltop position and requested close air support (CAS) for coalition troops under fire.

This request was coordinated through a simulated Air Support Operations Centre (ASOC), and passed to two Royal Navy Sea King aircrew who provided command and control directions to the F-35 pilots. As they approached the target area the pilots checked in with the JTAC using the Variable Message Format (VMF) datalink and then proceeded to prosecute their assigned Digitally Aided Close Air Support (DACAS) missions.

Hall said, “For many, it was their first experience of digitally aided CAS using the F-35’s VMF datalink, and it proved very valuable.”

This latest trial took advantage of recent investments in the simulation facility which enabled the F-35 pilots to experience the helmet mounted displays (HMD) used during flight.  

Further facility improvements include a new mission control room to command the exercise, a mission planning room for aircrew and operations support staff, and a large briefing/observation room where the scenario and missions can be viewed live and operators can link up via video conference to the other trial participants at the various locations to conduct a debrief.

The aim of the overall trials programme is to progressively evaluate the interoperability of UK and Coalition Partners’ F-35s with other military platforms including: Command and Control (C2) platforms; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms; and Combat assets, with the goal of identifying issues, fixing and re-testing them ahead of Initial Operating Capability (IOC).