17 September 2019

AFA 2019: US Air Force eyes F-35 and future simulation centre for better operational testing

by Pat Host

The US Air Force (USAF) plans to use the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) with the future Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) to improve operational testing, according to a top officer.

The overall goal of the JSE is to allow testers and engineers the capability to test multiple platforms during the development and operational testing phases of a platform. The JSE is a scalable, expandable, high-fidelity government-owned, non-proprietary modelling and simulation (M&S) environment.

The USAF plans to use the F-35 with the future JSE to help better simulate and replicate advanced threat environments that cannot be simulated in a physical training space. (US Air Force)

It is designed to conduct testing on fifth-plus generation aircraft and systems accreditable for testing as a supplement to open-air testing, according to a service statement. The service plans to use the F-35 with JSE in the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase – a critical period in a platform’s development that provides the data to allow the Pentagon to determine whether systems are operationally effective and to support decisions to proceed beyond low rate initial production (LRIP).

Major General Christopher Azzano, Air Force Test Center (AFTC) commander, told Jane’s on 16 September that the use of the JSE with the F-35 is part of a larger effort to push training efforts to the live, virtual, and constructive environment. The USAF, he said, is developing operational training infrastructure that will meet the needs of operators in the field.

The US Air Force (USAF) plans to use the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF...

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