A RAF led British military detachment has taken part in a US organised Virtual Battlefield command exercise, at Kirtland Air Force Base, in New Mexico.
The 50 British military personnel, led by Squadron Leader Orme, from RAF Waddington 92 Squadron, joined United States, Australian and Canadian forces on Exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition. The exercise sees participants immersed into a full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighting.
Exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition, is a highly valuable training event that allows units from UK Defence to practice tactical employment of our capabilities within a large Coalition environment. The synthetic battlespace allows for excellent instructional supervision and feedback whilst offering a safe environment to develop and test novel tactics.
The breadth of Coalition experience and involvement makes the exercise a truly unique opportunity, that continues to prepare our warfighters of the future.
Squadron Leader Orme
RAF Waddington, 92 Squadron
During this iteration of the exercise the focus for the UK personnel, including an RAF ALI Cell, was on the delivery of UK military Qualified Space Instructor assessments, Remotely Piloted Aircraft System operations and Air-Land Integration as well as introducing integrated Cyber operations.
The first Exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition took place during 2009 and UK personnel have been regular participants ever since.
The exercise is now run by the U.S. Air Force’s 505th Command and Control Wing, the headquarters of which is based at Hurlburt Field in Florida.