53rd Wing, Navy Test teams Push New Tech to the Limit in Joint Exercises

**POINT MUGU, Calif. —**The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron and 422nd TES, both assigned to the 53rd Wing, conducted operational testing alongside joint and allied partners during a Black Flag exercise at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California, from Sept. 10 to 25 to evaluate emerging capabilities and tactics in a large-scale, operationally representative environment.

Held in tandem with the U.S. Navy’s Gray Flag exercise, Black Flag gave participants access to shared range resources and opportunities to pursue test objectives that would have been difficult or cost-prohibitive to replicate during separate test events.

For the squadrons, the exercise offered a chance to assess whether a capability is ready for the conditions warfighters could face in combat.

“This joint operational test flag allows a unique opportunity to combine efforts to create a massive test endeavor that simply isn’t feasible while at home station,” said Capt. Kaleb Nypaver, 85th TES director of operations and F-16 instructor and operational test pilot. “The beauty of this flag event is getting all of these players in one spot at the same time and then aligning everyone’s test objectives so we can all benefit from each other’s participation.”

The shared environment also allowed units to pool support assets and range resources while pursuing related test objectives. Adam Madson, Gray Flag test/exercise program manager, said that cooperation also benefits the event’s international partners.

“By combining our resources, you’re able to get those tests done quicker, cheaper and get the combat capability out to the warfighters,” Madson said.

Lt. Col. Casey Watts, 85th TES commander, said the real value of that environment lies in what the squadrons can ultimately deliver to operational Airmen.

“Our job isn’t simply to determine whether a capability functions as designed,” Watts said. “We have to understand whether it gives the warfighter what they need in the environment where they’ll actually be asked to use it. Black Flag allows our Airmen to put those capabilities under operationally relevant pressure before we recommend them to the force.”

Appropriately, the 85th TES’ squadron motto captures the purpose of the 53rd Wing’s involvement in the exercise: “You can take this to war.”

“A new capability that works on paper or in a vacuum isn’t necessarily a deliverable product to the customer in the Combat Air Forces,” Nypaver said. “It’s crucial that these capabilities are tested in a meaningful environment so we can be certain we’re giving the warfighters a thoroughly tested and recommended product.”

The Navy’s role further expanded that test environment. Its surface capabilities gave the squadrons access to assets and operating conditions that are difficult to reproduce at the squadrons’ home stations at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and Nellis AFB, Nevada.

“We have a mutually beneficial objective while at flag to use each other to accomplish test objectives and therefore end up strengthening each other’s tactics and advising changes on emerging technologies or capabilities,” Nypaver explained.

That kind of integration can also reveal interactions, limitations or strengths that may not become apparent when a system is evaluated on its own.

“The warfighter doesn’t fight in a test vacuum, and we shouldn’t test in one either,” Watts said. “Working alongside our joint and allied partners allows us to both understand what a capability can do and how it contributes to the larger force. That’s where operational test provides its greatest value.”

U.S. Navy Capt. Christopher Putre, Naval Test Wing Pacific commodore, said the broader family of interoperability test events, including Black and Gray Flag, helps identify gaps between systems developed for individual platforms.

“Until we started participating in those, we didn’t recognize all the breaks at the seams between the various platforms,” Putre said.

Not every useful outcome comes from a capability performing as expected. For operational testers, identifying a failure and understanding why it failed can be just as valuable as confirming a success.

“A win here at Point Mugu would be excellent data gathering on all test events,” Nypaver said. “We must be able to quantify the successes and failures of each test, figure out why they did or did not work and either come up with a solution if possible or move on from the idea altogether.”

The results from this year’s iteration help inform recommendations for the Air Force’s combat capabilities as operational testers determine whether emerging hardware, software and tactics are ready to move from testing into the hands of operational Airmen.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.