Team Eglin improves CAF capability

by Chrissy Cuttita
96th Test Wing Public Affairs

9/26/2013 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- To provide Air Combat Command the best assessment of Maritime Strike Operations, the 53rd Wing partnered with other members of the Team Eglin test community to deliver increased combat capability for the warfighter.

The final phase of the two-year evaluation was a month-long test over the Gulf of Mexico that ended Sept. 6.

"Team Eglin successfully conducted the largest scale of DOD weapons test against small boats in recent history," said Chris Nixon, 96th Range Support Squadron director who oversees Eglin's Gulf Range of 120,000 square miles of overwater airspace and 724 square miles of overland space.

The 53rd Wing, headquartered here, tested the combat capabilities of 42 fighter and bomber sorties expending a total of 53 munitions last month in a maritime environment about 15 nautical miles south of Destin's coastline. Results from nine aircraft test missions will help the Air Force and its sister services develop joint platform-specific weapons loadouts, tactics, techniques and procedures.

The wing's 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron oversaw the unique test they said ranked fourth in priority in a list of more than 300 Air Combat Command test missions.

"There are difficulties in finding, tracking and successfully engaging these threats because they provide challenges unique to the maritime environment," said Lt. Col. Ben Wysack, the 28th TES's project manager responsible for the test. "High speed, unconstrained maneuvering and sea surface conditions present difficult circumstances for successful target engagement."

The 53rd Wing is ACC's operational test and evaluation organization responsible for the management, execution and reporting of operational test and evaluation activities such as Force Development Evaluations, Operational Utility Evaluations and Tactics Development for all fighters and bombers in the Combat Air Force inventory.

Aircraft charged with the maritime challenge included the A-10, B-1, B-52, F-15 and F-16 from the 53rd Wing which manages units in 17 U.S. locations. Depending on their platform, fighters and bombers were armed with Sniper and Litening Advanced Targeting pods and various combinations of munitions such as laser-guided bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, Maverick air-to-ground missiles, cluster bombs and 20mm and 300mm high-explosive incendiary ammunition.

"The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron's highly experienced F-16 and F-15E crews successfully led 36 of the 42 sorties, expending more than 80 percent of the available munitions," said Wysack about the 53rd unit that participated in all nine maritime test missions. "Access to their well-maintained aircraft and vast pilot expertise was critical to effective and efficient test execution. Without the hard work and dedication of so many at Eglin, this test could not have been conducted as quickly as it was."

The 96th Test Wing's operations, range, civil engineering and maintenance groups' personnel and contracted partners provided a wide variety of distinctive support to ensure the success of this test program.

"The 96th RANSS and its operation and maintenance contractor, InDyne, acquired and prepared 56 marine target boats for static testing (boats with identification numbers, 3D mannequins and radar reflectors at anchor) and 12 remote control targets," said Nixon. "Our personnel modified, pre-tested, deployed and remotely operated the remote control boat targets for the mission."

The 53rd Wing destroyed or damaged 51 of the 56 static target boats and 11 of the 12 remote control boats during the test.

Team Eglin personnel spent more than a year and a half planning test operations, procuring maritime targets and equipment, completing environmental reviews and permits, contracting local boat support, determined mission safety requirements and hazard areas, scheduling missions, and providing weapon and aircraft support, according to the 96th Operations Group.

"This evaluation solidifies what our crew members have already known, 'We can strike surface targets,'" said Lt. Col. Alejandro Gomez, 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron special projects officer. "The knowledge we gain from these events gives combatant commanders assurance we can be called upon to complete the mission."

The 337th TES, another 53rd unit, tested the capabilities of a B-1B Lancer launched from Dyess AFB, Texas. During the evaluations, the B-1 dropped a total of six munitions to include a laser guided 500-pound bomb GBU-54, as well as 500 and 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions.

Other 53rd Wing aircrews who took part in the Team Eglin maritime strike test missions included B-52s from the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La.; A-10s from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nev., and F-16s from the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Test Center, Tucson, Ariz.

In the Gulf, 96th Test Wing units positioned an instrumentation barge with cameras and remote control relays, placed boat targets for each mission, piloted remote controlled high speed target boats. They also provided eight vessels for support. Prior to and after each mission environmental surveys were conducted. The test hazard area was also monitored and kept clear with the aid of 19 boats from the local communities' charter fleet, lessening the burden of the 950 square mile safety cordon placed on the local fisherman.

During flight operations, the 96th TW provided aircraft traffic control, central mission control, radar tracking of aircraft and weapons and unexplosive ordnance disposal when needed. After each mission, target boats were retrieved for data analysis, and floating debris in the water was cleaned up by local boats contracted by Jackson Guard.

The 28th TES is responsible for evaluating the large volume of data collected from flight tests. Once completed, various operational experts will examine data from the maritime strike missions to determine how efficiently they tracked, engaged and destroyed the target.

Then operational testers will develop future joint military tactics, techniques and procedures manuals -- something of significant interest from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Navy counterparts, according to the 53rd Wing.

"Success in these sorts of tests gives our sister services confidence the B-1 can get the effects they need to meet combatant commander requirements both over land and sea," Gomez said.

"The 28th TES, in cooperation with other 53rd Wing units located in Northwest Florida, maximized resource efficiencies and leveraged our COMBAT HAMMER air-to-ground weapons expertise not only for this test, but for weapons evaluation opportunities in the future," said Wysack.

"Maritime strike is just one of a variety of operations our military tests annually here on Eglin's land and Gulf ranges," said Lt. Col. Peter Vitt, 96th Operations Support Squadron commander. "Each mission is unique and complex so our team of engineers and operators are crucial to ensuring the right support for the operations tested here."

The 96th TW, in partnership with its associate units like the 53rd, is the heart of the team that covers the complete weapon-system life-cycle from concept through development, acquisition, experimental testing, procurement, operational testing and final employment in combat. This synergy is called, "Team Eglin."