“H12 brings more than 35 capabilities to the
fleet,” said. Cmdr. Kevin McGee, the Advanced Weapons Laboratory’s
military deputy and VX-31 officer in charge during their detachment
at Point Mugu, “most notably a complete redesign of the way
information is displayed to aircrew.”
When testing new SCSs, the squadron generally tries
to participate in two large exercises as part of the validation process;
one at the beginning and one in the final validation phase.
“Our standard LFEs did not align with our schedule,”
McGee explained. “We couldn’t wait until [the next one
in] June to conduct these tests.”
Coming to Point Mugu was a bit of a blessing in disguise,
too.
“Here, we have the opportunity to drive scenarios
that specifically test our functionality, where in a normal LFE, the
strike plan does not take into account our test objectives,”
McGee said.
The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division-managed
Point Mugu Sea Range, with 36,000 square miles of controlled sea and
airspace, allows for testing in a real-world environment. Working
with range operators and test managers, users like McGee can craft
specific test scenarios tailored to their needs.
“The test period went very well, much better
than we could have hoped for,” McGee said. “We accomplished
all of our planned missions except for one; we lost an event due to
sea states on the range.”
VX-31 led the exercise, with participation from VX-9,
also from China Lake; VX-20 and VX-23 from Patuxent River, Maryland;
and Strike Fighter Squadron 15 from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.
Contract support from Airborne Tactical Advantage Company and Omega
Air refueling was also used, and QF-4 target aircraft from Holloman
Air Force Base in New Mexico arrived for flights during the second
week of testing.
Such a diverse – and large – group of
aircraft operating simultaneously was a challenge to plan and manage,
and not just for VX-31. Sea Range managers and operators were tested
as well.
“Keeping things safe without interfering with
the exercise itself is a challenge,” said Chris May, chief scientist
and range transition lead. “We are used to very scripted and
structured actions, and this event needed more flexibility.”
Another oddity for the range: giving over range control
to an asset on the range. During the exercise, E-2D aircraft served
as controllers, as they would during a real-life event.
Billy Wilson, Sea Range Test Management Branch head,
noted that another issue is the sheer volume of aircraft launching
and returning at once. On some days, more than 30 aircraft were airborne
at one time.
“The sheer quantity is something we’ve
not seen here in a long time,” he said. “It’s difficult,
but we’re here to support the fleet, and we’re up to the
challenge.”
