In recent years, the rapid development of space technologies has led to a major transformation in the military field. As one of the most important parts of this transformation, the Space Force is working closely with the Air Force and the Navy to create an advanced and realistic training and testing environment for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This cooperation aims to create similar capabilities in the space field for the Space Force in the future.
Common Simulation Environment and Space Force Contributions
The Space Force began work last year on integrating space capabilities into simulation environments by contacting the Air Force’s Advanced Training Capabilities Division. The Space Force aims to test space effects and create its own advanced training infrastructure by participating in the joint simulation environment (JSE) developed by the Air Force and Navy. Col. Corey Klopstein, program manager for the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure, said they are working with the Air Force on the simulation environment. “The Space Force needs to develop an environment to provide space effects to the joint warfighter,” Klopstein said, emphasizing the importance of high-fidelity simulation.
Simulation Environment Developed for F-35 Aircraft
JSE is currently a test environment identified with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Designed to be compatible with the advanced fighter jet features of the F-35, this environment is an important training tool not only for the Air Force and Navy, but also for coalition partners. The first JSE system, located at Patuxent Naval Air Station in Maryland, is in preparation for its transfer to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. JSE aims to integrate space capabilities and scenarios into the simulation environment in order to make training processes more realistic and effective. This process provides significant developments, especially in areas such as space-enabled electronic warfare, navigation and communications.
Future Plans and Training Capabilities of the Space Force
In the long term, the Space Force plans to develop its own simulation capabilities. Since the training devices available today are not interconnected, it is not possible for guards from different missions to receive joint training. To overcome this problem, the Space Force is working on distributed training systems. Distributed training is a critical step in ensuring that personnel from different missions receive training in the same environment. The Space Force aims to conduct large and tactical training exercises with a system called Swarm.
Space Forces' Need for Testing and Simulation
One of the biggest challenges the Space Force faces is its inability to validate its systems in space. While other military services have the ability to test their ships at sea and their aircraft in the air, most of the Space Force’s systems cannot be tested in space. This makes the quality of the ground-based test infrastructure even more important. Klopstein noted that space is becoming an increasingly congested space and that adversaries are increasing their threats to U.S. space systems, and emphasized the need for advanced simulation capabilities that account for these threats. “We have to make sure that our systems can survive in this threat environment,” he said, emphasizing the critical importance of simulation environments.
The Future of Simulation Environment and Educational Needs
The Space Force has made significant progress in building an advanced test and training infrastructure, but there is still much work to be done in this area. The service has not decided what a JSE for space would look like, but it aims to learn lessons from the Air Force’s experience that can be applied to future systems. Klopstein said these partnerships will expand in the coming years, and the Space Force aims to prototype with the Air Force to create a synthetic, high-fidelity training environment.
The Foundation of Future Educational Capabilities
The Space Forces’ simulation environments are not just the result of technological advances, but also the construction of an infrastructure that will form the basis of future military strategies. As threats in the space environment increase, the importance of such simulations also increases. The Space Forces aim to establish a more integrated, efficient and realistic training system in the future. It is clear that this system will be a critical tool for all soldiers serving in space.
