Black Flag Rises: New “Super Bowl Of Test Exercises†Pushes USAF’s Top Weapons To Their Limit
The full story behind the Air Force’s new war games that will ensure interoperability and get new capabilities and tactics to front line units faster.
By Jamie Hunter January 13, 2021
The War Zone
USAF/53rd Wing
Black Flag is a brand new, large-scale, test and evaluation exercise that the U.S. Air Force is betting big on. It forms a central pillar in transforming the way it gets new capabilities into the hands of frontline squadrons as quickly as possible. The War Zone was granted an exclusive interview with the leadership of the 53rd Wing, which is the organization responsible for overseeing this potentially revolutionary new exercise. In our discussion, we came to understand how the USAF will stress test and fully evaluate some of its most advanced technologies and new tactics in a secluded and highly demanding testing scenario that is far more akin to a high-end peer-state air war than a sterilized developmental environment.
Established as a counterpart to the famous Red Flag training and readiness exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, Black Flag is a test-driven derivative that is all about pushing the envelope of the latest equipment in similarly realistic and operationally-relevant scenarios. In December, Air Combat Command (ACC) chief General Mark D. Kelly formalized the 53rd Wing’s Large Force Test Events (LFTEs) as Black Flags. Now, this series of events will help to ensure ACC’s latest developments are ready to be plunged into the harshest of combat scenarios.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38644/black-flag-rises-new-super-bowl-of-test-exercises-pushes-usafs-top-weapons-to-their-limit
