L-3 Link Simulation and Training is in the process of delivering an F-16 Mission Training Center to Nellis AFB, Nev. Operational turnover is set for October. The F-16 MTC includes four high-definition networked simulators. Each simulator features an F-16 fighter cockpit within a 360-degree display dome that enables a pilot to fly solo or with others on virtual missions for purposes like tactics validation and mission rehearsal. “The avionics in this system are as realistic as currently possible,” said Lt. Col. Marty Garrett, 57th Operations Support Squadron director of operations. “It will let us simulate things that are either impossible or too expensive to do in real life.” F-16 MTCs are also slated for Aviano AB, Italy; Hill AFB, Utah; Holloman AFB, N.M.; Kunsan AB, South Korea; Misawa AB, Japan; Shaw AFB, S.C.; and Spangdahlem AB, Germany. (Nellis report by 2nd Lt. Kenneth D. Lustig)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…