An artist’s rendering showcases a USAF Joint Simulation Environment station. Credit: 412th Electronic Warfare Group.

The US Air Force (USAF) wing 412th Electronic Warfare Group (EWG) has commenced work to facilitate the construction of a 70,000ft² facility to house the Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.

Initially, a small-scale system will be installed to allow EWG engineers to fully integrate, get acquainted with the system, and rectify internal issues before the actual JSE facility is finished.

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In this regard, construction crews are working on reconfiguring simulator and computer systems inside Building 1020.

According to modelling and simulation flight chief Gerald Lockwood, the reconfiguration will allow software engineers to have time to get familiar with the incoming systems.

The creation of a small-scale version of the larger facility will ensure that the facilities can be used without service interruptions.

JSE is a modelling and simulation environment designed to carry out testing on fifth-plus generation aircraft and systems. The government-owned environment can serve as a supplement to open-air testing.

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“The JSE is expected to enable testers and engineers to test multiple platforms during the developmental and operational testing phases of a platform.”

JSE project manager Humberto Blanco said: “One of the things we realised was that in order for our people to become trained and get familiar with the system, its capabilities, and participate in the development, it required us to develop an in-house instantiation of what’s happening at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (Pax River), as well as at USAF Simulation and Analysis Facility (SIMAF).

“Those two facilities have limited JSE capabilities, so we advocated for, and received funding to instantiate those capabilities here.”

The JSE is expected to enable testers and engineers to test multiple platforms during the developmental and operational testing phases of a platform. It will support upgrades for the F-35, F-22, F-15C/E, and B-2.

While the Edwards facility will work on developmental testing, the other 30,000ft² JSE facility at Nellis AFB will be dedicated to operational testing.

The ground-breaking for both the facilities is anticipated to take place in May next year.

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