Workcells organized in Recife (PE) perfoms the BVR combat control; the aircraft traffic control and the simulated armament employment validation during the exercise

Although CRUZEX 2018 Exercise happens Ala 10, in Natal (RN), an important composing structure is working at the Third Integrated Center for Air Defense and Air-traffic Control (CINDACTA III) in Recife (PE). To meet the training demands, workcells have been organized, where BVR (Beyond Vision Range) combat control, aircraft traffic control and the simulated armament employment validation are executed - the so-called Showtime.

According to him, in the moment the Check in/Check out cell leaves the aircraft at the initial point of the combat area, the responsible to take over is the BVR combat controllers group, which is also in action at CINDACTA III. “As the fighter pilot sees only what the radar allows, the ground controllers are an essential complement in combat, as they have access to the whole scenario and provide real time data and coordinates to the aircraft”, explains Lieutenant-Colonel Edson. One of the workcells activated for the exercise is the so-called Check in/Check out cells, where the flights are coordinated with the civilian traffic and the aircraft are put in sequence to landing - a very important activity, because of the high amount of air means involved in Composite Air Missions - about 60 at a time. This is the structure responsible for sending the aircraft to the combat locations. That is what says Lieutenant-Colonel Edson Luis Vieira Neto, Airspace Coordinator in CRUZEX 2018.

The Showtime activity happens in real every time there is a combat between fighter aircraft and simulated missile employment at CRUZEX. In these situations, a group formed by fighter pilots with expertise in BVR combat - the so-called Range Training Officers - tells the in-flight aircraft if they were put down. “Through the real time radar visualization and by knowing several employment parameters, we validate, in real time, the efficacy of missile launchings and inform the opponent pilot if he was put down”, explained Major Eduardo Gomes, from the Airspace Operation Center (COMAE), that is acting at the Showtime cell of CRUZEX 2018.

To increase the radar coverage during CRUZEX 2018 and provide more precise information to the workcells at CINDACTA III, the First Group of Communication and Control (1º GCC) in Brazilian Air Force provided infrastructure and radars to strategic points of the territory. Click here to know more.

 Text: Lieutenant Gabrielli Dala Vechia

Photograph: Soldado Álvaro / CINDACTA III

Translation: Lieutenant Ludmila Milhorance