North Bay Control Center for an international exercise replicating battlefield operations.

22 Wing played an important role in a recent complex virtual exercise.

From October 24 to November 5, members of the Canadian Air Defense Sector participated in an international synthetic exercise replicating battlefield operations.

This is the fourth time the exercise has been conducted from 22 Wing.

Led by the United States Air Force, Exercise COALITION VIRTUAL FLAG 22-1 includes forces from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom and took place in a virtual environment intended to prepare combatants for combat situations.

In its twenty-first year, the exercise is part of an annual coalition training opportunity that allows participants to experience air, land, sea, space and cyber defense operations using simulations and virtual technology cost-effectively.

“Using simulations and virtual technology, aerospace controllers and aerospace control operators can exercise their wartime combat management skills with coalition partners on a scale that would not be practical otherwise,” explained Colonel Mark Lachapelle, 22 Wing and Commander of the Canadian Air Defense Sector.

“22 Wing provided personnel with the opportunity to practice in a state-of-the-art command and control training center, working alongside other members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, from the Canadian Army, the United States Air Force and the United States. Marine Corps that formed the Control and Reporting Center, ”added Major Shaun Hyland, Exercise and Event Management Coordinator, Royal Canadian Air Force Aerospace Warfare Center.

Exercise COALITION VIRTUAL FLAG is the largest and most complex virtual exercise in which the RCAF participates, providing extensive training opportunities on various simulation systems for training purposes.

22 Wing North Bay is the headquarters of NORAD’s Canadian Air Defense Sector (CDS), providing surveillance, identification, warning and air traffic control over and on approach to l ‘North America. Sources of information include radar information received via satellite from the North Warning System in the Canadian Arctic, coastal radars on the east and west coasts of Canada, and aircraft from the Airborne Warning and Control System.