available – whether Typhoons, Falcon 20s,
Hawks, Tornados or F-15s – [and] sits at
Scampton for the flying, in the ‘Red CAOC’.
“We also have people assessing shots in
real time and feeding in ISR injects, again
based on the ECO’s plan. It’s a complete
partnership that means 92 Squadron
exemplifies the RAF’s ‘Whole Force’ concept.”
Readers could be forgiven for thinking
Gilbert’s merely voicing the company line,
but the pride with which he wears the
squadron’s patch on his black flying suit,
and his repeated use of the phrase “We on
92...” tells a story of genuine co-operation.
The exercise plan is generally tailored
for the Blue assets taking part, although
it’s worth noting that, albeit unusually,
the QWI students might be fighting for
Red. The September exercise included
trainee Typhoon QWIs plus QWI(ISR),
QWI(Space), QWI(Reaper) and Qualified
Multi-Engine Tactical Instructor (QMETI) and
airspace battle management students.
Individual missions reflect the needs of
those involved and, aside from requiring
targets to be bombed, might include an ISR
asset that must be ‘pushed forward’ into
enemy airspace, a helicopter rescue or an
airdrop. It’s typical of the challenges No
92 Squadron’s Inzpire exercise designers
face that hurricane relief operations reduced
the availability of transport aircraft and
helicopters for the September events.
During Cobra Warrior, all the flying
is live, with no virtual or live/virtual
input. The only exception is the Reaper,
where alternative methods are used for
QWI(Reaper) training because the UAV
is not permitted to fly in UK airspace.
Simon Gilbert reinforces Wg Cdr Gordon’s
views on the quality of the QWI students,
adding: “In an ideal world the exercise
follows the ECO’s plan, but the students can
do whatever they want within the remit.
“So, we might expect them to do ‘A’,
to which we’d respond with ‘B’, but if
they do ‘A+’, we have to do ‘C’.
“That’s why black suit experience levels are
so important. We need to understand what
he or she could do, might want to do or might
be forced to do, so that we can second, thirdand even fourth-guess what they actually do.
“Some students may be thinking completely
outside the box and we have to be prepared
for that too, otherwise the mission could go
completely downhill. If you put someone
inexperienced in a black suit it just wouldn’t work.”Debrief
A mass debrief at the end of each exercise
day completes the learning and assessment
process. Again, it echoes the reality of
operations, because although the ABTC has
an 80-seat theatre facility, exercise participants
are scattered around the UK and some join
by video telephone conference (VTC).
The same reality applies to mission planning,
as Gilbert explains: “When the students
plan, anybody who’s not here VTCs in.
Everyone can see everyone else and we
have cameras on the planning boards.”
As for the debrief, he says it includes: “A shot
evaluation, command and control package
evaluation combining air-to-air and air-to-
ground, an event evaluation and then the mass
debrief, with everybody involved in the mission
networked in. We use the ABTC’s auditorium
and big screen to ‘play the fight’ using data
gathered from tracking pods and other sources.
“There’s learning and assessment during the
debrief, with the QWI staff in the audience as
well as the students, plus the green suiters
from 92; all the feedback is green suit to green
suit. We might mention something we think
has been missed to a green suit instructor to
raise, because we don’t want the situation
where black suit tells green suit about an issue.“During the debrief the mission commander
takes extensive notes because he or she
is being assessed, and at the end they
have to stand up and say: ‘This is how
it went. This is where we screwed up.
This is where the plan didn’t work. This
is where it could have been better.’
“The emphasis is always on getting better
and so these debriefs never pull punches.”
Exercise Cobra Warrior, delivered
through the combined efforts of Inzpire
and No 92 Squadron, provides very
high-calibre QWIs across the spectrum
of much expanded RAF capability.
Yet the high-tech force is smaller, and
the demands it places on its crews have
changed, so how do the QWI graduates
of today compare to those of the past?
“After I completed my QWI as a Tornado F3
navigator in 2003, I was the best I was ever
going to be,” Simon Gilbert reflects. “It was
the hardest, most satisfying flying course I’ve
ever done, and I believe it still is. It’s different
now, but the standard is as high as ever.”
Puzey agrees. Another former Tornado
F3 navigator, he completed his QWI course
in 1999, and reckons: “The way they plan
a mission, the tactics they employ, the
capabilities they’re operating, the way we run
the exercise and its scope have all changed,
but leadership fundamentally doesn’t.
“Ultimately, we’re looking for people who can
lead in a crisis, people others
look to. So the demands and
the output are the same as ever
they were.”Inzpire’s experienced personnel also
take a hand in Typhoon exercises.
Here an operator works in ABTC’s
Typhoon simulator control room.
Garry Ridsdale via InzpireA Luftwaffe Eurofi ghter taxies past a Coningsby
apron busy with RAF Typhoons. The Lincolnshire
station is one of several facilities involved in Cobra
Warrior. LAC Mayfield/Crown CopyrightAFMCobra Warrior
102 // JUNE 2018 #363 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com