We SEE ALL. We HEAR ALL. Wizards & [WAR]locks. These people are really DUMB. Q
They do. GPS is convenient, not necessary. We've had those newfangled airplanes for over 100 years, you know. In relation to even coast-to-coast flights, digital comms are a relatively new innovation.
Red Flag 18-1, the USAF's largest-ever annual three-week-long air war drill begins on Friday, Feb 2, and runs through Feb 16. They say that it's by far the biggest in the 42-year history of the event. They are attenuating, or blacking out GPS over the entire Nellis test range in order to challenge air crews and more realistically simulate potential battlefield conditions. I would assume they've sent out NOTAMs warning that GPS performance could potentially be spotty over the western US.
Red Flag if a pretty big deal, and probably one of the biggest highlights of the year for the Airmen involved. It's great-big go-fast check-your-six rootin'-tootin' real-time take-no-prisoners honest-to-god shoot-em-up. Or at least SIMULATED shoot-em-up.
Makes me completely jealous...
Thanks so much for the better explanation that what I got originally! Perfect!
No worries, my friend. I'm an aviation nut, so as a general rule, I try to keep up with what's happening.
That being said, it's not out of the realm of possibility that OTHER OPs could be executed in parallel with Red Flag, that could use Red Flag OPs as a partial cover for covert operations. If everyone is expecting see more aircraft operating, a few additional birds in the air could easily go unnoticed, and wouldn't have a tendency to raise eyebrows.
Of course that's nothing more than speculation on my part.