Fighter Pilots Fly Virtual Missions at Sea

Story by Larisa Brown

British and American F-35 pilots are flying virtual missions against the enemy inside shipping containers on the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier as the military shifts towards using computer simulations to train troops overseas.

The war games present different threats the carrier strike group could face as it carries out freedom-of-navigation exercises in the Indo-Pacific region and multinational exercises giving a show of strength to Beijing.

There are four F-35 simulators on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, which are provided by Lockheed Martin and operated by flying instructors from BAE systems. They are used regularly by UK and US pilots to practise tactics against the most up-to-date threats while they are deployed.

Read the full story at The Times.