Nested beneath CAF Plan 53, the Combat Weapons System Evaluation Program’s mission is to evaluate the reliability, maintainability, suitability, accuracy, and readiness of complete fielded combat weapons systems against realistic threats and targets when employed by the operational air force. This requires an end-to-end evaluation of the total fielded integrated weapon system from manufacturer delivery to desired effects achieved on the target.
COMBAT WSEP has six major elements: COMBAT ARCHER (air-to-air (A/A) COMBAT HAMMER (air-to-ground (A/G), COMBAT AXE (battle management command and control (BMC2), COMBAT SHIELD (electronic warfare (EW), COMBAT SLEDGEHAMMER (Nuclear WSEP), and COMBAT FORGE (synthetic environment).
Executed at Tyndall AFB, COMBAT ARCHER provides maintainers and pilots with the unique experience of using live munitions to enhance readiness for real-world operations. This gives the Air Force and individual units data points of strengths and weaknesses, allowing for tweaks and deviations during training for improvement prior to actual combat. The data resulting from WSEP gets compiled and briefed in a feedback loop to Department of Defense and Air Force strategic decision makers which directly feeds into the National Defense Strategy.
During the two-week period, approximately 115 sorties are flown in direct support of WSEP. Eighty-two percent of the pilots participating get to shoot or drop live weapons, half of them being first-time shooters.