Theater Air Command and Control Simulation Facility

The Theater Air Command and Control Simulation Facility (TACCSF) is the world\´s largest operator-in-the-loop air defense simulation. The facility was originally built by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to study aircraft identification problems in Central Europe. Since 1989, the United States Air Force (USAF) Air Combat Command (ACC) has owned and operated the facility which has been used to support joint service test and evaluation and training. The TACCSF maintains 65 command and control and weapons systems consoles and cockpits which represent key elements of the USAF and Army Integrated Air Defense System (IADS). Each of these devices operate on a common internal network allowing combat-ready crews to "fight" realistic theater-level offensive and defensive scenarios. Extensive data collection, reduction, and analysis capability is available for a wide range of users. The TACCSF has been linked to several joint simulation facilities and live field equipment over wide-band landlines and satellite communications (SATCOM) where scenario objects and events are exchanged using Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols. The simulation network, which includes TACCSF, is being used by the USAF to conduct theater missile defense (TMD) analysis and training with emphasis on attack operations; active defense; and battle management, command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (BMC⁴I).