Exercise Cobra Warrior 26-2 included the largest land force contribution in the exercise’s history and more autonomous collaborative platforms than any previous iteration, with naval vessels also taking part in allied and adversary roles, according to training firm Inzpire.
The three-week exercise at RAF Waddington ran 14 missions reflecting threats seen in contemporary conflicts, including two scenarios in which crews and commanders practised identifying, tracking and responding to drones and simulated cruise missiles. Naval vessels from NATO allies joined during the second week. Inzpire, part of QinetiQ, spent a year embedded with military planners and also took the Red Chair role, coordinating forces to replicate adversary aircraft, jamming and simulated cyber threats. Its synthetic training specialists role-played intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activity in real time.
Wing Commander Sam Williams, Officer Commanding Number 92 Squadron, Air & Space Warfare Centre, said: “Inzpire is an integral and indispensable part of the 92 Squadron Whole Force, and its contribution to COBRA WARRIOR goes far beyond simply providing additional capacity, it is the expertise and continuity that enable us to deliver the exercise at this scale and complexity.
“Working seamlessly alongside our RAF personnel, Inzpire’s specialists bring a depth of knowledge, experience and credibility across the entire exercise lifecycle, from scenario design and detailed planning through to live execution and debrief. Crucially, that expertise allows us to push the ambition, complexity and realism of Ex COBRA WARRIOR significantly further than we could otherwise achieve, across all five warfighting domains: Air, Land, Sea, Space and Cyber.
“This is Whole Force integration at its best. By combining the strengths of military and industry personnel, we are able to deliver increasingly sophisticated and demanding collective training, better preparing UK and allied forces for the challenges of contemporary warfare.”
Andy Fisher, Head of Air and Space Division, Inzpire, said: “The latest COBRA WARRIOR demonstrated the value of combining a highly experienced whole force team, live activity and advanced synthetic capabilities to create genuinely demanding, multi-domain training.
“Our White Force team was proud to support the exercise from planning through to execution, helping multinational participants integrate complex effects, understand the battlespace and maximise the training value of every mission, ultimately improving operational readiness and strengthening interoperability between UK and allied forces.”
The RAF described the exercise, which began on 14 September, as the largest test of UK homeland defence, and it served as the culmination of its Qualified Weapons Instructor courses. Final figures released by the RAF showed 942 sorties and more than 2,500 flying hours.
