First USAF Virtual Air Refueling

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    In a first for the U.S. Air Force, a team led by Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated a high-fidelity virtual aerial refueling, networking geographically dispersed flight simulators and providing a realistic simulation of an air-to-air refueling process. During the Oct. 30 demo, Northrop Grumman connected a pilot in a C-17 transport flight simulator in Texas, an operator in a KC-135 tanker flight simulator in Florida and a boom operator in the Boom Operator Weapons Systems Trainer, or BOWST, simulator in Oklahoma, with all three simulators operating simultaneously via the Mobility Air Forces Distributed Mission Operations test network. Simulating an actual in-flight refueling mission is a way the Air Force can maintain readiness and reduce costly live flights.