Boeing has connected the F-15E Mission Training Center (MTC) at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to the U.S. Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations Network enabling F-15E pilots at the base to train virtually with pilots located around the world for the first time.

Mountain Home is the first of three F-15E training centers Boeing will link to the network this year.

"This new capability allows F-15E aircrews to train in an environment that mimics their integrated operational environment,” said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president for Training Systems and Services. “It provides realistic training at a fraction of the cost of live-fly training exercises, which require you to bring all of your personnel and aircraft together in one location.”

Boeing is scheduled to complete its next two Distributed Mission Operations installations at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the U.K. MTCs this fall.

“DMO adds the variability that human beings can bring to the training scenario, providing a much more realistic training experience than with computer-generated entities alone,” McGraw said.