Most countries have areas where their fighter pilots can train with live ammunition and a country with a large military obviously needs a huge area to practice in. One of the largest such training areas of this type in the United States is the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR) located in southern Arizona between Yuma and Tucson, close to the Mexican border.

The area is close to seven million square kilometres and consists mainly of pristine desert. Above the ground, pilots have close to 240 million cubic kilometres of airspace to train in. Here they can push themselves and their aircraft to the limit while they practice air combat or attacking simulated targets on the ground. The large size of BMGR means that up to fifty aircraft can train in nine air-to-ground areas and two air-to-air areas simultaneously.

The range has been used for training pilots since 1941 and has, in addition to its enormous size, the advantage of being located so close to the twelve military bases that pilots can use the facilities without requiring air-to-air refuelling.

The location is used by the US Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps as well as pilots from allied countries. In total, over 68,000 missions are flown each year in the skies over BMGR. Despite the fact that it is possible to use live ammunition on five varied targets, 98% of the weapons used are training rounds only.

One reason for this is that the area, due to its size, is home to quite a few endangered species including Sonoran Pronghorn antelopes. Prior to the use of live ammunition, biologists must be sent into the area to ensure that there are no Pronghorns within a radius of five kilometres from the target. If so, the mission is either moved to another target or cancelled.

BMGR is divided into two sectors; the western part (BMGR-W) is controlled from MCAS Yuma and is mainly used by the F/A-18 Hornets and AV-8 Harriers from the same base. The eastern part (BMGR-E) is controlled from Luke Air Force Base and is mainly used by A-10 Thunderbolt II from Davis Monthan AFB and F-16 Fighting Falcons from Luke AFB.

Usually, one or two so-called “dry runs” are carried out to start with. This is where the target is approached but no bombs are dropped or shots fired. After the dry runs, pilots call “In hot” over the radio, meaning they will drop a practice bomb or fire their gun. Practice bombs are the BDU 33, which simulate a Mk-82 bomb.

In order to assess the pilot’s precision, the BDU 33 is equipped with a small powder charge, which emits a cloud of white smoke when the bomb hits the ground. Mounted on top of both the manned and unmanned turrets is a video camera which points towards the stationary target. Images from these cameras are sent live to the 56th Range Management Office at Luke AFB, colloquially called “Snake Eye” and through triangulation, the precision of the bomb impact can be determined quickly (more on this later in the article).

Bomb distance and direction from the stationary target is sent via radio to range controller, who then tells the pilot how close he was to scoring a direct hit. All this happens in less than ten seconds and before the next flight is ready to make its approach on the target.

When practicing with a gun, shots are taken at either the stationary target, usually a well-worn decommissioned armoured vehicle or on the banner targets located next to the manned turret. In order to assess the pilot’s precision with the gun, there are a number of highly sensitive microphones placed around both the targets.

These microphones are able to determine how many shots were fired and where these shots struck. As with dropping practice bombs, the altitude and angle of attack depends on the training needed for each pilot on the mission. There are often attacks from several different heights and angles. The distance from which shots are fired also varies.

The three simulated bomb areas contained within BMGR-E consist of “cities” made up of old freight containers. These are used to train pilots to find the correct building while using their infrared target acquisition equipment, so that they drop their laser-guided bombs onto the correctly targeted building within a town.

Gila Bend AFAF is located just outside BMGR and acts as a diversion airfield for the aircraft using the range, so that if an aircraft has engine trouble or encounters other problems, it does not have to fly far before it can land. There are no aircraft permanently stationed at the base, but foreign units, both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, regularly deploy to the base when training at BMGR.

In addition to its function as a diversion airfield, Gila Bend is also used for storage and maintenance of the targets and scoring systems used on BMGR. In a storage area of the base, there are rows of old military aircraft and vehicles that either have been used as targets or are due to be used when the current ones need replacement.

To make the training as realistic as possible, there are established targets that simulate enemy radar systems at various locations around BMGR. From the control room at Luke Air Force Base, “Smokey SAM” rockets can be launched when aircraft approaches. These rockets are made of foam and are about forty cm tall.

When they are fired they create a long tail of smoke which is either black or white, depending on the type of engine in the rocket. At the same time, the radar simulator will activate and give the pilot a warning in the cockpit that a missile has been fired at him. He will then have to spot the missile and make the correct evasive manoeuvres.

To increase the realism of the training for the pilots who will be responsible for attacking enemy SAM batteries, a mock-up of an SA-6 missile system has been built, with both radar and launchers. This makes it more realistic when the pilots need to search for and identify targets using their infrared target acquisition equipment.

Everything that happens on BMGR-E is controlled by the 56th Range Management Office, called “Snake Eye” in everyday speech, which is based at Luke AFB, about 150 km from BMGR-E. This is where the whole scoring system is controlled, radar simulators operated, Smokey SAM’s are fired and the remote controlled car is steered from. This is also where the pilots that have been out on the shooting range eventually come for a thorough debriefing after mission.

When air-to-air missions are flown, the aircraft is equipped with an Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation (ACMI) pod. This long thin pod is mounted on one of the aircraft’s weapon pylons and collects data about the aircraft’s speed, altitude, direction and so on. This information is streamed live to Snake Eye, where those who control the exercise from the ground can see a 3D image of the air battle taking place.

All data from the exercise is saved and can be seen by the pilots after the mission. Here they have the opportunity to review the mission in great detail, among other things, a computer generated “this is what you saw from your cockpit at the time” image for each pilot, so that pilots get the most out of the debriefing. Should the connection to Snake Eye fail, all data is stored in the ACMI pod and can be downloaded manually after the mission.