Photo By Airman 1st Class Amanda Alvarez | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ezekiel Hernandez, 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron...... read more read more
Subscribe
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group hosted Weapons System Evaluation Program Combat Archer 25.09 here Sept. 8-19, 2025.
WSEP is a recurring exercise that provides units with a chance to evaluate combat readiness by conducting live-fire exercises with real air-to-air weapons, supported by full-scale and subscale drones, allowing aircraft, weapons and crews to perform in realistic scenarios.
“WSEP is a very powerful exercise,” said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Murdaugh, 83rd Fighter Squadron weapons system evaluation program evaluator. “It’s one of the only exercises where live-fire missile testing is a regular activity. It gives units an opportunity to showcase their maintenance and combat capabilities.”
Tyndall’s location along the Gulf Coast Range Training Complex, spanning 180,000 square miles of airspace, makes it ideal for supporting large-scale air combat training exercises.
“The airspace is massive and provides us a lot of flexibility and range to execute our profiles and objectives, while getting a lot of aircraft airborne at the same time,” said Maj. Tyler Davidson, 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron F-22 Raptor program manager. “Because of how great our airspace is you could be employing a weapon within 10 minutes of taking off.”
Tyndall hosts WSEP six to eight times per year. Planning begins approximately four months in advance, involving logistical challenges and coordination with participating units. This iteration includes units from Nellis AFB, Nevada, Eglin AFB, Florida and —for the first time since 2018, —Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
WSEP not only validates weapons but also provides critical training for maintainers, weapons loaders and aircrews, who are rarely able to work with live ordnance.
“My dream is that every pilot, if they ever have to fire a real weapon in combat, has fired a weapon [at WSEP] first,” said Davidson. “So, when they do that for the first time in real life, they're confident in their abilities and their capabilities at that point.”
A key element of WSEP is the integration of different aircraft, with fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lightning II flying alongside legacy platforms including the F-15C Eagle, F-15EX Eagle II, F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Each aircraft brings a unique capability to the fight, allowing pilots to refine integration.
“We're able to test modernization, evaluating and pushing weapons and aircraft to their absolute limit,” said Davidson. “We work together more and more to achieve profiles as a team, integrating and combining our capabilities to advance that kill chain and our ability to secure air dominance in the future."
Recent WSEP iterations have successfully integrated operational tests with evaluations, allowing deployment of new software roughly six to eight months ahead of schedule. This significantly reduces delays, enables faster delivery of critical capabilities to the warfighter, and accelerates the transformation of combat air forces.
"With every WSEP, we grow as a force," said Murdaugh. "Whether that be members getting their first chance to work around live munitions, or pilots firing their first missile, every time we can get a chance to execute live-fire operations, the more knowledgeable and capable we become."
By hosting large-scale combat exercises Tyndall continues to provide unmatched training opportunities that prepare Airmen for high-end conflict and secure its place as the nation’s proving ground for air dominance.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2025 12:16 |
| Story ID: | 548748 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Live-fire training advances air dominance in WSEP 25.09, by A1C Amanda Alvarez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
