Researchers generate virtual Su-27 targets into the cockpits of F/A-18s

Flying over China Lake, three U.S. Navy F/A-18s had eight Su-27s appeared in their radars and radar warning receivers on Nov. 25, 2014.

F-18's are refueled in Afghanistan
By U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In reality, none of the FLANKERs ever flew over China Lake, what the crews saw were virtual entities beamed to their aircraft via Link-16.

NAVAIR sees huge potentials in this development as it exposed the crew to realistic training at a fraction of the cost.

Source: Alert 5