The Pacific Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Capability (PMTEC) program strives to rapidly enhance and enable joint and coalition interoperability across the Indo-Pacific.
Funded and resourced by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), PMTEC links advanced live, virtual and constructive (LVC) range technologies across the region.
Entering its third year, the PMTEC initiative is delivering much more than anticipated. PMTEC focuses on critical range and training area infrastructure improvements across the theater. Examples include networks and nodes, facility improvements to enable advanced joint and partner interoperability, and links to distributed resources leveraged from continental U.S. ranges and assets. The PMTEC team also partners with joint and coalition exercise planners to shape and execute USINDOPACOM’s Joint Exercise Program (JEP) into operationalized activities.
The PMTEC initiative is rapidly becoming a beacon for fundamental institutional changes modeled across other U.S. combatant commands. It coalesces operations, activities and investments with several program offices of the undersecretary of defense, joint services, joint staff, Missile Defense Agency, Allies and Partners, and industry.
PMTEC’s progress and success is transforming U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) processes into 21st century operations through the implementation of rapidly advancing technologies, distributed network architectures, advanced battle management and command and control tools, multidomain analysis tools, and LVC enablers. That allows joint and coalition warfighters to train in complex all-domain tactics across the Indo-Pacific, while executing strategic posture and deterrence activities.
With the pace of warfare and technological advancements accelerating, so must U.S., Ally and Partner abilities to plan, train, experiment, operate and, most importantly, learn. PMTEC provides an asymmetric advantage over regional adversaries through the execution of high-end LVC training and experiments. It keeps joint and coalition warfighters at the highest levels of readiness and positioned to respond to contingencies, crises or conflict.
Accelerating Decision-Making
PMTEC initiatives are achieving joint and coalition interoperability, expanding training and rehearsals with virtual simulators, and demonstrating the value of common data model tools to achieve “speed to insight” and more rapid decision-making for an advantage over competitors and adversaries.
The PMTEC program office focuses on achieving joint and coalition interoperability through several efforts, primarily theaterwide JEP and service exercise programs (SEP). USINDOPACOM joint exercises, such as Balikatan, Cobra Gold, Garuda Shield, Keen Edge, Keen Sword, Pacific Sentry, Talisman Sabre and Valiant Shield, incorporate PMTEC capabilities for scenarios that drive all-domain or multidomain training and rehearsal activities. Service exercises such as Cope North, Pacific Vanguard, Marine Aviation Support Activity and Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training events are leveraging PMTEC resources with links to JEP events.
Enhancing Interoperability
PMTEC is also achieving joint and coalition interoperability by including joint LVC (JLVC) resources in exercises. The PMTEC team at the K. Mark Takai Pacific Warfighting Center is leading the effort to integrate JLVC tools into USINDOPACOM JEP events. Their expertise in incorporating operational-level JLVC models and simulations into USINDOPACOM command post exercises precedes the emergence of the PMTEC initiative. But through PMTEC, the team works with stakeholders across DOD, including the services, joint staff, Missile Defense Agency and Korea Battle Simulation Center, to coalesce model and simulation tools, and distribute resources across the Indo-Pacific and into USINDOPACOM field training exercises.
The PMTEC program office is instituting a similar initiative focused on linking tactical-level virtual and constructive training resources to JEP and SEPs. Combined, these operational and tactical tools will deliver an unmatched training capability. They will provide an instrument to simultaneously conduct high-end, complex training and operations across the region, linking ranges, resources and the warfighter at a flexible time and place without compromising force posture. The capability provides an asymmetric advantage by sustaining the readiness of a combat-credible joint and coalition force postured for competition, crises or conflict.
Training Resource Alignment
PMTEC also achieves joint and coalition interoperability through the alignment of training resources. Over 75% of the ranges used by USINDOPACOM joint forces are shared with coalition partners. Most of these ranges and training areas consist of domain resources aligned to U.S. services or the coalition partners. For decades, little attention was given to the need to develop interoperability across the tools and resources. PMTEC, along with other USINDOPACOM initiatives created through the PDI, such as the Joint Fires Network and the USINDOPACOM Mission Network, is leading the charge with technical conversations and actions across the region to improve joint and coalition multidomain interoperability. Pacific Joint Services are bringing service mobile-training resources to JEP events, which are converting bare-bones training areas into sophisticated environments with threat replications and live-monitoring capabilities. Coalition partners are all providing rapid solutions. Those capabilities include Australian and Japanese LVC tools, Philippine uncrewed aerial vehicle support, and combined exercise control or command centers or targets (fixed and mobile) in Indonesia to support combined land and maritime live-fire vignettes. Together, they are enabling USINDOPACOM exercises to provide complex training challenges for joint and coalition forces.
With warfighting platforms and tactics increasingly complex, the ability to execute joint and coalition training in the live environment comes at significant and growing cost. This, too, is being tackled by the PMTEC program through tactical virtual training resources.
Most virtual training tools and environments were designed to be independent with closed-loop architectures, and some still are in domains such as cyber and space. But across the continental U.S. and various service training environments, progress is being made to conduct distributed training beyond line of sight and often across thousands of kilometers.
PMTEC demonstrated some of these capabilities during exercise Valiant Shield 2024, working closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Pacific Fleet, U.S. Fleet Forces and Naval Air Systems commands; the Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges; and industry partners. PMTEC delivered F-35, F/A-18, F-16, Joint Tactical Air Control and other virtual enablers to Guam, with multiple tactical training events. The demonstration proved that virtual training not only enhances the quantity of training and rehearsal activities, but also increases the fidelity of the tactical training, the scale of the training (no range or airspace limitations), the speed at which crews can assess lessons and repeat training, and the ability to conduct training and rehearsal without revealing tactics to observers. Our joint and coalition warfighters have an unquenchable hunger to be the best.
USINDOPACOM joint exercises provide training environments that build interoperability skills across all layers of warfare — strategic, operational and tactical. Through PMTEC resources, warfighters can connect virtually and sharpen their skills between JEP events.
Coalition partners are aligned and, in some cases, ahead of PMTEC in developing and expanding the virtual training environment, a game changer in accelerating learning and refining joint and coalition multidomain tactics. That leads to the final PMTEC initiative: incorporating tools to assess and adjudicate the execution of multidomain operations in the joint training environment.
PMTEC capabilities point to USINDOPACOM having the ability to conduct combined and joint all-domain operations. No longer are JEP events focused primarily on bilateral theater security cooperation. Today, they also deliver valuable opportunities for joint and coalition forces to discuss tactical capabilities and how to continue improving multidomain operations.
PMTEC is working to add a layer of quantitative and qualitative data assessment to the JEP to deliver analysis (combined or parsed data for specific domain focus) to enhance the quality and value of the learning output.
Achieving ‘Speed to Insight’
The joint and coalition forces training environment must keep pace with the contemporary battlespace. The speed of warfare continues to increase, technology continues to advance, and the complex challenges of multidomain operations are increasingly infused with tactics and battle management processes.
The PMTEC program is driving a culture of change for the command’s JEP and SEPs. Initiatives focus on joint and coalition interoperability, enabling training and rehearsals with LVC capabilities, and implementing data model tools to achieve “speed to insight.” All aim to enable the USINDOPACOM Commander, his coalition counterparts and the warfighters under his command to be agile, adaptive and effective when faced with any challenge and to hold the advantage in competition, conflict or crisis.
