Opposing force

This article is about a military term. For the game, see Half-Life: Opposing Force.
The term "opposing force" is occasionally used to refer to a genuine military foe. This article is concerned only with its use in simulated conflict.
U.S. OPFOR soldiers playing the role of Iraqi insurgents in Fort Polk, Louisiana.[note 1]

An opposing force (alternatively enemy force, abbreviated OPFOR or OpFor) is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios. The related concept of aggressor squadron is used by some air forces.

At a basic level, a unit might serve as an opposing force for a single scenario, differing from its 'opponents' only in the objectives it is given. However, major armies commonly maintain specialized groups trained to accurately replicate real-life enemies, to provide a more realistic experience for their training opponents. (To avoid the diplomatic ramifications of naming a real nation as a likely enemy, training scenarios often use fictionalized versions with different names but similar military characteristics to the expected real-world foes.)
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