Top U.S. military commanders in the Pacific yesterday opened a $48 million high-tech facility they plan to use for exercises, training and battle simulations.

The Pacific Warfighting Center may also be used to direct forces during disaster relief efforts and war, if needed.

Navy Adm. Robert Willard, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the center has already helped relief efforts in Haiti.

Normally staffed with about 56 people, the facility is capable of holding hundreds more as the need arises.

In a few months, the center will host about 500 people for what Willard called a "large-scale command post exercise" involving forces in Hawai'i and the Western Pacific region.

The military spent $25.8 million for construction and $22 million on telecommunications infrastructure for the building on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.