JOINT BASE
The Pacific Air Forces training event culminated in a variety of fourth and fifth-generation fighter and command-and-control aircraft from three
More than 1,000 participants attended to operate and maintain over 60 airframes. Each training day entailed mass launches of combat training missions tailored to expose fighter pilots with engagements against advanced airborne threats.
The exercise was built around a training partnership between the locally-based F-22 Raptors, operated by the 199th and 19th Fighter Squadrons, and the RAAF No. 2 Squadron. The Australian forces have integrated their airborne early warning support capabilities with Hawaii F-22s for three years, but this was the first time several RAAF E-7A Wedgetails attended to support a cohort of fifth-generation aircraft at this size.
Multiple variants of F-35 Lightning IIs participated from the
'It started with just a couple units trying to train amongst themselves, and it just grew more and more and became a PACAF exercise,' Augugliaro said.
Fourth-generation aircraft included
In addition to the large influx of fighter airframes, supportive air-refueling and airlift assets from six other military installations attended to sustain daily flight and ground operations.
This large coalition-type venue provided multifaceted and realistic training scenarios tailored to equip warfighters with skills to confront advanced challenges throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
Participants and planners overcame several environmental constraints to complete nearly 400 sorties in one week. Hundreds of service members applied Agile Combat Employment practices to maintain aircraft effectively.
On the first day of the exercise, the Mauna Loa volcano began to erupt, complicating plans to operate an air refueling aircraft on the island of
While exercises at this scale typically require six months to prepare, planners did it in roughly half the time.
'What's been accomplished here at
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