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mong forces participating in the third Red Flag-Alaska of the year, which got underway last week, are airmen of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. According to the flight commander of the Japanese forces, Col. Kyuichiro Tanaka, it marks the first time JASDF airmen will train against an aggressor squadron, a hallmark feature of Red Flag exercises. Six Japanese F-15s flew from Hyakuri Air Base and 21 JASDF members traveled aboard a USAF KC-10 to Eielson AFB, Alaska, reports SSgt. Shawn Jones. Besides those who came from Japan, this Red Flag-Alaska has participants from USAF, US Navy, Mongolia, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey. During the exercise, aviation units will fly 10 simulated combat sorties in a realistic threat environment. The exercise concludes July 27.
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
