Alaska Gears Up for Another Red Flag: The soon-to-be-renamed Cooperative Cope Thunder begins next week and, like the US-only Cope Thunder, will be dubbed a Red Flag-Alaska exercise. The upcoming “cooperative” version features allied participants from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mongolia, Slovak Republic, South Korea, and Sweden. International observers include Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, and Sri Lanka. Officials describe the exercise, which is flown out of Eielson and Elmendorf Air Force Bases in Alaska, as the largest multi-lateral air combat exercise in the Pacific.
The Smithsonian’s announcement that an F-117A Nighthawk, tail number 85-0818, is headed to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, or NASM, is welcome news. The acquisition of this Nighthawk fills a long-standing historical gap—indeed, need—in the collections of what is generally considered the world’s premier air and space…
