Pacific Air Forces has started Cope Thunder 2006, an annual air combat training exercise that will run through Oct. 21. More than 1,000 active duty and Air National Guard airmen along with 87 aircraft will take part in PACAF’s largest air combat exercise, which is conducted out of Eielson AFB, Alaska, and nearby Elmendorf Air Force Base. This year’s exercises will focus on large force employment training as well as close air support, combat search and rescue, time sensitive targeting, and B-1B Lancer missions from overseas and continental US locations, according to Lt. Col. Eddie Osteen, director of operations for the 353rd Combat Training Squadron.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.