More than 300 airmen from seven USAF bases joined forces last week at Avon Park Air Range and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to participate in the first ever Air Combat Command rescue exercise, utilizing ACC’s full spectrum of rescue airmen and aircraft. Atlantic Rescue comprised airmen—pilots, pararescuemen, planners, and survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists—and aircraft, including A-10s, C-130s, HH-60 helicopters, and E-8 Joint STARS, from a variety of bases. Said exercise director Col. Fred Guendel, “Atlantic Rescue gives ACC the tools it needs to prepare CSAR forces to accomplish their mission in any scenario.” He noted, too, that, since the beginnings of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Air Force CSAR forces have “performed 290 missions and rescued more than 620 personnel from all services and numerous coalition forces. … It doesn’t matter who or where the person is, no one is left behind.”
Navy CCA Program’s Shape Coming into Focus
Oct. 17, 2025
In announcing its Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract, General Atomics has provided some clues as to where the service is heading with its version of an armed, autonomous fighter escort. It will likely be quite different from the Air Force version.
