USAF engineers used the recent Alaska Shield/Northern Edge to practice their airfield set-up capabilities by constructing lighting on a rural airstrip in Red Devil, Alaska, 250 air miles west of Anchorage. Going by air is the only way to reach Red Devil. Last week, airmen from the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base installed a portable runway lighting system, making it possible to use the airstrip at night. Why portable? An in-ground system would be destroyed by sheet ice in the harsh Alaskan winter.
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
