USAF and Canadian forces completed the largest-ever Combat Hammer air-to-ground weapons systems evaluation earlier this month, featuring A-10 Warthogs from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., B-52 bombers from Barksdale AFB, La., and CF-18 Hornets from Cold Lake AB, Canada. The participants gathered at Eglin AFB, Fla., utilizing the base’s western range, where they dropped more than 40 precision-guided weapons, according to an Eglin news release. Besides evaluating man and machine, the WSEP provides “invaluable” combat experience, said Maj. Chris Bridges, with Eglin’s 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron.
An F-16 Air National Guard unit’s six-month deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan, this year illustrated the capabilities the Guard’s oldest fighter units can still offer—but also the challenges they face, officials told reporters this week.
