Members of the 960th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron recently returned to their home station at Tinker AFB, Okla., after spending more than a month participating in Operation Coronet Connie in Southwest Asia. The E-3 AWACS unit joined other US airmen to train and fly with airmen from France, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United Kingdom. It was the first time for a USAF E-3 unit to take part in Coronet Connie, which started in 2004 with just two countries. Maj. Tim Hart told the Tinker Take Off that the exercise enabled the E-3 airmen to “reassess our assumptions about how other nations employ various weapon systems.”
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.