The first installment of Red Flag-Alaska has wrapped up at Eielson AFB, Alaska, after nearly two weeks of exercises in which more than 84 aircraft and 1,500 Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command airmen participated. In total, the airmen generated more than 1,600 sorties and airdropped more than 1,000 soldiers in an exercise designed to prepare servicemembers for combat deployments. “We met the primary objective of making aircrews more capable, survivable, and knowledgeable,” said Col. John Dobbins, the Red Flag Alaska AEW commander. Dobbins added that the Air Force has not yet decided whether the Alaskan Red Flag will function as a large-force employment exercise or a spin up for air expeditionary force rotations.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.