The Air Force Reserve Command’s 47th Fighter Squadron won the biennial A-10 competition at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., according to a July 16 release. The 47th FS competed against 13 other A-10 teams. Dubbed the Hawgsmoke, a nod to the discontinued Air Force gunnery competition Gunsmoke, the event led with a remembrance ceremony to honor fallen A-10 pilots. The event is typically a two-day competition, including “team and individual scoring of strafing, high-altitude dive-bombing, 30-degree dive-bombing, Maverick missile precision, and team tactics,” said Maj. Kyle Lanto, pilot instructor for the 355th Training Squadron. This year’s competition, however, lasted four days, and focused only on strafing, A1C Sivan Veazie told Air Force Magazine. The actual competition took place July 10, he said. The “competition is an opportunity for camaraderie, fellowship of the world’s premier close air support fighter, and a legacy of its pilots and support crews,” states the release.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.