F-15Es from the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, flew to Kunsan AB, South Korea, last month for “buddy” training with South Korean air force F-15Ks. “I am amazed at how seamlessly we integrated the F-15Es and the F-15Ks into combat training,” said Capt. Titus Amundson, a 494th FS pilot. He and his Lakenheath colleagues exchanged tactics and critiques with pilots of the South Korean air force’s 38th Fighter Group. The F-15Es flew air-to-air maneuvers with the F-15Ks and USAF F-16s of Kunsan’s 8th FW. “Despite the language and cultural barriers, Buddy Wing proved to be a class act that has refined the capability for the USAF and [South Korean air force] to fly side by side in combat, if required,” stressed Amundson. The training took place July 19-21. (Kunsan report by 1st Lt. Trisha Eldredge)
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.