About 150 personnel and aggressor F-16s from Eielson AFB, Alaska, touched down in Australia this week for a large-scale exercise Down Under. The airmen and aircraft from the 18th Aggressor Squadron will work with Royal Australian Air Force Air Warfare Centre instructors to help train RAAF pilots in Exercise Diamond Shield 2017. During the exercise, the F-16s will flying alongside RAAF C-17s, C-130s, and AP-3C, according to a Pacific Air Forces release. The aircraft, along with members of the Australian Army and Navy, will conduct a high-readiness deployment exercise in response to a simulated security threat.
The Air Force is targeting August 2027 for its new T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to reach its initial operational capability. To get there, the head of Air and Education Training has three milestones he needs to see the program hit.
