F-22s and F-35s are training together with T-38s, F-15Es, and F-16s, at Tyndall AFB, Fla., in an exercise aimed at bridging the gap between fifth generation aircraft and the Air Force’s legacy fleet. In addition to the fighters, B-52s and E-3 AWACS are participating in the week-and-a-half long Checkered Flag 16-1 exercise on the Florida coast, according to a 325th Fighter Wing release. “This exercise is a building block,” said Col. Joseph Kunkel, vice commander of the 325th FW and commander of the exercise. “We are at the very beginning of the integration of F-22s, F-35s, and fourth-generation aircraft. What this does is lead us to the next step and that next step is to be extremely lethal in combat.”
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
