Members of the French air force visited RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, Britain, to strengthen relations with their US counterparts and learn from one another, according to a Lakenheath release. During the Oct. 2-4 visit, the French airmen attended briefings and meetings and received hands-on demonstrations in an F-15E simulator, according to the Oct. 15 release. “It was a great exchange,” said Maj. Lee Stanford of Lakenheath’s 48th Operations Support Squadron. “We haven’t really gotten the chance to fly with them or practice together, but this is a great step toward progress,” he said. “We learned how powerful the F-15[E] really is,” said French air force Maj. De France Christophe. “We spoke with pilots and weapons systems officers who explained to us how they work with their aircraft, and we explained how we work with ours.” (Lakenheath report by A1C Nigel Sandridge)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.