More than 50 airmen of the 612th Air and Space Operations Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and personnel from the Australian, British, and Canadian air forces last month took part in the first coalition Virtual Flag exercise at the desert base. The exercise, which tested command and control functions during a simulated air war in a real-time environment, took place Sept. 16-24. “We really broke new ground with this coalition partnership,” said Lt. Col. Michael Spanich, deputy chief of the 612th AOC combat operations division. For the exercise, the 612th AOC, which supports 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern), was connected to sites around the globe, allowing 36 units from four countries to participate from 24 separate venues across 17 time zones. The next coalition Virtual Flag will occur inn September 2010. (Davis-Monthan report by TSgt. Eric Petosky)
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.