F-15s and airmen of the 19th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, on March 29 returned home from temporary duty assignments in Hawaii and Thailand to participate in the Cope Thaw and Cope Tiger exercises, respectively. These were the last deployments for the unit, which is slated for decommissioning later this year as part of the Air Force’s drawdown of more than 250 legacy fighters. The first of the squadron’s F-15 will depart Elmendorf for good in April and the final ones should leave by September. (Elmendorf photo caption by A1C Christopher Gross)
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.