About 130 airmen and F-16s from Misawa AB, Japan, deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, this week to participate in one of the largest Pacific exercises hosted by the US Air Force. Exercise Cope North 2017 focuses on air combat tactics and large force employment, and includes US, Australian, and Japanese forces, according to a Pacific Air Forces release. The exercise runs from Feb. 15 to March 3, and will use the Farallon de Medinilla range for live ordnance and AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missile employment, the release states. The F-16s are among the more than 100 aircraft expected to participate in the exercise. They will work alongside B-1B Lancers, which recently deployed to Guam as part of the Air Force’s continuous bomber presence there, along with Japanese and Australian aircraft. More than 1,100 US airmen and sailors will participate, as well as about 600 Japan Air Self Defense Force and Royal Australian Air Force personnel.
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…