Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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What Nellis Air Force Base's Ongoing Red Flag Exercise Looks Like From Space
Red Flag is nearly half a century old and it is still the world's top air combat training event, the latest iteration of which is very exclusive.
3 Feb 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...going-red-flag-exercise-looks-like-from-space
Red Flag is traditionally the world's premier air combat exercise and it serves as the foundation of allied aerial warfare cooperation and interoperability that is absolutely crucial for fighting and winning wars in a coalition environment. Having been finely tuned and evolved over 45 years, the mother of all large force employment (LFE) drills takes place over the vast Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) complex that encompasses a massive portion of southern Nevada. The majority of the aircraft involved launch and recover at the famed Nellis Air Force Base, located at the tip of North Las Vegas. A few times a year, the base gets flooded with domestic and international flying units and from here Vegas's biggest and most expensive show is put on, albeit one that few of the strip dwellers to the south even know exists.
Red Flag, which first sprung from lessons learned during the Vietnam war, namely that if an aircrew survives their first 10 missions they are far more likely to survive their entire combat tour, is more critical now than ever before. Air combat is becoming ever more complex. Pilots will face advanced and intricate threat scenarios that often times cannot be replicated on their local training ranges. These include advanced and unfamiliar ground-based threats and a robust and highly trained aggressor force in the air, as well as complex electronic warfare tactics, and more. The Nellis range complex has evolved over the years to support these training situations and new live-virtual-constructive training is being introduced to make what can't be done on the physical range a reality, as well.
So, with all that in mind, a few times a year dozens of military aircraft and hundreds of personnel migrate to southern Nevada to attend the holy grail of air combat training. Each Red Flag is different. They are uniquely tailored both in storyline/scenario and in scope to the attending force's size, capabilities, and security concerns. Although the Red Flags that have the most diverse set of foreign and local players, and the largest armada of aircraft, get the most publicity, the smaller ones that include just America's closest allies often are the most cutting-edge in terms of new and sensitive capabilities and adversary challenges being presented during training. This is precisely the type of Red Flag that is currently underway at Nellis.
Red Flag is nearly half a century old and it is still the world's top air combat training event, the latest iteration of which is very exclusive.
3 Feb 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...going-red-flag-exercise-looks-like-from-space
Red Flag is traditionally the world's premier air combat exercise and it serves as the foundation of allied aerial warfare cooperation and interoperability that is absolutely crucial for fighting and winning wars in a coalition environment. Having been finely tuned and evolved over 45 years, the mother of all large force employment (LFE) drills takes place over the vast Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) complex that encompasses a massive portion of southern Nevada. The majority of the aircraft involved launch and recover at the famed Nellis Air Force Base, located at the tip of North Las Vegas. A few times a year, the base gets flooded with domestic and international flying units and from here Vegas's biggest and most expensive show is put on, albeit one that few of the strip dwellers to the south even know exists.
Red Flag, which first sprung from lessons learned during the Vietnam war, namely that if an aircrew survives their first 10 missions they are far more likely to survive their entire combat tour, is more critical now than ever before. Air combat is becoming ever more complex. Pilots will face advanced and intricate threat scenarios that often times cannot be replicated on their local training ranges. These include advanced and unfamiliar ground-based threats and a robust and highly trained aggressor force in the air, as well as complex electronic warfare tactics, and more. The Nellis range complex has evolved over the years to support these training situations and new live-virtual-constructive training is being introduced to make what can't be done on the physical range a reality, as well.
So, with all that in mind, a few times a year dozens of military aircraft and hundreds of personnel migrate to southern Nevada to attend the holy grail of air combat training. Each Red Flag is different. They are uniquely tailored both in storyline/scenario and in scope to the attending force's size, capabilities, and security concerns. Although the Red Flags that have the most diverse set of foreign and local players, and the largest armada of aircraft, get the most publicity, the smaller ones that include just America's closest allies often are the most cutting-edge in terms of new and sensitive capabilities and adversary challenges being presented during training. This is precisely the type of Red Flag that is currently underway at Nellis.
