Tag: War Games

Largest Ever Red Flag 18-1 Air Force Combat Training Kicks Off

Brig. Gen. Christopher Short, 57th Wing commander, taxis down the runway in an F-16 Fighting Falcon after being sprayed by fire trucks during his fini flight at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., April 8, 2016. A fini flight is a pilot’s last flight in an aircraft before he/she leaves a squadron, a wing, or retires from the Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kevin Tanenbaum)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: January 27, 2018

Aircraft incident on Nellis Air Force Base

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. – At approximately 10:45 a.m. this morning, a military aircraft experienced an incident during takeoff on the Nellis Air Force Base flight line.

Emergency services are on scene.  No serious injuries are reported.

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE:

Defence can confirm an incident involving an EA-18G Growler at Nellis Air Force Base during Exercise Red Flag. Royal Australian Air Force personnel are safe and no serious injuries have been sustained. Defence is currently working with the United States Air Force to investigate and will provide an update with further details once known. See photo of Growler below.

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NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.The U.S. Air Force kicks off its largest three-week premier air-to-air combat training exercise, Red Flag 18-1, which will continue until Feb. 16, 2018.

Base officials want to remind Southern Nevada residents will notice increased military aircraft activity due to aircraft departing from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, twice-a-day to participate in training exercises on the Nevada Test and Training Range.

“We’re trying a few new and different things with Red Flag 18-1,” said Col Michael Mathes, 414th Combat Training Squadron commander. “It’s the largest Red Flag ever with the largest number of participants, highlighting the balance of training efficiency with mission effectiveness.”

While Red Flag occurs in multiple iterations annually, each one has a unique training purpose – 18-1 is no exception.

“Red Flag 18-1 primarily is a strike package focused training venue that we integrate at a command and control level in support of joint task force operations,” said Mathes. “It’s a lot of words to say that we integrate every capability we can into strike operations that are flown out of Nellis Air Force Base.”

The training offered during Red Flag has prepared armed forces for future engagements.

“Red Flag remains a great mix of heritage and future potential,” said Mathes. “We are very proud of our heritage with the way that red flag had improved survivability and readiness over the years. We look forward as we continue to grow readiness through integrated training as well as improving training efficiency.”

The exercise typically involves a variety of attack, fighter and bomber aircraft as well as participants from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Air Force.

Courtesy Royal Air Force, UK

MAJOR ROLE FOR RAF AT WORLD’S PREMIER AIR COMBAT EXERCISE

The world’s premier air combat exercise is underway in Nevada, with the Royal Air Force (RAF) playing a major role alongside American and Australian counterparts.

Set at Nellis Air Force Base, Red Flag pits ‘Blue’ coalition forces against hostile ‘Red Force’ aggressors, mirroring real-life threats in air-to-air, air-to-ground, space and cyber warfare.

Typhoons, from 6 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, are operating in a swing-role capacity, fighting their way into hostile airspace, launching precision strikes on ground targets and fighting their way out again.

20170127-Red Flag-1

Air Force Releases 2017 Year in Photos

 

 

Kissinger rejects ‘freeze-for-freeze’ with North Korea

EPA file photo shows former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. (Yonhap)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) — South Korea could push to indefinitely postpone joint military exercises with the United States in exchange for North Korea taking steps to denuclearize, a U.S. expert said Tuesday.

The allies earlier agreed to suspend the annual drills for the duration of the PyeongChang Winter Games. North Korea views the exercises as an invasion rehearsal and has protested with various provocations in the past.

2018/01/26 01:47

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) — Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Thursday he does not believe North Korea will abandon its nuclear weapons in exchange for a suspension of U.S. joint military exercises with South Korea.

Kissinger, who served under the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s, spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the security challenges facing the U.S.

“The most immediate challenge to international peace and security is posed by North Korea,” he said in his opening statement, posted on the committee’s website. “Paradoxically, it is only after Pyongyang has achieved nuclear and intercontinental missile breakthroughs, accompanied by threatening assertions and demonstrations, that measures to thwart these activities have begun to be applied.”

Kissinger acknowledged some success in the Donald Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign to curb the North’s nuclear ambitions, but added there has been no breakthrough.

“North Korea acquired nuclear weapons to assure its regime’s survival; in its view, to give them up would be tantamount to suicide,” he said. “An outcome that was widely considered unacceptable is now on the verge of becoming irreversible.”

Kissinger called for an agreement on Korea’s future through the revival of the now-stalled six-party talks or a separate forum led by the U.S. and China. That, he said, would be the best road to the denuclearization of the peninsula.

A “freeze-for-freeze” under which the U.S. and South Korea would suspend their regular military exercises in exchange for the North halting its nuclear and ballistic missile testing “will not … fulfill this purpose or even advance it.”

“That would equate legitimate security operations with activities which have been condemned by the U.N. Security Council for decades,” he said. “And it would encourage demands for additional restraints on, and perhaps the dismantling of, America’s alliances in the region.”

A freeze, pushed by China and Russia, would also give legitimacy to North Korea’s nuclear establishment and results of its previous tests.

“Interim steps towards full denuclearization may well be part of an eventual negotiation,” Kissinger said. “But they need to be steps towards this ultimate goal: the dismantlement of Pyongyang’s existing arsenal.”

The mistake of past negotiations, which only helped North Korea buy time to advance its weapons development, must not be repeated, he added.

Donald Trump Agrees to Suspend Military War Games During Winter Olympics

Photo provided courtesy of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in during his telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 4, 2018. (Yonhap)

STATEMENTS & RELEASES

Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with President Moon Jae-In of the Republic of Korea

Issued on: January 4, 2018

President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea to discuss recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.  The two leaders agreed to continue the campaign of maximum pressure against North Korea and to not repeat mistakes of the past.  The United States and the Republic of Korea are committed to a safe and successful 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.  President Trump told President Moon that the United States will send a high-level delegation to the Olympics.  The two leaders agreed to de-conflict the Olympics and our military exercises so that United States and Republic of Korea forces can focus on ensuring the security of the Games.

From South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency:

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed Thursday to delay their countries’ regular joint military exercises during the Winter Olympic Games to be held here next month.

The agreement came in a telephone conversation between the two leaders, according to the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

The tentative agreement came at a request from the South Korean leader.

“I believe it would greatly help ensure the success of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games if you could express an intention to delay joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises during the Olympics in case the North does not make any more provocations,” Moon was quoted as telling Trump.

The U.S. president agreed, saying Moon may tell North Korea that there will be no military exercises during the Olympics, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

In a press release, the White House confirmed the leaders agreed to “de-conflict the Olympics and our military exercises so that United States and Republic of Korea forces can focus on ensuring the security of the Games.”

The call between Moon and Trump came one day after the divided Koreas reopened their dialogue channel at the joint security area of Panmunjeom in a prelude to resuming government-level talks for the first time since December 2015.

In a tweet, Donald Trump took credit for renewed dialogue between North Korea and South Korea:

 

F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighters Head to Korea for Bilateral Exercise

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft, assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron, deploy during Exercise Vigilant Ace 18 at Osan Air Base, South Korea, December 3, 2017. U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Franklin R. Ramos

SEOUL, Nov. 23, 2017 (Yonhap) — The United States is planning to send six F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets to a joint air force exercise in South Korea next month in what is believed to be U.S. action to put maximum pressure on North Korea, military officials in South Korea have announced. “Six F-22 fighters from the U.S. Air Force are scheduled to join the joint South Korea-U.S. air force exercise Vigilant Ace from Dec. 4-8,” the officials said.

Video courtesy Lockheed Martin.

The fighters will fly to the Korean Peninsula from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and stay at an air base in South Korea throughout the exercise. Up to four F-35A Lightning stealth fighters are also likely to join the deployment, they said.

The U.S. fleet will reportedly engage in enemy infiltration and precision strike drills with South Korean Air Force fighter jets during the exercise.

It would mark the first time the U.S. has deployed six Raptors to Korea at once and is sure to put pressure on North Korea with the overwhelming military force by the allies.

Video courtesy Lockheed Martin.

The Raptor, an air superiority fighter, is capable of flying to key enemy facilities and launching precision attacks under the radar. Its maximum speed is about Mach 2.5

The planned deployment comes as the U.S. steps up the deployment of strategic assets to South Korea in a show of force aimed at pressuring North Korea to the maximum level. Early this month, three U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers were deployed to the East Sea after powerful American fighter jets flew near North Korea in the previous months.

South Korea and the U.S. are escalating pressure, both economic and military, on North Korea in efforts to bring the country back to the table to negotiate its illegal development of nuclear weapons.

The US Pacific Air Forces Office of Public Affairs emphasized the drills are an annual event named VIGILANT ACE 18. VIGILANT ACE is a regularly scheduled flying exercise.

It will involve 12,000 U.S. personnel who will participate along with the Republic of Korea Air Force. The realistic air combat exercise is designed to enhance interoperability between U.S. and Republic of Korea forces and increase the combat effectiveness of both nations.

U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy personnel will train with air assets from the Republic of Korea, flying 230 aircraft at eight U.S. and ROK military installations. VIGILANT ACE is part of a continuous exercise program designed to enhance readiness and operational capability of U.S. and ROK forces.

Previously known as Beverly Bulldog, VIGILANT ACE 18 highlights the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between two nations. It is designed to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and reaffirms the U.S. commitment to stability in the Northeast Asia region.