About 300 airmen and 16 F-15C Eagles deployed to Estonia Monday to take part in a multilateral training exercise as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Twelve F-15Cs from the 493rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath and four from the 194th Expeditionary Squadron—deployed to Campia Turzi, Romania, in support of a theater security package sent to Europe—will train with air forces from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom until September 2, according to a 48th Fighter Wing release. Eight A-10s, a KC-135, and more than 200 airmen from bases around the US and Europe recently finished up a two-week deployment to the Baltic nation.
So many new F-35s have piled up waiting for TR-3 upgrade testing to conclude that it will take a year to deliver them all once deliveries get the green light to resume, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. That go-ahead isn't likely to happen right away.