The
first of three Pacific Air Forces-directed Red Flag exercises in 2007 gets underway Thursday at Eielson and Elmendorf Air Force Bases in Alaska. Just a year ago, PACAF hosted the first Red Flag-Alaska, which incorporated the former Cope Thunder exercise. This first 2007 exercise comprises more than 1,300 participants from Australia, France, and the US Air Force and Navy. Aircrews will fly a minimum of 10 simulated combat sorties, offering an opportunity to “exchange tactics, techniques, and procedures and improve interoperability,” says Lt. Gen. Loyd Utterback, head of PACAF’s 13th Air Force. Plans call for Alaska to host a second Red Flag in early June and a third in July.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.