Alaska Gears Up for Another Red Flag: The soon-to-be-renamed Cooperative Cope Thunder begins next week and, like the US-only Cope Thunder, will be dubbed a Red Flag-Alaska exercise. The upcoming “cooperative” version features allied participants from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mongolia, Slovak Republic, South Korea, and Sweden. International observers include Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, and Sri Lanka. Officials describe the exercise, which is flown out of Eielson and Elmendorf Air Force Bases in Alaska, as the largest multi-lateral air combat exercise in the Pacific.
The "Air Force One" replacement will be two to three years late due to pandemic issues, testing, and the loss of a subcontractor on the interior, USAF officials reported at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. They were also warned that some HASC members will insist on a competition for…