Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs are flying two weeks of combat trials, testing their interoperability with the RNLAF’s F-16s, KDC-10 tanker, and allied aircraft at Edwards AFB, Calif. The two Dutch F-35s are conducting operational tests to evaluate how the aircraft integrates with current platforms in both offensive and defensive counter-air and ground-attack missions, according to an Aug. 20 Defense Ministry release. The trials, conducted Aug. 17 to 28, involved six F-16s from the RNLAF’s training detachment with the Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson, Ariz., as well as six Air Force and British Royal Air Force F-35A/B, according to the release. The Dutch stood up their first F-35 unit, Number 323 Squadron, last year, specifically to conduct operational testing and evaluation at Edwards. The Dutch plan is to eventually replace their F-16s with a fleet of 37 F-35As, split between two operational squadrons.
Australia’s military will help the Pentagon pursue so-called “air-breathing” hypersonic weapons and more under the U.S.-run Allied Prototyping Initiative, the U.S. Defense Department said Nov. 30. The Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) initiative “will be essential to the future of hypersonic research and development, ensuring the U.S. and…