F-22s launched a high-end anti-access, area-denial integration exercise with British and French fighters at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., on Dec. 2. A total of eight Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR-?4s, and six French air force Rafale fighters will join the 1st Fighter Wing Raptors, squaring off against F-15Es and T-38s during the three-week exercise. “The RAF and [French air force] are our vital strategic partners and allies in the current fight against extremism, and will be in any foreseeable future conflict,” 1st FW Commander Col. Pete Fesler said in a release. “The trilateral exercise gives us an opportunity to train together in realistic counter-air and strike scenarios. This training is critical to ensure that we have day-one interoperability for future contingency operations,” he added. Some 500 multi-national personnel are taking part in the exercise Dec. 2-18, marking the first time the three air forces’ topline fighters have gathered for a single exercise, according to Langley.
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…