F-22 crews from JB Langley-Eustis, Va., are taking advantage of their deployment to the western Pacific to conduct integrated training with F-15s based at Kadena AB, Japan, according to Kadena officials. The Raptor deployment enables “outstanding fourth and fifth generation fighter integration training,” said Col. Pete Milohnic, Kadena’s 18th Operations Group commander, in the base’s Oct. 11 release. F-22s assigned to Langley’s 27th Fighter Squadron deployed to Kadena in late July as part of a routine rotation of US combat forces to the region. “We loved the opportunity to work with the F-15s,” stressed Lt. Col. Cavan Craddock, 27th FS commander. “It’s valid training that we wouldn’t get at home,” he added. In addition, “it sends a clear message that the US is serious about maintaining security and stability in the region,” he noted. A contingent of F-22s from JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is also currently deployed to the western Pacific at Andersen AFB, Guam. (Kadena report by A1C Brooke Beers)
Unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous aircraft may provide a solution to operating in heavily contested domains such as the Taiwan Straits, according to a panel of expert who suggested operationalizing artificial intelligence for such purposes sooner rather than later. The group gathered virtually to help launch the Mitchell Institute for…