B-2 Spirit bombers played a rare, integrated combat role alongside Air Force, allied, and joint service aircraft during Red Flag 15-1 at Nellis AFB, Nev., earlier this month. “Many people don’t know and understand what our capabilities are or what we can do for a combatant commander,” said Lt. Col. Bradley Cochran, commander of the 393rd Bomb Squadron from Whiteman AFB, Mo. At Red Flag, “we are able to work with other aircraft and our coalition partners in order to teach them what the B-2 can do, which helps us integrate more effectively into any future combat operation,” he added in a release. Whiteman’s B-2s participated in large-force employment exercises with US F-22s, F-16s, F-15Es, and a variety of command and control and electronic warfare aircraft, in addition to British Typhoon fighters, AWACs, and Sentinel ISR platforms, according to a Nellis release. Red Flag 15-1 ran Jan. 26 to Feb. 13.
Fresh off a meeting of the national armaments directors of NATO and the European Union, Pentagon acquisition and logistics chief William A. LaPlante said the allies and partners are moving toward not simply interoperable munitions, but “interchangeable” as well. The 45 directors met to discuss how they will provide military…