Text & Photos Pere Vilalta
On March 11th, I had the opportunity to travel to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, just as the 2024-2 Red Flag school year began. On this occasion, the Dutch and Danish air forces were invited as NATO forces, deploying their F35s to the United States. This exercise took place between March 11 and 24, 2024.
Red Flag was established in 1975 to provide USAF pilots with a training program for various weapons systems and the opportunity to conduct simulated combat missions in a safe training environment as realistic as possible.
The units that participated in this edition of Red Flag were the following:
The units that participated in this edition of the Red Flag were the following:
(Listed in order of Role/Aircraft/Unit/Base)
Red Team F-16C/CM 64th AGRS, Nellis AFB NV
F-35A 65th AGRS, Nellis AFB NV
F-16C 706th AGRS, Nellis AFB NV
F-16A Top Aces Corp, Mesa AZ
F-16C/D 422 nd TES, Nellis AFB NV
Blue Team Air F-15E 389th FS, Mountain Home, AFB, ID
F-35A 56th FW, Luke AFB, AZ
F-35A 308th FS, Luke AFB, AZ (RDAB)
F-35A 308th FS, Luke AFB, AZ (RNLAF)
F-16C 56th FW, Luke AFB, AZ
F-35A 322 sq, Leeuwarden Air Base, RNLAF
F-35A 313 sq, Volkel Air Base, RNLAF
F-35B VMFA-242, MCAS Iwakuni, JP
Interceptatión B-52H 62th BS, Minot AFB, ND
F/A-18C VMFA-323, MCAS Miramar, CA
F/A-18C VMFA-533, MCAS Beaufort, SC
Command and control E-3G 964th AACS, Tinker AFB, OK
Electronic warfare EA-18G VAQ-135, NAS Widbey Island, WA
EA-18G VX-9, NAS China Lake, CA
Refuelling A-330-243 MRTT MMU, RNLAF
KC-135R 106th ARS Sumpter Smith, ANGB, AL
KC-135R 6th ARW, MacDill AFB, FL
KC-135R 351th ARS, RAF Mildenhall, UK
CSAR HH-60W 66th RQS, Nellis AFB, NV
Each mission day, more than 50 aircraft from different wings take off, which, combined with the movements within the base itself, meant that it was possible to count more than 100 aircraft movements each day.
This exercise involved training the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marines with the Danish and Dutch air forces. Testing the collaboration between different NATO units around the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II aircraft, which these countries also operate.
These exchanges between different air forces seek to complement learning and information sharing on the same air platform. Both Denmark and the Netherlands have recently incorporated the F-35A into their air forces. Specifically, the Dutch Air Force arrived at Volkel Air Base on June 30, 2022, and the Danish Air Force joined them on September 14, 2023, at Skrydstrup Air Base in Vojens. Various European countries are expected to obtain the F-35A Lightning II in the coming years.
The idea for Red Flag emerged during the Vietnam War, when poor performance was observed among USAF fighter pilots and weapons operators in air-to-air combat. In relation to previous conflicts, the overall exchange ratio went from 2.2:1 to 1:1 during June and July 1972. This lack of crew training in air combat, coupled with the alleged air superiority of the United States and surface-to-air missiles, prompted a study to find solutions.
The report, called Project Red Baron II, highlighted the shortcomings in the American forces’ way of fighting, and showed that a fighter pilot’s chances of survival increased dramatically after completing ten combat missions. And as a result, Red Flag exercises were born, born to provide this realistic combat training to pilots and weapons operators, and to be able to achieve measurable results.
Colonel Richard “Moody” Suter, who was well liked at Nellis Air Force Base, became the driving force behind the implementation of Red Flag, persuading the commander of Tactical Air Command (TAC), General Robert J. Dixon, to adopt the program. General Dixon approved the idea in May 1975 and ordered the exercise. was established in six months. The first Red Flag exercise was conducted according to General Dixon’s schedule on November 29, 1975, and included 37 aircraft, supported by 561 personnel, who flew approximately 552 sorties.
From then on, the exercises were repeated, forming two groups: the blue side, made up of the allied forces, and the red side, the aggressors. The aggressors are the opponents and they use aircraft simulating fighters of the former Soviet Union, the T-38 Talon simulating a Mig-21, the current F-16 simulating the Mig-29 Fulcrum, and F-15 Eagle with the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker.
