The Air Force’s 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings conducted a combat readiness exercise on Monday, sending 52 planes into the air in rapid succession.
The 419th posted a video of some of the F-35s flying over Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The combat exercise took place amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, though officials said the timing of the exercise was coincidental.
Today we launched about 50 F-35s in rapid succession. Part of a long-planned combat power exercise with @388fw, we pushed the boundaries and tested our Airmen’s ability to deploy @thef35 en masse. We’re ready to fly, fight, and win. @usairforce @USAFReserve @USAF_ACC pic.twitter.com/QskjR6lsch
— 419th Fighter Wing (@419fw) January 6, 2020
“The message is not just to potential adversaries, but it’s also to our nation’s leadership that they can count on the 388th Fighter Wing to support the combat power that they plan and require us to provide,” said Col. Steven Behmer, 388th Fighter Wing commander.
The exercise had been in the planning phase long before President Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike last week that killed one of Iran’s top generals, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Following the strike, top Iranian and U.S. officials have traded threats of retaliation should the other side attack or escalate further.
The 419th also posted photos of the fighter wings’ “elephant walk,” in which dozens of planes taxi together on the runway before taking off one after another.
Great shots of our @thef35 exercise today! Story: https://t.co/GQLyYnGaV2
?: @usairforce photos by R. Nial Bradshaw pic.twitter.com/aUpfkhYxqK
— 419th Fighter Wing (@419fw) January 6, 2020
“Every day we train, so if you think of it like a sports team, you practice, but you do different drills. You practice different parts of your team, and that’s essentially what you saw here today,” 388th Wing Vice Cmdr. Col. Michael Ebner said.
“Today, we wanted to see what percentage of the fleet can we actually generate if we had to do a mass launch,” he continued. “So we’re exercising different capabilities or different potential requirements requests that could be asked of us from our nation’s leaders.”
