Lockheed Martin recently highlighted the successful collaboration among American, British, and Australian F-35 squadrons during the premier U.S. Air Force training exercise, Red Flag 24-1, held at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
The exercise centres on enhancing interoperability within the allied forces, with a particular focus on addressing strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
Maj. Bryan Butler, commander of the 421st Fighter Generation Squadron, commended the performance of the F-35s throughout the exercise. “The [F-35s] have been performing extremely well. We haven’t lost a single sortie due to a maintenance issue,” he noted. Maj. Butler underscored the exercise’s objective to test the squadrons’ ability to “prepare and execute rapid disaggregation operations with the F-35A, without a pause or stop to mission sustainment.”
The involvement of the Royal Australian Air Force’s F-35As in Red Flag marked a notable first. Wing Commander Adrian Kiely, the Commanding Officer of the Royal Australian Air Force’s No. 3 Squadron, highlighted the exercise’s comprehensive nature.
“Exercise Red Flag Nellis will test every facet of our F-35A capability, allow us to integrate with our American and British allies, and practice how we project force on combat operations,” he said.
While the training primarily focused on dispersed operations, integration and interoperability remained paramount. The large-scale exercise offers realistic training within a simulated contested threat environment, encouraging the free exchange of insights and lessons learned among the allied forces, further solidifying the collective capabilities and readiness of the participating nations.
Slightly off topic-In an emergency such as that looming in the Red sea at present, how many F35’s could we put on board the QE? Would 15 be possible out of a theoretical pool of 30 plus available. According to some of the comments on Mail online we have no planes for the carrier, it leaks, it will break down before it gets there, it will be destroyed by a single missile….
ps but seriously-might it not be more cost effective and still pack a punch to continue from Cyprus with the Typhoons?
Hi geoff.
Could persist with the Akrotori DET but with the distance to be covered and the need for 2 Voyager it is limited to 4 aircraft.
QEC was built to project power, I hope they use it. Even “just 15” F35 sitting off shore is a powerful message.
Morning Daniele. ” Just 15″ would indeed deliver a powerful message! I should stop reading the Mail!😄 Hope your weather improving-hot and humid here in Durban!
Most of the comments on the Mail on line are now ancient history….. we can now actually put a few F35’s on a carrier….. 8 so far (plus US) but probably 16 at a push although there is talk of 24 for CSG25 to Japan…… I guess that we could probably have @16 on a Red Sea deployment (plus US Aircraft) there is talk of one carrier replacing the American one…. I’ll bet it would have at least 12 US F35’s as well though….. At some point this capability must be tested otherwise we might as well have just built… Read more »
If I was to take a flying guess it will be 12 UK + 12 USMC. Unless of course both carriers are used simultaneously – which is possible as they are both crewed. Then I would guess 8 UK and 12-16 USMC. I wonder what would be put on whichever one is sent to the exercise? A token 4 UK [which might not fly much] and a decent number of USMC. Or would it be the worlds largest helicopter carrier? I think the issue is can enough F35B maintainers and spares be generated for two UK deployments? If I was… Read more »
As Daniel has commented earlier, Eisenhower isn’t dew to rotate until April and could stay until possible July? QE is meant to be deploying on Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 very soon for NATO which concludes on the 31st of May so her F35’s will be in need of maintenance and pilots will want a rest. With only 31 jets available and QE’s needing maintenance plus trying to train new pilots and routine maintenance, I can only see a very small hand full of UK F35’s being available for deployment in the Red sea on most likely Prince of Wales?
“Only 31 Jets” you realize that is plenty. 16 would be ample enough.
How many jets would we need, realistically? Do the Americans maintain a CAP over the fleet, or just bomb as necessary?
Would, for arguments sake, 12 or even 8 be enough to get the job done? It’s not a full blown war against a peer enemy.
AA
The USN doesn’t fly constantly on a carrier deployment the same way the RAF/USAF doesn’t fly constantly. You’ll have an alert fighter (Ready 5) fueled and loaded hot with a light A2A load out and usually 2 on alert 15.
The airplane count is fine, a bigger issue seems to be an overall lack of trained pilots by the RAF/RN. The training pipeline is weak and inconsistent.
20% are in routine maintenance = 6 + 12 I would guess on operations with QE that will need a period of maintenance when they get back at the end of May + at least 10 with 207 for pilot training that leaves only three? Maybe a few could be rushed through maintenance but not a very satisfactory situation.
Bang on, Frank – what about the escorts? QE will clearly be a primary target for attack. Houties won’t succeed,of course, provided QE has a proper escort group. What will relieve HMS Diamond? Will one escort destroyer be enough? Oiler and stores ships?
I think It’s more along the lines of a carrier, replacing another carrier, so probably not much change to the set up that’s already there…. don’t forget that there are other Countries providing ships as well, including France, Germany, Holland, India and a few others.
Interestingly, there is much activity on one of the QE’s in Portsmouth, especially in the Landing zone where there has been a large Tent for quite a while…. HMS Warrior Live Cam gives a good view ( wait until Sunrise though as the Camera doesn’t move at night).
The Eisenhower isn’t due to be rotated until April. It can be extended, if necessary, just like the Ford. The US has the Vinson and Roosevelt Carrier Task Groups currently deployed for exercises in the Philippine Sea which can be deployed to the Middle East, if necessary. The America ARG is currently in Okinawa. Why would the US need to deploy any F-35s to a British carrier?
Why ? because that’s co-operation and the wise thing to do if a QEC were to be sent to the Red Sea to replace the Eisenhower which is what I read earlier.
The Eisenhower was meant to be taking over from the Ford in the eastern med due to the fact there are two hot wars going on in the eastern med at present..so having the Eisenhower pondering around the gulf of Aden and Red Sea is not idea and was not where it was meant to be from a U.S. geostrategic point of view…moving carriers from the pacific across the India ocean is a particularly bad idea that the USN would not do unless it had to do so…it’s primary goal at present is to make sure it can maintain a… Read more »
And so just when will you Brits be able to get one of your carriers out of port and into the Middle East? The US knows that it can’t depend on the Royal Navy and that’s why it has the ability to provide its own resources. The US Navy will deploy carrier task forces from the Pacific to the Middle East if required. The US Navy doesn’t listen to you. Start living in the real world. The US Navy is.
We shall see but I would put good money on the US not pulling a carrier from the pacific unless it has no choice….in the same way as the UK does not want to pull a carrier from steadfast defender…but unless the U.S. leaves the crew of Eisenhower hanging around the Red Sea way over time to go home one of those priorities needs to shift…..But whatever…..I’m sure in your view the US can manage doing everything yourselves and if need be take on Russia, China and Iran all by yourselves without any help from allies you clearly don’t need… Read more »
Cheers Frank
Ive become that cynical, But i feel that the only way the Uk will wake up to the need to increase defence spending is for a RN ship to be hit an sunk by a Houthi missile resulting in this and past PMs, (looks at Cameron) arrested , charged and jailed for crimes against the Uk regards defence cuts.
Farouk, you say what many of us only think!
Hear hear!
I agree, it would be better to deploy two type 45s and continue the strikes with the Typhoons from Cyprus. The carriers should be kept in reserve for a more serious threat from Russia. If we fly planes from the carrier in the red sea she will be made a target, I know the type 45s can protect her but even those have limited missiles. The US have the quantity that they could risk having one badly damaged, we can’t.
My understanding is that they really want both f35 squadrons ready for CSG2025 so the RN/RAF can work up 2 squadron’s on the deployment ( the new 809 squadron which will be spending 2024 becoming operational and 617 squadron) . If they deployed 617 squardon to the Red Sea now, there is no way that squadron would be able to regenerate for deployment on CSG2025…..so I suspect they will not deploy a carrier to the Red Sea in 2024 unless they really have to…and they may need to as the US carrier pottering around the gulf of Aden, Red Sea… Read more »
The A330/F-35A should be a very useful addition should things take a turn for the worse. Distance from RAAF Amberley Base to the Philippines 5,600 km as a guage to the SCS. “The aircraft is based on a heavily modified Airbus A330 airliner and undertakes air-to-air refuelling and strategic airlift duties. Australia has seven, which are operated by No. 33 Squadron and based at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland. The KC-30A MRTT is fitted with two forms of air-to-air refuelling systems: an Advanced Refuelling Boom System mounted on the tail of the aircraft and a pair of all-electric refuelling pods… Read more »
Most intrigued regards the news from Washington that the US has agreed to carry out strikes on Iranian targets inside Syria and Iraq. All I see here is the Biden administration warning the Iranians (who have carried out over 150 attacks on the US these past few months) to leave the area so none of their terrorists get a splinter in their little finger when the US strikes abck. Hello, who the f warns their enemy, that we are going to strike you on certain days , so ensure you are having a sick day . No wonder Countries feel… Read more »
They just don’t want a massive escalation in the Middle East. It’s a tough call in a very sensitive region.
Election year and everyone knows it. After the shame of Kabul I would not trust Biden one jot. Then I never did. It seems Obamas policies toward of Iran have just continued. Fence sitting gets nowhere. Action against Iran is long overdue.
It is a tricky situation. Do nothing. And our enemies take advantage. Take action. And we risk starting another prolonged war In the Middle East that nobody wants, and creates even more hatred against the West. Not easy decisions. Election year or not.
It’s not only that it’s not wanted I don’t think the US can afford it..china is looking and it’s measuring up the USN..one of the win conditions for china is getting the USN over extended across the globe and western shipping lanes disrupted…the western major powers getting tied up in a war in the Middle East with Iran could sea china making a decision that we could all profoundly regret..we know it’s already very close to make it that decision within 3-4 years.
The problem is Iran is not the key enemy and threat here that the US needs to think about..neither is Russia..the big threat for the US is china and the unfortunate reality for the US is that the PLAN is now able to seriously contend with the USN in the western pacific.. The US military can no longer really afford to dedicate the resources needed to engage in a major war with Iran, as it would lead to an opening for china. The U.S. knows that if it plays it’s hand wrong it could end up with major wars on… Read more »
Only on paper. The USN SSN force is completely unmatched in the world.
Look at what the RN SSN’s did to the Argentine navy in the Falklands, scale that up x25. The PLAN would be hiding in port.
Unfortunately Chris you have to understand the context of the likely campaign and the fact that the Falklands was completely different the RN vastly outmatched the Argentinian navy, but suffered the Tyranny of distance and because of that just about won with great loss. At that time the RN was well around three times the size of the Argentinian navy..with 64 surface combatants…. The PLAN would not hide in port and to think something like that of your enemy is foolish… The PLAN is not a paper enemy almost all its warships are very modern, it undertakes extensive exercises each… Read more »
that was absolutely hilarious, thanks. whats the chinese equivalent of bob from oklahoma oblast? it doesn’t matter whether china is scared or not, they’ll get sunk and blown up all the same. china will suffer another yet another great humiliation. it’ll make russia’s embarrassingly botched invasion of ukraine look like desert storm.
It would be nice if you are correct…but sadly I think you are living in a wishful thinking land..Russia is a nation with a GDP of less than a medium sized European nation and a navy that is rotting, an army that had only 160,000 professional and semi professional soldiers…the US department of defence thinks china may be spending up to 2900billion a year on its military……completely different fish….underestimating your enemy and suffering from hubris has been the start of many a tragedy.
Seems foolish to let your enemies know when you’re coming. It could cost your own troops lives as the enemy have time to prepare. You give a final warning but after that leave it as unpredictable as possible, preferably with some mis-direction.
Biden has made terrible mistakes, but Trump is a Putin Quisling, a clear & present threat to western democracy & rule of law.
That’s a lot of “Jiz”….. 😆
10 EU nations will soon be operating F35. Greece will receive a letter of acceptance from the US for 40 F35’s. And the Czech Republic has signed to receive 24 F35’s. That will put over 500 F35’s on EU and UK soil by 2030. Not included USAF F35’s.
Over 600 actually.
Notice the Turks aren’t on that list. Looking at the Greek order they have to be thinking ‘we effed up’.
Indeed for all its doubters its in really the only horse in town..and the f35b particularly is a game changer for navel air power.
That’s true pal. Some 19 warships across allied nations will be 5th gen F35B/C capable. That is serious capability to put to sea. And our enemies have nothing that comes close. Copy cat technology has serious limits.