FighterControl

To follow on from Chris and Bob's posts, Red Flag 24-1 was a bit different to previous exercises. It was a two week exercise that morphed into another exercise, Bamboo Eagle, for week three. This saw most of the players dispersed to other bases throughout California. They did this on the last day of Red Flag, where lots launched from Nellis, but very little came back!

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display ... se-bamboo/

I caught the last two days of the Nellis based bit, where a few items (B-2, E-3, RC-135) didn't fly in daylight, plus a day during week three. The light can be challenging at this time of year at Nellis but here's a few snaps:

60-0001/LA B-52H 20th Bomb Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

10-5717/FT HC-130J 71st Rescue Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

88-1670/SJ F-15E 335th Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

88-0535/AV F-16C 555th Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

91-0379/SW/79FS F-16C 79th Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

04-4083/AK F-22A 3rd Wing Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

20-5609/HL F-35A 421st Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

166945/NL534 EA-18G VAQ-134 Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

170050/CF211 F-35B VMFA-211 Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

168530/NA611 MH-60S HSC-6 Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

ZK308 Typhoon FGR4 3 Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

ZZ335 Voyager KC3 10/101 Squadrons Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

A35-062 F-35A 75 Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

A35-054 F-35A 77 Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

There are now three Aggressor squadrons at Nellis: the 64th with F-16Cs, the 65th with F-35As (pooled with the 6th Weapons Squadron) and the 706th 'Cajuns', which is a reserve unit with former 457th Fighter Squadron F-16Cs. Only a few of theirs have been to the paint shop so far, but the ones that have are using an LV tail code.

86-0299/WA/57WG F-16C 64th Aggressor Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

This one was flying with the 64th, and is carrying an 'Angry Kitten' ECM pod, as is the one above

87-0292/DC F-16C 121st Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

This one appeared to be flown by the 65th, one of a pair using FLANKER callsigns

20-5587/WA F-35A 6th Weapons Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

86-0219/TX F-16C 457th Fighter Squadron Nellis AFB 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

85-1479/LV F-16C 706th Aggressor Squadron Nellis 25th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

To help with the dispersed operations there was a fleet of C-130s, including four unmarked C-130J-30s plus a number of ANG aircraft, which shuttled between Nellis and the other bases

(06-3171) C-130J-30 Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

(08-8603) C-130J-30 Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

There were also a number of C-17s in and out

07-7181 C-17A 437th Airlift Wing Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

09-9212 C-17A 437th Airlift Wing Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

On Friday 26th five Eglin F-15s turned up, including these two. They flew from Nellis during week three

20-0001/ET/40FTS F-15EX 40th Flight Test Squadron Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

20-0002/OT/53WG F-15EX 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

There was some other stuff, which may or may not have been involved with Red Flag

87-0367/AT F-16D ANG & AFRC Test Center Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

During week three a number of USMC AV-8Bs arrived, presumably for another exercise

166288/WP18 AV-8B+ VMA-223 Nellis AFB 31st January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

There have been a lot of changes with the based aircraft in recent times, the latest probably being the standing down of the HH-60G squadron. Now there are only a handful of HH-60Ws operated by the 34th Weapons Squadron and the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron

20-14500 HH-60W 34th Weapons Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

This used to be with the 16th Weapons Squadron

90-0839/OT F-16D 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron Nellis AFB 26th January 2024 by Chris Wood, on Flickr

As usual, more on my Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68498610@N03/

thats the place to be = great photos

Great set, Chris.

Lovely set, it brightens up a dull winter day for me!

Much as I love a Herc those anonymous grey ones are bland as hell...

Superb set, Chris

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

Lovely , cracking images .

Tiger Tiger and Growler flex's are great

Great set of photo's great to see 85-0479 good memories from RAF Bentwaters 527th AS

That's a bumper crop. That's for sharing.