Bakersfield.com

larger view larger view larger view larger view larger view larger view larger view larger view larger view

NELLIS AFB - AUG 18-21, 2008:

High heat and humidity couldn’t stop the usual group of diehard aviation photographers from attending the fourth Red Flag of fiscal year 2008 at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nv. The highlight this time around was the presence of eight Russian-built Su-30MKI fighters and three Ilyushin 76s brought over by the Indian Air Force. Developed jointly by Sukhoi and India, six of the lethal-looking, versatile Su-30s flew, with the other two apparently on stand-by as spares. Other foreign guests included F-15K, or ‘Slam’ Eagles (a new version of the Strike Eagle) from the Republic of Korea’s 122^nd fighter squadron, and a few French Dassault Rafales. American participants included F-15E Strike Eagles from Lakenheath, England, C-model Eagles from Eglin AFB, A-model F-15s from Jacksonville, Florida’s 125th fighter wing (159^th fighter squadron ‘Jaguars’) of the Air National Guard; EA6B Prowlers, an E-3 Sentry from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, KC-135s from the 319^th Air Refueling Wing at Grand Forks AFB; and several Misawa, Japan-based, 35^th fighter wing’s F-16CJ Wild Weasels (of the 13^th / 14^th fighter squadrons, the ‘Panthers’ and ‘Samurais’). Playing the ‘red team’, were the usual ‘bad guys’ from the Nellis aggressor squadrons, the 64^th and 65^th, who fly C and D models of the F-16 and F-15 respectively, were, of course, out there to teach some valuable lessons to the ‘blue team’.

Noticeably absent from this round, was the F-22 Raptor. Originally scheduled to fly in this Red Flag, the Raptors were eventually scratched from the flying schedule.Some say it was because the government wanted to prevent a certain radar information from possibly getting back to the Russians, others claim it was because of how well the Indian AF pilots did against the US last time they flew against each other. As it turned out, the Indians disallowed themselves from using that particular type of radar in the war games. Other aircraft present, but participating in separate ‘Air Warrior’ exercises were F/A-18E Hornets from VFA-143 ‘Pukin Dogs’ and both C / E model Hornets from VFA-83, the ‘Rampagers’. Several Seymour Johnson-based F-15Es were present as well. The USAF fighter weapons school was very active with many of their F-15s and F-16s using the Nellis ranges; and the “OT” tail coded Eagles and Vipers, including some from Eglin AFB, were flying as well.

The Red Flag exercises at Nellis AFB provide realistic air-to-air, air-to-ground, as well as search & rescue training for American and allied pilots during several periods each year. This was the first time that South Korea and the Indian Air Forces have participated in Red Flag. The original Su-30 was designed as an air defense fighter, but this newer MKI version is a long range, multi role, air superiority strike fighter.The SU-30s are from Lohegaon Air Base, near Pune. (thanks to Richard for confirming that info for me). India plans to deploy them to Tezpur Air Base, near their border with China, by December 2008.