The RSAF Returns to the World's Premier Air Combat Exercise in US

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The RSAF Returns to the World's Premier Air Combat Exercise in US

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will be participating in Exercise Red Flag - Nellis at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, United States (US), from 9 to 23 Mar 2019. The RSAF will deploy six F-15SG fighter aircraft and more than 100 personnel from its Peace Carvin V detachment in Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to participate in this large-scale air combat exercise. Hosted by the United States Air Force (USAF), other international participants in this year's exercise include Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Exercise Red Flag – Nellis is a high intensity air-to-air combat exercise involving close to 80 aircraft, including high-end fighter aircraft. Aside from the RSAF's F-15SG fighter aircraft, the exercise involves F-16 fighter aircraft from Belgium, the Netherlands, the UAE and the US, the Netherlands' KDC-10 tanker aircraft, Norway's F-35 fighter aircraft, Saudi Arabia's F-15SA fighter aircraft as well as the US' F-15E and EA-18G fighter aircraft, B-1 bomber, E-3 and E-8 surveillance aircraft, HC-130 airlift aircraft, KC-135 tanker aircraft and MQ-9 unmanned combat aerial vehicles. 

Over the two-week exercise period, the participating countries will engage in a series of realistic and challenging air-to-air and air-to-ground training missions, conducted in both day and night environments, where USAF's F-16 fighter aircraft will play the role of an adversarial force to increase the realism of the exercise scenarios. 

The RSAF has been participating in Exercise Red Flag – Nellis since 1982. The exercise underscores the excellent and long-standing defence relationship between Singapore and the United States. The exercise enhances professionalism and interoperability among the participating forces and provides valuable training opportunities for the RSAF airmen and women to hone their combat readiness, sharpen their operational competencies, and benchmark the RSAF against other leading air forces.