USAF holds a "TOP GUN" for MQ-9 Reaper pilots.

 

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  Published April 22, 2022
• By Capt. Stephen J. Collier
• 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) --  

Nearly 45 MQ-9 Reaper crews from across the United States entered Creech Air Force Base’s flight simulators April 6-7. And only one crew emerged on top.

Testing these remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators, exercise Reaper Smoke 2022 pitted dozens of aircrews against each other from more than 35 separate squadrons for the chance to be known throughout the RPA community as simply: the best.

Now in its third iteration, Reaper Smoke evaluates crews on a number of criteria, to include crew resource management, weapons precision, team coordination, and Airmanship. And according to Lt. Col. Brent, 17th Attack Squadron chief of Current Operations and mission commander for this year’s exercise, each criteria was specifically identified because of their critical importance to everyday, real-world mission requirements.

“Our Airmen executed a complex tactical plan with minimal time to prepare, by relying on core RPA skills necessary to execute our mission, anytime, anywhere,” Brent said. “Reaper Smoke embodies a variety of tactical requirements that RPA crews should be able to perform and will likely need to perform in a near-peer fight.”

To kick off the event, aircrews gaggled together at the base’s Owl’s Nest community center to hear opening remarks from visiting Brig. Gen. Stewart Hammons, Air Force director of RPA and Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities, and one of the service’s top RPA advocates. Hammons highlighted to the aircrews how important it was to continue honing their skills so they’re ready to answer the call from combatant commanders at any time. The notion resonated with Senior Airman Coby, an MQ-9 sensor operator with the 15th Attack Squadron “Pigeons”.

“I thought it was pretty fun,” said Coby on his involvement in Reaper Smoke. “We got to take a break from what our regular operations are at the squadron. When you look at the overall impact, it was very rewarding.”

Soon after, the crews circulated in and out of the base’s RPA simulator building. Each crew had loaded a pre-scripted mission for each to be graded equally on. This meant crews had to focus on operational planning prior to their missions, then had to perform as flawlessly as possible coordinating a simulated strike. Lastly, crews would be graded on the accuracy of their strike, with evaluators capturing scores behind the scenes.

And with a final score of 65 out of 160, this year’s Reaper Smoke top crew was Capt. Spencer and Tech. Sgt. Nick, representing the 138th Attack Squadron with the New York Air National Guard.

Reaper Smoke was also a bit of a reunion for many pilots and sensor operators, as crews from coast-to-coast interacted with one another, sharing stories and learning from each other along the way.

“I have seen people I went to (Initial Qualification Training) with at other squadrons who went to other bases,” Coby said. “In talking to them, it’s been crazy to hear about the different experiences we’ve already had in such a short amount of time.”

Commenting on the impact of the exercise, Hammons believes the Reaper Smoke exercise aims to accomplish three critical areas for the RPA community: hone skills, build camaraderie, and bring together RPA Airmen as a tightknit community.

“First and foremost, Reaper Smoke allows us to hone some of the tactical acumen our crews have that are inherent to their training programs. But then we have an opportunity to take that training to another level in a friendly competition event, and I believe competition builds a great deal of camaraderie,” Hammons explained. “You’re going to walk away meeting people in the RPA enterprise you’ve never worked with before. You’re going to have conversations about what one base is doing that no one else was tracking, and that’s exactly how we start building out advanced tactics, techniques and procedures. And third, it’s a way for the community to come together and celebrate our victories and our losses and figure out, as a community, just how to be better.”

Brent made it clear Reaper Smoke wasn’t just about being a tactical competition, it was about growing the RPA community.

“We want to keep growing our culture and our community. We want to keep making this a rewarding place for people to serve and excel,” he said. “The RPA Community is a privilege to be a part of and we want members to build authentic, sincere and genuine relationships with one another and to take care of each other.”

Next year’s Reaper Smoke competition is slated to take place in Syracuse, New York.

More mystery explosions in Russia.

A fire has erupted at a key Russian oil depot and a second military site near the Ukrainian border, Russian authorities said early Monday.

Social media accounts based in Russia’s Bryansk region shared footage of what they described as explosions and a fire at the Transneft-Druzhba depot. The state-run oil export company’s subsidiary runs one of the world’s longest oil pipelines from Russia to Europe.

Emergency services dispatched fire and rescue crews to the site at 2:00 a.m. Moscow time, the Emergencies Ministry’s regional branch said in a since-deleted statement.

It later told state-run news agencies there were no casualties and no plans to evacuate residents. Bryansk-based social media accounts showed thick clouds of smoke and emergency crews still arriving at the site after sunriseEmergency services told the RIA Novosti news agency that another site it declined to identify has also been engulfed in the fiState television later reported that the first location was a civilian facility housing 10,000 tons of fuel and the second a military site with 5,000 tons.

It was not immediately clear whether the fires less than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border were related to the war in Ukraine. Bryansk serves as a logistics base for Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. 

Are Ukranian Spec Ops forces causing havoc in Russia? Two fires near Moscow at strategic facilities may be an indicator.

(Reuters/various sources ) - Six people were killed on Thursday after a blaze broke out at a defense research institute in the Russian city of Tver about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Moscow, Russian news agencies quoted local authorities as saying.

The authorities said 27 people had been injured. TASS news agency reported, citing emergency services, that at least 10 people were missing.

Footage from the scene circulating on Russian social media showed thick smoke and flames billowing from the institute's windows. There was no official word on what caused the fire.

The institute is engaged in aerospace research, including on a unified air defense system for the CIS bloc of former Soviet republics, according to the Russian defense ministry's website.

Just hours later a blaze broke out at Russia's largest chemical plant east of Moscow.
Huge plumes of smoke were seen enveloping the Dmitrievsky Chemical Plant late this afternoon.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Almost 150 plant workers were reportedly evacuated.

The facility in Kineshma, east of Moscow produces more industrial solvents than any other in Russia.

It is less than 1,000km from the border with Ukraine.

Anti-Putin racecar driver Igor Sushko tweeted footage of the latest fire and wrote: 'This is the largest Russian manufacturer of chemical solvents. Located 250 miles EAST of Moscow.

'We are beginning to see a pattern develop.'

The Dmitrievsky blaze follows a deadly fire around lunchtime at a top secret Ministry of Defence research facility in Tver, west of the Russian capital.

Amid nuclear tensions Russia tests a new ICBM

 

MOSCOW — The Russian Defense Ministry reported the first launch of its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. President Vladimir Putin said this weapon is unique and will make those who threaten Russia “think twice.”

The ministry said said the missile was launched Wednesday from the Plesetsk launch facility in northern Russia and its practice warheads hit designated targets at the Kura firing range on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Sarmat is a heavy missile, intended to replace the Soviet-made Voyevoda missile which was code-named Satan by the West. Putin and his officials said it’s capable of penetrating any prospective missile defense. 

Putin called this “a big, significant event” for Russia’s defense industry. He said the Sarmat will ensure Russia’s security from external threats and make those who, in the heat of frantic, aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice.”

Russia relies on land-based ICBMs as the core of its nuclear deterrent, and is counting on the Sarmat for decades to come.

The U.S. has its own ICBMs, but postponed and then called off an intercontinental nuclear-capable missile test to avoid escalating tensions with Russia.

Exercise Agile Tiger concludes - real world success for stealth aircraft.

By 2nd Lt. Kristi Stiles
509th Bomb Wing Public AffairsWHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFNS) --

Whiteman Air Force Base concluded the first iteration of Exercise Agile Tiger, designed to improve joint warfighter lethality through high fidelity mission planning, execution and debrief.

The exercise enhanced participants’ ability to communicate, collaborate and operate together, ensuring unity of effort across the joint force.

Over the course of four days, 15 active duty, Reserve and National Guard units from across the Department of Defense collaborated in multiple DoD airspaces, made up of thousands of square miles, across the Midwest to train. Fighters, bombers, refuelers and other support units launched from six bases daily to engage in interoperability training missions.

Realistic interoperability training like Exercise Agile Tiger is critical for real-world success. As the first iteration, this exercise is an investment national defense.

“I’m pretty impressed with the team here for coming up with this on their own. This is the true definition of innovative Airmen: seeing the need for something and making it happen,” said Col. Daniel Diehl, 509th Bomb Wing commander. “By bringing all the different players here, we can see where the gaps and seams in our training are, how our Airmen need to innovate in order to win in the future, and take those lessons and start applying them.”

xercise Agile Tiger tests operational unpredictability through Agile Combat Employment concepts. Applying ACE concepts to training creates an adaptable, prepared joint force to credibly deter adversaries, assure allies and partners, and be prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.

“The operational environment is defined by new challenges and modern capabilities,” said Maj. Gen. Andrew Gebara, 8th Air Force and Joint-Global Strike Operations Center commander. “Our agile combat employment efforts provide on-call combat operations around the globe. Agile, back-to-basics training gets us to where we need to be. This exercise proves we are able to seamlessly integrate with other weapons systems in the field when called upon. We will remain always ready to compete, deter and win.”

A key objective of the exercise is to replicate and predict real-world scenarios. From mission conception to execution, including more units with varied capabilities allows for a higher degree of realism.

Operators and intelligence Airmen designed complex scenarios to mimic contested combat environments, both in the air and on the ground. A-10C Thunderbolt II, UH-60 Black Hawk and Joint Terminal Attack Controller units engaged in advanced survival, evasion, resistance, and escape scenarios. Pilots collaborated through high-fidelity mission planning, crafting their best attack plan. Once in the air, B-2 Spirits and F-35 Lightning IIs integrated with B-1 Lancers and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft for coordinated attacks including long-range stand-off munitions.

Throughout the exercise, on-going communication and operability is critical. The E-3 Sentry provided a real-time threat picture and coordination of the battlespace. Additionally, numerous air refueling wings across the nation ensured the mission capability of all aircraft by operating the KC-135 Stratotanker, the KC-46A Pegasus and a KC-10 Extender, staged out of Whiteman AFB.

Challenging the participants’ capabilities in simulated combat environments sparks innovative thinking, to increase their survivability and combat lethality. Exercise Agile Tiger demonstrates the greatest American combat advantage is not only our technology, but in our creative service members’ ability to adapt, work together, and overcome adversity … anytime, anywhere.

“It’s important for me as the wing commander to ensure that the B-2 maintains its competitive advantage for years to come,” Diehl said. “We are still the leading edge of the fight, as it needs to be. We are still making sure that we are the force that can fight tonight, and the more opportunity we provide to have realistic training scenarios ensures we can maintain that competitive advantage.”