The US military completed Northern Edge 17, its premier annual joint exercise in Alaska, on Friday. The exercise began May 1 and brought 6,000 personnel and more than 200 aircraft to locations around the state to practice interoperability. A rich complement of aircraft participated in the event, including the F-22, F-15E, F-16C, F-35B, F/A-18D, EA-6B, KC-135, and KC-10. Northern Edge is “a unique exercise because it’s a chance for the Department of Defense to test new capabilities of current platforms against new and emerging threats,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Moeller, 13th Fighter Squadron commander, according to a press release. “Northern Edge gives us the opportunity to really practice the tactics, techniques and procedures that we would need in order to fight in such a vast Pacific Ocean theater,” said USMC Lt. Col. Stephen Driskill, US Strategic Command’s chief of staff at the Joint Electromagnetic Preparedness for Advanced Combat, in a previous release.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.