Republic of Singapore Air Force to join US air combat exercise.

According to information published by the Singaporean MoD on March 11, 2022, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will be participating in Exercise Red Flag – Nellis, an advanced multilateral air combat exercise hosted by the United States Air Force (USAF) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, United States.

Follow Air Recognition on Google News at this link

The Republic of Singapore Air Force's F-16C/D fighter aircraft arrives at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada (Picture source: Ministry of Defense of Singapore)

Held from 7 to 18 March 2022 (US time), the exercise will see participating air forces engage in a series of realistic and challenging air-to-air and air-to-ground training missions under day and night conditions in complex scenarios to hone their combat readiness and sharpen their operational capabilities.

The RSAF will be deploying nine F-16C/D fighter aircraft and more than 100 personnel from its Peace Carvin II detachment in Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, to participate in the exercise.

The exercise will also involve the Royal Saudi Air Force's F-15SA fighter aircraft as well as the USAF's F-15E, F-16C, EA-18G fighter aircraft and B-1 bomber aircraft. A total of about 55 aircraft will be involved in the large-scale air combat exercise.

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft.

Early F-16s could be armed with up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking short-range air-to-air missiles (AAM) by employing rail launchers on each wingtip, as well as radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range AAMs in a weapons mix.