Joint forces partake in Arctic Challenge

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Christopher Mesnard
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ØRLAND, Norway --  Dozens of aircraft climbing into the sky to "fight" alongside their allies against a common enemy may seem like a scene out of a movie, but that is exactly what took place Sept. 16, 2013, just north of the Arctic Circle.

Following one of the largest movements of 48th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle aircraft since Operation Allied Force, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, along with a multi-national Scandinavian collaboration, kicked off the first-ever Arctic Challenge exercise over Norway.

Norwegian F-16 Fighting Falcons, Swedish JAS-39 Gripens, Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and U.K. Eurofighter Typhoons took to the skies with U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft to train in a joint environment. They incorporated both strategic planning and tactical war-fighting simulations, practicing in-flight maneuvers and communication strategies with each other.

"(Our) air force has, in periods, had the need to train (in) bigger scenarios with more aircraft, and this is difficult in Norway with only our own planes at (our) disposal," said Col. Baid Solheim, Main Air Station Bodø base commander. "Before the cross-border training, we had to deploy to foreign, far-away countries to fly against other types of aircraft. (Now) we fly directly from Bodø. In this way, it's very efficient in costs."

The Arctic Challenge exercise focuses on bringing the Scandinavian nations, the U.S. and the U.K. together in the air, to challenge their pilots to react quickly and work together to achieve common goals. During times of maximum participation, more than 60 aircraft are expected to partake in the scenarios.

"During this exercise, we will face almost every scenario that could be seen in any war or conflict," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Rich Stringer, 494th Fighter Squadron assistant director of operations and lead project officer for the 48th FW's participation in the exercise. The aircraft will take turns as the "aggressors" and will be tested on how they can respond to a variety of scenarios, according to Stringer.

The purpose of this exercise is to train air forces to operate cohesively. The Arctic Challenge exercise, in particular, allows multiple nations to perform aerial operations simultaneously, give critical feedback on how to improve processes, and become a more efficient and effective force-especially in a multi-national environment.

"These exercises provide U.S. and NATO forces (and regional partners) an opportunity to integrate their operations at both the tactical and strategic levels with a high level of fidelity that could not otherwise be achieved without live-fly exercises," said Capt. Timothy Gerne, 100th Operations Support Squadron chief of wing weapons and tactics and director of operations for the 100th Air Refueling Wing portion of the exercise. "Similar to a Red Flag exercise, large force numbers and multi-national integration, the benefits of hosting (this exercise) locally allows us and our allies to focus resources toward operations."

Airmen from RAF Mildenhall combined the exercise with a simulated deployment. The movement tested many assets in U.S. Air Forces in Europe including airlift, medical, legal and financial services.

"This exercise improves the readiness of everyone because of the variety of scenarios and the high level of skill that we are flying with and against," said Stringer. "The (Finnish), (Swedish), British, and Norwegians are all very skilled aviators and have very competent forces."

The Arctic Challenge exercise is scheduled to continue until Sept. 26, before culminating in a final scenario testing pilots on their ability to operate in a diverse force.

(Editor's note: Follow the day-to-day coverage of the Arctic Challenge exercise on Twitter at #ACE13.)