NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — Taxiing toward the Nellis Air Force Base runway on a morning in early March was one of the most impressive gatherings of combat aircraft in the world. In numbers and sophistication, the procession taking off that day was more than a match for the most potent enemy threat.
But the aircraft hurtling down the runway weren’t pointed at Tehran or Pyongyang, and it wasn’t war — they were pointed toward the casinos of the Las Vegas Strip and it was just another day at Red Flag.
Yet, something significant was happening. The nearly 100 aircraft from 21 bases in three nations — 30 more aircraft than last year — were testing the most far-reaching changes in the combat exercise’s more-than-30-year history.
The exercise expanded from two weeks to three weeks for the first time, and instead of a series of primarily air-to-air sorties, planners reshaped Red Flag into a simulated air campaign that more closely mirrors how a real war would unfold. Stealth aircraft were sent in first to defeat the most advanced threats, and then legacy aircraft were dispatched to destroy easier targets and support troops on the ground.
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