A
S REPORTS FROM Crimea
suggest Russia is boosting
its forces in the region,
exercises like ‘Astral Knight
2019’ (AK19) are taking on
increasing signi cance.
Amid a raft of European exercises that
have been taking place, ‘Astral Knight’
ran from June 3-6 and was led by US Air
Forces in Europe (USAFE) at Aviano Air
Base, Italy, with participation from the
neighboring forces of Croatia, Germany
and Slovenia.
The aim was to exercise integrated
air and missile defense against key
locations, combining live ight
operations and virtual scenarios toenhance command and control of
overlapping land, air and maritime
battlespace. ‘We want to send the
message that the allies are prepared to
meet and defeat any threat to the US
and our partners,’ commented Lt Gen
Steven L. Basham, deputy commander
of US Air Forces in Europe — Air
Forces Africa.
Exercise planning sta member
Maj Robert Umholtz added, ‘In an
environment where our near-peer
competitors are rapidly developing
emerging air and missile threat
capabilities, from new manned and
unmanned aircraft systems to stealthy
cruise missiles, hypersonic glide vehiclesand advanced ballistic missiles, the
need to ensure our integrated air
missile defense enterprise is ready
becomes crucial.’A diverse team
The current Theater Security Package
(TSP) of F-35As from Hill AFB was heavily
involved in the exercise, alongside
the 31st Fighter Wing F-16C/Ds from
Aviano. A B-52H also ew one mission
direct from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare,
AM) F-35As, Euro ghter F-2000As
and a G550 conformal airborne early
warning (CAEW) aircraft operated
from Amendola, Istrana and PraticaIn early June, the US military worked alongside Croatia, Italy and Slovenia in an air integration exercise that saw
signifi cant participation by US and Italian F-35s. REPORT Giovanni Colla and Daniele FaccioliLeft:
An F-35A takes on
fuel from a 100th
Air Refueling Wing
KC-135R during
‘Astral Knight’ on
June 3. USAF/SrA
Kelly O’Connor
Above:
An impressive
‘Astral Knight’
photoshoot
staged over the
Adriatic Sea with
a 2nd Bomb Wing
B-52H leading US
and Italian F-35As
and USAF F-16Cs.
USAF/SSgt Joshua
R. M. Dewberryhttp://www.combataircraft.net // August 2019 65
64-67 Astral Knight C.indd 65 21/06/2019 12:58