The Air Force is replacing Eielson Air Force Base’s old fleet of F-16’s by upgraded versions of the fighter jet. Last week, the first two newer jets arrived.
Both the F-16 Fighting Falcons, which are about 35 years old each, are a few years older than the jets that they will replace. Importantly, the F-16s’ incoming F-16s are equipped with avionics that was updated nearly a decade ago, almost ten years after the last upgrade.
“So, it’s still a same airframe, engine,” said Lt. Col. Albert Roper of Eielson’s 18 th Aggressor Wing. “However with the upgrade in system capabilities, some of the software and processors have been replaced.”
Roper claims that the new jets will allow his unit to train U.S. pilots and allies better to combat adversaries’ advanced planes. These include so-called fifth-generation fighters comparable to Eielson’s F-35s or F-22s based at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson.
He said that “our daily training here is interaction avec local fifth-gen aircraft in the state of Alaska. Both F-22s down there at JBER, and then the F-35s at Eielson A Force Base in order to keep them operationally competent and combat-ready.”
Because Roper’s unit is known as the Aggressor Squadron, its pilots frequently play the role of enemies during annual training exercises out of Eielson or JBER, every year. Those include Red Flag and Northern Edge, both of which are conducted in the skies above the 65-thousand-square-mile Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, a series of ranges spread around the state.
He stated, “The mission and purpose of the Aggressors are to understand the threat.” “We communicate that threat to our combat aircraftcrews and partner nations. Then we reproduce that threat in our aircraft.”
Roper said that the training will continue for the F-16s in the coming months. Roper says that during this time, two to three newer F-16s will be arriving every few weeks. Two or three older jets will then fly their final missions at the Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
He said that “hopefully, the transition’s been finished and we’ve got the newer jets here and all the others are down in Boneyard mothballed away.”
Roper stated that all 19 F-16s in the squadron will be replaced by newer jets.
