Tucson residents may see some unfamiliar aircraft flying in and out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base β including a U-2 spy plane, a Reaper drone or a Chinook helicopter β over the next couple weeks, as the base hosts exercise Red Flag-Rescue 23-2 through Aug. 18.
Red Flag-Rescue is the Department of Defenseβs main combat search and rescue exercise, providing advanced, realistic training in simulated degraded and operationally-limited environments, D-M said.
The exercise is held twice annually, exclusively at D-M, and often includes different service branches and allied nations.
The aircraft operating out of D-M will fly exercises in military training areas located across Southern Arizona and New Mexico.
Red Flag Rescue 23-2, which began Thursday, Aug. 3, includes D-Mβs A-10 Lightning II close air-support jets.
But comparatively louder fighter jets, like the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-35 Thunderbolt II, will not be participating, according to a list of participants supplied by D-M.
An E-3 Sentry (AWACS) from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., taxis on the flight line at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in May 2015, when eight AWACS arrived at D-M to avoid tornadoes in Oklahoma.Β
Red Flag will also feature variants of Lockheedβs workhorse Hercules C-130 transport plane, including the HC-130J Combat King II rescue support plane and the EC-130 Compass Call electronic-combat plane, which are based at D-M, as well as the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship used by Air Force Special Operations forces.
Aside from aircraft normally based at D-M, also including the HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopter, examples of participating aircraft include: the MQ-9 Reaper drone; the CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopter; the KC-135 Stratotanker; the E-3 Sentry (AWACS) surveillance plane, the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane, the C-12 Huron small transport, and the Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopter, which is operated by about 60 countries and was originally purchased by the U.S. for the Afghan air forces.
A U-2 Dragon Lady flies over Kadena Air Base Jan. 23, 2019. The U-2 is a single-jet engine aircraft capable of providing day and night, high altitude all-weather intelligence gathering.
Follow D-Mβs coverage of the training at dm.af.mil or on Instagram @davismonthan_afb.
Performers get in a day's worth of rehearsals before the weekend's Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona at Davis-Manthan Air Force Base, March 24, 2023. Video Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
