Indian Sukhoi's enroute to Red Flag '08

 Red Flag '08

Philip Stevens reports: Exercise 'Red Flag 08-4' - Russian Fighters over Nevada




Ilyushin IL-76MD 'Candid' (K-2661) returning to Nellis
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 1/500th f.8 -1/3 stop exposure compensation.

Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) in Nevada is the home of the US Air Force Warfare Centre (USAFWC), tasked with training pilots to become the best combat aviators in the world. The USAFWC has at its disposal every aircraft in the air force's inventory with the huge Nellis Air Force Range (NAFR) just to the north of the airfield. Divided now into two zones, north and south, the NAFR is the largest US range covering some 4,700 square miles. A larger area of 14,800 square miles, which is half the size of Scotland, is available for military flying operations. The NAFR contains dummy airfields, unprepared runways, Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites, Surface to Surface Missiles (SSM), Anti-aircraft artillery and bunkers, in fact everything you would expect in a war zone. The training is conducted with air and ground units of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Many allied nations are also able to train at Nellis, it is vital that the Allied coalition forces as seen during both Gulf Wars, are able to fly and fight together as one seamless unit.


the photos from: http://www.targeta.co.uk/red_flag08-4_indian.htm

Su-30MKI 'Flanker-H' (SB046) lifting off from one of Nellis parallel runways

Sukhoi Su-30MKI 'Flanker-H' (SB042) flown by 20 Squadron ('Lightnings') departs with a with a Litening III advanced targeting pod fitted.