In The Largest Of Its Kind Ever, 37 C-17 Globemaster III And 21 C-130 Hercules Airlifters Took Part In An Exercise Last Week

USAF

Warzone/The Drive: That Massive Cross-Country USAF Airlift Exercise Was the Largest of Its Kind, Ever

The service's latest Joint Forcible Entry Exercise looked like a particularly impressive spectacle, because it was.

Earlier in December 2017, Americans across the country looked up to see a steady stream of lights in the sky, which, as we were first to explain, was a huge formation of U.S. Air Force transport aircraft plodding their way to the Nevada Test and Training Range, or NTTR. But if the spectacle seemed particularly eye catching this time around, it’s because this particular iteration of what is known as a Joint Forcible Entry Exercise, or JFEX, was the largest one ever.

On the night of Dec. 9-10, 2017, a total of 37 C-17 Globemaster III and 21 C-130 Hercules airlifters took off for Nevada from a dozen bases around the United States as part of the capstone JFEX for the U.S. Air Force Weapons School Integration phase’s Class 17B. The simulated mission was to get into enemy territory and drop U.S. Army paratroopers, who would then establish a presence on the ground. Additional aircraft, including F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, flew support missions against the mock opposing forces. In total, more than 100 planes were involved in the exercise, making the biggest of its kind, according to an official Air Force article.

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WNU Editor: Now that is one big exercise.