USAF AGGRESSOR SQUADRON TAKES PART IN EXERCISE COPE NORTH 17

The F-16 aggressors engage in aerial combat with other participating aircraft to allow them to increase the combat readiness.

USAF F-16 Fighting Falcons, assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron

The USAF 18th Aggressor Squadron took part in the 2017 edition of the exercise Cope North. It is a subordinate unit of the 354th Fighter Wing based at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, and flies the Block 30 General Dynamics F-16C/D aircraft.

Coper North 17 was organized by U.S. Pacific Air Forces in Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The main purporse of the annual exercise is to train U.S., Australian and Japanese forces in air combat missions and to increase the interoperatbility between the three nations thanks to the large force employment.

The typical role of the aggressor squadron or adversary squadron (in the US Navy and USMC) is to get the part of the enemy during the air combat trainings. Aggressor squadrons use enemy tactics, techniques, and procedures to give a realistic simulation of air combat.

Aggressor aircraft in the United States are typically painted in colorful camouflage schemes, matching the colors of many Soviet aircraft and contrasting with the gray colors used in most operational US combat aircraft.

Camouflage schemes that consist of many shades of blue (similar to those used in Russian fighters) or of green and mostly-light brown (similar to the colors used in many Middle Eastern countries' combat aircraft) are most common.

Source, Photo credits: U.S. Air Force