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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 0035.PDF
fLIGHT International, 5 January 1980 33 Hill offers ideal terrain and weather for uninterrupted F-16 training. The first F-16 squadron—/6th Tactical Fighter Squadron—is tasked with training US Air Force F-16 pilots. Another training unit will be established at Hill and two more at MacDill AFB, Florida Multinational Operational Test and Evaluation (Mote) at Hill is being conducted by five US and seven Euro pean Participating Group (EPG) pilots. They use two US F-16s and four EPG aircraft, two each from the Netherlands and Belgium. By the end of November they had conducted 850 missions, 600 for crew training and 250 testing the aircraft and develop ing tactics. Hill is ideally suited for this type of unique training. Located about 4,500ft above sea level in the high area of northern Utah, with 9,500ft high peaks in the vicinity, it offers clear air for visibility. Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, the location for the Red Flag exercises which test Western style operations against real or simulated Russian defences, is a short flight away. The Mote force has par ticipated in two exercises and will take part in another in the spring. "We have a great deal of vertical airspace, unlike Europe, and there is no high humidity, also unlike Europe, so we can test everything about a fighter, including air refuelling," a Mote official tells Flight. When the Mote cadre is fully trained in the US it will move to Europe to com plete development of doctrine. Mote began at Hill last January and the European stage will begin next June, lasting six months. Six weeks will be spent in each of the four countries. Between January and March this year the team will begin full-scale testing of various air-to-air and air- to-ground weapons on the aircraft. Among the tests scheduled are firings Four F-I6s visited Europe during 1979 to acquaint the European air forces with their new mount and to see if it would fit in their garages. Modifications resulting from the visit are said to be slight of AIM-9J and AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles at QF-102 target drones over White Sands missile test range, New Mexico. American crews and supervisors are "enthusiastic over the programme. They are developing common tactics and interfacing them between the different air forces. In wartime they could work and fly as a team with much less preparation time. In peace time it is a good opportunity to learn the other guy's rules, regulations and problems." This benefit is increased by having Mote at Hill. It is the home base of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, the first US Air Force squadron to re ceive F-16s. The 50 or so aircraft located there conduct operations with the Mote fliers on the Air Com bat Manoeuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) range at Nellis. The ACMI is unique as far as is known among the world's air forces. Because of its computerisation and heavy instrumen tation it can provide results of a tac tical weapons delivery almost in stantly. "It really saves in time and money." Language has not been a problem in the flight training, he says. "Fighter crews speak a common lan guage, a lot of abbreviated termino logy on the radio, so we haven't had any great problems. We continually exchange information and they have some good ideas. We've adopted some. This is the most realistic training any where in the world and it's good mutual training. I'd like to see more programmes like this; there are many positive benefits." The Israeli Air Force is sending a
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