Defense
US Air Force/Master Sgt. Larry E. Reid Jr.
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska takes flight during exercise COPE North 20 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, February 19, 2020.
- US Air Force F-16s from Alaska are in Guam this month to take part in Cope North 2020.
- Unlike other F-16s though, these are part of the 18th Aggressor Squadron, meaning they have to get in the mind of the enemy to put other US pilots to test.
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ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam - Twelve Soviet-style blue, black and forest flanker-themed F-16 Fighting Falcons took flight from a frigid 20-below-zero airfield in the Alaskan frontier to traverse the Pacific to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to unleash havoc during exercise Cope North 2020 (CN20), February 12-28.
Operating in the mindset of the enemy, the 18th Aggressor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, is here to employ adversarial tactics to prepare US and partner-nation aircrews for tomorrow's victories through challenging, realistic threat replication and training.
This year's iteration of CN20 brings together more than 100 aircraft and 2,100 military personnel from the US, Japan and Australia.
"It's a pleasure to stand here on this strategic rock with our strategic partners - Japan and the United States of America," said Royal Australian Air Force Group Captain Hinton Tayloe, CN20 exercise director. "Cope North is a collective demonstration of our readiness and resolve to live by our higher principles."