JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers conducted a bilateral integrated training mission with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as part of Exercise Lightning Focus over the northern coast of Australia, Nov. 27.
An RAAF-led exercise, Lightning Focus is the largest international air forces exercise in Australia. Scheduled to run through Dec. 2, the exercise is intended to provide air-to-air training for pilots, weapons system officers and air battle managers, strengthening military-to-military relationships with our allies and partners
During the mission, the B-1B bomber took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and transitioned the south Pacific, where they maintained contact with RAAF JTACS on the ground. Upon completion of the mission, the Lancers landed at RAAF Base Amberley, Australia.
The training is being conducted as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) between the U.S. and Australia. Led by U.S. Pacific Command, EAC allows the U.S. Department of Defense and the Australian Defence Force to build upon their individual and combined capabilities and advance interoperability between the nations.