David Pugliese
Canadian special forces, along with their counterparts from Australia as well as U.S. military took part in live-fire joint exercise in California involving aircraft, drones and a U.S. Navy cruiser.
The second annual Phoenix Fire allowed for what the U.S. military is calling a realistic warfighting exercise providing Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) the ability to control a multitude of assets providing air-to-surface and surface-to-surface close air support (CAS) fires.
The exercise used the U.S. Navy’s Southern California Offshore Range.
Participants included JTACs from the 116th ASOS, 6th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO), Canadian Special Operations Forces (CANSOF), Special Operations Command Australia (AUSOF), and 60MM mortars from the 1st Marine Logistics Group, according to a new report of the event by Lieutenant Commander Rebekah Hall
, who is with the public affairs branch at Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) Weapons School Pacific. The training ended Sept. 22.
Air assets included HSC Wing Pacific MH-60S squadrons, MH-60R Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadrons (HSM), F/A-18 Super Hornet Strike Fighter Squadrons (VFA) and EA-18G Electronic Attack Squadrons (VAQ), F-35B Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons (VMFA), U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reapers, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force with F-35A Lightning II.
The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) provided Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS). Firing took place at land-based targets on the island, one expendable high-speed maneuverable surface target (HSMST), and multiple towed targets.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-and-australian-special-forces-u-s-military-conduct-live-fire-exercise-involving-f-35s-super-hornets-drones
