U.S., Australian militaries demonstrate rapid, long-distance airstrike capabilities
September 04, 2020 Defense Feed
This report originally publishes at marines.mil.
DARWIN, Australia —
The U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force and Australian Defence Force took a major step toward multinational interoperability as a combined task force during a major training scenario throughout August.
The scenario focused on a small naval expeditionary force’s ability to rapidly deploy, integrate with foreign partners, coordinate airstrikes and call for close air support on targets within contested environments.
Marine Rotational Force – Darwin and Australian Army joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) worked alongside Australian Army Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters and Marine Corps RQ-21A Blackjacks to identify and surveil notional targets. The staffs coordinated airstrikes from U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers with the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and B-2 Spirit stealth bombers with the 393rd Bomb Squadron, before passing those same aircraft to tactical units to conduct close air support.
https://americanmilitarynews.com/ai/u-s-australian-militaries-demonstrate-rapid-long-distance-airstrike-capabilities-2/
