Orange Flag

An F-35 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are joined by an F-15E Strike Eagle and F-22 Raptor from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., along with a Navy F-18 Hornet from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., Dec. 13, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

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Orange Flag

An F-35 and F-16 from Edwards Air Force Base are joined by an F-15E and F-22 from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, along with a Navy F-18 from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, Dec. 31. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

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Orange Flag

A KC-10 Extender aerial refueling tanker from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., flies alongside an F-35 Lightning II from the 461st Flight Test Squadron as part of the fourth Orange Flag test event this year, Dec. 13, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

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Orange Flag

An F-35 Lighting II and F-16 Fighting Falcon from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are joined by an F-15E Strike Eagle and F-22 Raptor from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., along with a Navy F-18 Hor from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., Dec. 13, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

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Joining forces: Test team completes fourth Orange Flag of 2018

Published Dec. 20, 2018
By Kenji Thuloweit
412th Test Wing Public Affairs

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- In the skies above California, an F-35 Lightning II and F-16 Fighting Falcon from Edwards Air Force Base, are joined by an F-15E Strike Eagle and F-22 Raptor from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, along with a Navy F-18 Hornet from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

The Orange Flag Evaluation Team executed its fourth successful event Dec. 13. Orange Flag, developed by the 412th Operations Group, evaluates teamwork across the sister services to integrate joint forces across a wide range of mission areas. The events enable the test community to capture data to assess the interoperability of multiple aircraft platforms in an environment outside of traditional Edwards testing.

“The latest event involved a total of 18 aircraft in six combat-relevant test tasks and experiments,” said Maj. Christopher Campbell, Air Force Test Center, Orange Flag Evaluation Director.

In addition to the fighters, B-52 Stratofortress, B-2 Spirit and B-1 Lancer bombers participated along with KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender aerial refueling tankers.

Campbell said the team will analyze the data collected and apply it to develop new air power capabilities.