During Red Flag 25-3, the Dyess AFB crews acted as both the “Blue Air,” carrying out the “friendly strike roles,” as well as the “Red Air,” where they served in the adversary roles.
Last month, Rockwell B-1B Lancers from the 9th Bomb Squadron, the “Bats,” were deployed from Dyess Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, to Nellis AFB, Nevada, to take part in the Red Flag-Nellis 25-3 combat training exercises. It marked the first time in three years that Lancers had taken part in the training event.
An undisclosed number of the long-range strategic bombers employed what the United States Air Force described as a “hybrid operations model” that combined long-range sorties from the home station, with forward mission planning carried out at Nellis. It was meant to highlight the Cold War aircraft’s continued “operational agility,” notably during vulnerability periods (VULs), the part of a strike mission in “contested, high-threat environments,” the service further explained. During the exercise, the B-1Bs, which flew from Texas to Nevada, faced threats from a simulated enemy…