RCAF Hawks get new lease on life as maintenance trainers

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) fleet of CT-155 Hawk jets is being repurposed for a new training role. After nearly 24 years serving as advanced jet trainers for pilots, the Hawks are being retired from flying duties due to their limitations in preparing pilots for modern fighter jets like the CF-35A.

BAE Hawk CT-155 Alliance Air Show 2014 04
Balon Greyjoy, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Alabama’s Red Tails debut F-35s in Air National Guard’s Sentry Savannah Exercise

The 187th Fighter Wing (187 FW), also known as the “Red Tails,” participated in Sentry Savannah 2024, a major U.S. Air National Guard exercise held from May 4th to 16th, at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Georgia. This marked the unit’s first exercise deployment with their recently acquired F-35A Lightning II fighter jets.

A squad of F-35A Lightning II fighter jets from the 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard prepare to taxi on the flight line at The Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Ga., May 8, 2024. The 187th Fighter Wing participated in their first exercise with the newly acquired fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

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Grand Forks Air Force Base soars to new record with 34.8 hours Global Hawk flight

The 348th Reconnaissance Squadron at Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) has successfully extended the operational range of the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft, achieving a record-breaking flight time of 34.8 hours. This accomplishment surpasses both the previous unit record of 34.4 hours and the manufacturer’s record of 30 hours and 24 minutes.

An U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk logs over 20,000 flight hours Feb. 13, 2018 at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates. The Global Hawk’s mission is to provide a broad spectrum of ISR collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class D. Blake Browning)

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