Aviation Nation 2016: 75 Years of Airpower – Part II

Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada is home to numerous USAF squadrons so plenty of interesting and diverse aircraft were on static display at Aviation Nation 2016 including combat aircraft, aggressor aircraft, training aircraft, electronic reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters. The USAF, US Army, US Coast Guard and private training providers such as Draken International all had aircraft on static display. As you can see some aircraft were barricaded (normally combat aircraft) and others were swamped by people!

US Army Beechcraft RC-12 Huron Special Electronic Mission Aircraft, Boeing CH-47 Chinook and a private contractor aggressor Mil Mi-24 Hind

The big USAF Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is like a whale in varying stages of preparing to allow people inside its huge mouth and belly

US Army Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow gunship

USMC MV-22 Osprey, USAF F-16C, USAF T-38, USAF C-5, US Coast Guard HH-65 and an aggressor unit Soviet designed SA-8 Gecko SAM mobile launcher

USAF Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II with a nice shiny General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm tank busting rotary cannon (polished up for the show)

USAF Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter armed to the teeth with a 7.62 mm minigun and 0.50 in caliber machine gun

USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle

USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle

USAF General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

USAF Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter

USAF Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter & F-35 pilots helmet

USAF Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter

Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter

USAF armed drones – MQ-1 Predator and the larger MQ-9 Reaper

USAF Boeing TC-135S electronic reconnaissance trainer, McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender tanker, US Army de Havilland Canada EO-5C Dash 7 airborne reconnaissance aircraft and USAF Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II

US Navy Boeing E/A-18G Growler electronic attack fighter and USAF 64th Aggressor Squadron F-16C Fighting Falcons painted to represent Russian supplied combat aircraft for aggressor training

USAF McDonnell Douglas QF-4 Phantom II piloted aerial target for simulated missile air combat

The mighty USAF Rockwell B-1B Lancer “Bone” strategic bomber – this one is known as “Watchman”

Draken International adversary training aircraft – Aero L-159 ALCA (Advanced Light Combat Aircraft) and Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

Draken International adversary training aircraft – Aero L-159 ALCA, Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and Aermacchi MB.339 (ex-RNZAF)

In my next post I will show some of the Nellis Capabilities Demonstration featuring the 64th Aggressor Squadron and various combat aircraft aircraft based at Nellis conducting Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground Demonstrations. This was a real highlight of the show!

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