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F-15s, F-16s battle in skies over Okinawa

The skies over Okinawa, Japan, have offered an unusual sight recently: F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons engaged in air-to-air combat.

Twelve F-16s and 130 airmen from the 35th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, visited Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base for dogfighting practice with F-15s from Kadena’s 18th Wing.

The air-to-air combat was part of the 18th Wing’s 2008 Operational Readiness Inspection that concluded March 13. The wing received an “excellent” rating on its inspection.

The dogfighting training was meant to expose pilots to combat situations against aircraft that have different handling characteristics than their own, according to a Kadena news release.

The units have taken turns flying as aggressor squadrons, the news release said.

The F-16s “made our training more realistic against an adversary of a dissimilar airframe as opposed to fighting against ourselves,” said Maj. Sean Sullivan, assistant director of operations for the 44th Fighter Squadron, 18th Wing, in a statement.