EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron executed their weapons system evaluation program May 27 to June 12 in an effort that included Team Eglin units and the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air Wing Two.
The 53rd Wing units facilitated the firing of 26 air-to-air missiles during this event. One of the more significant shots included three AIM-120D software improvement program, the DoDs newest operational air-to-air missile. The F-35A and C models fired seven missiles and EA-18G fired one. These weapon firings provided valuable data and feedback to combat air force and fleet warfighters and informed strategic weapons allocation and movement decisions.
CVW-2 participated in the event to prepare them for their real-world deployment next year in support of geographic combatant commander taskings.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the innovation and resilience of Team WEG that led to this operational success, especially under the conditions imposed from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Col Nicholas Reed, commander, 53rd Weapons evaluation Group.
The Navy expressed gratitude for helping accomplish this essential event.
"With your world class support, we were able to complete 15/15 OFRP – Readiness required shots over the last two weeks," said Navy Capt. Matthew Thrasher, commander, Carrier Air Wing Two "It’s not lost on me the challenges you all were willing to overcome to make this happen.”
CVW-2 is a U.S. Navy Air Wing based in NAS Lemoore, California and NAS Whidbey Island, Washington which includes F/A-18E/F, F-35C, and EA-18G aircraft.