OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Airmen in South Korea are getting ready for one of the biggest mock air wars on the peninsula in recent memory, one that will see aircraft from Okinawa, Guam and the continental United States taking part, among them B-52 bombers.
The Max Thunder exercise is to run from Monday to June 20 at Kunsan Air Base and will involve as many as 90 warplanes a day — including U.S. and South Korean fighters and U.S. KC-135 tankers and E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft.
"Additionally, there will be some very limited B-52 participation," said Air Force Maj. Allen Rhyne, chief of training with U.S. 7th Air Force (Air Forces Korea) at Osan.
Max Thunder’s main aim is to help South Korean air force pilots prepare for an even bigger exercise — the U.S. Air Force’s Red Flag mock air war this August at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Indian and French air forces will participate there, too.
In next week’s exercise, Korean pilots get a chance to put their factory-new F-15K fighters through the rigors of mock combat.
The South Koreans also will be flying F-4s, RF-4s, F-5s and possibly some KF-16s, he said.
The exercise will have six major flying portions, two daily from Tuesday through Thursday, Rhyne said.
About 56 aircraft will participate in daytime missions and about 34 in night operations, he said.
U.S. pilots and ground crews will come from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, and from stateside Air Combat Command bases. Rhyne said the New Jersey National Guard out of McGuire Air Force Base and an Oklahoma City Air Force Reserve unit also will take part.
Planners expect Max Thunder to benefit both air forces because of its "extremely aggressive" fictitious air war scenario, its rigorous tempo and the number of aircraft taking part, Rhyne said.
And the U.S. and Korean airmen will share in the mission briefs, conduct of the missions and the debriefing process.
"Most of the learning actually occurs during the debrief portion of the missions," he said.
August’s Red Flag will allow the South Korean airmen a chance to build on what they do at Max Thunder, Rhyne said. They’ll face an unfamiliar place and operating methods and the summer heat of the Nevada desert, "so it will be climatically very different," he said.
"I think it will just take the benefits of this exercise to another level," Rhyne said. "When you take someone out of their normal environment, and they have to operate in a different place, using different procedures, it will obviously increase their stress level and have the benefit of giving them more experience.
"And ultimately will make them better pilots and maintainers."
