The Philippine Air Force (PAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) conducted Fighter Weapons Integration through the conduct of an Air Combat Exercise in connection with this year’s Shoulder-to-Shoulder “Balikatan” Exercise 37-2022 held at Fightertown, Basa Air Base, Floridablanca, Pampanga, Philippines from 28 March to 08 April 2022. Balikatan and any other Joint and Combined Training Exercises that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have engaged, help in boosting the Filipino military readiness and proficiency in performing the AFP respective core competencies. It also allows an upgrade of respective capabilities as the AFP are learning the best practices and TTPS of counterparts. The two-week Balikatan 37-2022 Activities at Basa Air Base concluded with the Exchange of Memento from both parties as part of the Exercise Outbrief.
The PAF represented by the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron and the USAF’s 13th Fighter Squadron flew advanced profiles for combined operations scenarios through force packages on Offensive Counterair and Defensive Counterair Operations. The said joint training exercise is an opportunity to enhance the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures in Fighter Sweep, Fighter Escort, SEAD and Strike Employment for OCA while holding a defensive Combat Air Patrol (CAP) against a realistic offensive threat consisting of bombers, strike fighters and air superiority fighters was the emphasis for Air Defense Operations later in the DCA phase. Further, enabling support operations were also greatly emphasized which included Aircraft Maintenance support, Air Weapons Control, Command and Control, Security, and Air Traffic Control.
