Exercise Razor Talon unites joint forces, executes Agile Combat Employment.
Razor Talon is a quarterly Agile Combat Employment and large-force composite exercise that allows the Air Force to train in a fully-developed threat scenario environment with joint and combined warfighters across multiple domains.
The integrated multi-day exercise involved participants from 19 different units across the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps. In total, Razor Talon featured 41 different airframes ranging from F-15Es and F-35Bs, to E-8Cs and HC-130Js.
“It provides a cost-effective, fully developed threat scenario environment to train joint and combined warriors by facilitating cross-domain integration using training battlespaces available in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, and leveraging assets throughout the continental United States for distributed exercise planning, briefing and debriefing,” said Captain Brandon Pesicek, 335th Fighter Squadron wing tactics officer.
The 305th AMW piloted KC-10 Extenders to in-flight refuel F-15E Strike Eagles while transporting support defenders in C-17 Globemaster III’s. The 436th AW C-17’s also provided transportation support and fuel to R-11 fuel trucks upon landing. The fuel was used to refill F-15E’s at Cherry Point. This transfer of fuel allowed the mission to seamlessly move forward.
In addition to in-flight refueling and the use of the C-17, civilian fuel trucks were used to refuel F-15E’s at Wilmington International Airport.
These combined capabilities allowed our Airmen to complete the exercise with limited resources in environments with limited or non-existent infrastructure.
The exercise demonstrated the 4th Fighter Wings ability to rapidly deploy, establish forward-operating sites in military and civilian locations, simultaneously hot-pit refuel and arm F-15E Strike Eagles and engage near-peer adversaries.
“Overall Razor Talon allows our wing, alongside its Air Force, Army and Navy partners, the ability to train in all aspects of peer-adversary conflict,” said Col. Helphinstine, 4th Fighter Wing commander.
