Photo: USAF/Billy Blankenship
There is no shortage of F-16 Fighting Falcons in the skies of the world, as since the family’s introduction in the late 1970s, over 4,500 of these beasts were made and are currently flying in service of some 25 countries. Yet few of them look as spectacular as the ones deployed by the American military, thanks to the armed forces’ talent of shooting them with various cameras.
The Fighting Falcon is a constant presence here on autoevolution in our Pic of the Day section, with it being one of the favorite targets for the Air Force’s photographers and all. Yet few of them can beat the one we have here in terms of visual delight.
This particular F-16, shot here at sunset, belongs to the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard, based over at Dannelly Field. The unit was born in 1962, and presently comprises a squadron of these fighter jets, “a combat communications group, an RC-26 reconnaissance aircraft squadron, and an eagle vision unit.”
As seen here, the plane was located in Mobile, Alabama, at the beginning of November, for the Southern Lightning Strike exercise, a drill meant to test the fighter wing’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) skills, alongside units from throughout the southeast of the country.
ACE would be an integrated way of training airmen with the goal of testing the nation’s capability to rapidly deploy aircraft to strike, and making use of all the logistics already in place to conduct missions.
Just like most other such military hardware in existence, the F-16 is perfectly suited for this task, being capable of flying at speeds of 1,535 mph (2,470 kph), while carrying missiles, bombs, and a variety of pods used for everything from targeting to surveillance.
That’s not what we’re seeing here though. What we get is a beautiful, peaceful almost, man-made machine, enjoying the last beams of light of the day.
This particular F-16, shot here at sunset, belongs to the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard, based over at Dannelly Field. The unit was born in 1962, and presently comprises a squadron of these fighter jets, “a combat communications group, an RC-26 reconnaissance aircraft squadron, and an eagle vision unit.”
As seen here, the plane was located in Mobile, Alabama, at the beginning of November, for the Southern Lightning Strike exercise, a drill meant to test the fighter wing’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) skills, alongside units from throughout the southeast of the country.
ACE would be an integrated way of training airmen with the goal of testing the nation’s capability to rapidly deploy aircraft to strike, and making use of all the logistics already in place to conduct missions.
Just like most other such military hardware in existence, the F-16 is perfectly suited for this task, being capable of flying at speeds of 1,535 mph (2,470 kph), while carrying missiles, bombs, and a variety of pods used for everything from targeting to surveillance.
That’s not what we’re seeing here though. What we get is a beautiful, peaceful almost, man-made machine, enjoying the last beams of light of the day.
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