Photo: Israeli Air Force/Amit Agronov
A quick look at the main photo of this piece, and one instantly can see two of the fighter planes there are better equipped for blending in with the desert surroundings than the third, middle one. That’s because the two usually live there, while the other one does not.
As part of our coverage of military assets over the past few years, we got to talk about visual camouflage a bit in the past and how, when it comes to airplanes, it’s probably far less important than the technological stealth capabilities of flying the machine.
Sure, camouflage on aircraft does matter, but it mostly does so when the planes are parked on the runways and need to be shielded from prying enemy eyes. And since America is not usually within striking distance of enemy forces, most of the machines do not wear complicated camo, despite the fact they serve in visually diverse areas of the world.
Not all air forces think the same, and this is why we do get from time to time fighter jets painted in all the colors of the world. In this case, shades of green, brown and white slapped onto the sleek bodies of F-16 Fighting Falcons flown by the Israeli Air Force.
Two of them are seen in this pic, out and about during the Desert Falcon exercise in Israel earlier in January. The two fly a wing-to-wing formation with a grey American F-16, one that sticks out like a sore thumb over the reddish-brown desert floor.
According to the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the “joint, international exercise allowed for Israeli and U.S. aircrews to fly wing-to-wing and train together for various aerial scenarios and strikes.” The Israeli unit taking part was the 119th Squadron, while the Americans threw into the simulated fight the 55th Fighter Squadron, based at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
Sure, camouflage on aircraft does matter, but it mostly does so when the planes are parked on the runways and need to be shielded from prying enemy eyes. And since America is not usually within striking distance of enemy forces, most of the machines do not wear complicated camo, despite the fact they serve in visually diverse areas of the world.
Not all air forces think the same, and this is why we do get from time to time fighter jets painted in all the colors of the world. In this case, shades of green, brown and white slapped onto the sleek bodies of F-16 Fighting Falcons flown by the Israeli Air Force.
Two of them are seen in this pic, out and about during the Desert Falcon exercise in Israel earlier in January. The two fly a wing-to-wing formation with a grey American F-16, one that sticks out like a sore thumb over the reddish-brown desert floor.
According to the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the “joint, international exercise allowed for Israeli and U.S. aircrews to fly wing-to-wing and train together for various aerial scenarios and strikes.” The Israeli unit taking part was the 119th Squadron, while the Americans threw into the simulated fight the 55th Fighter Squadron, based at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
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