USA Cope North 22 1 640Cope North 2022

Cope North 2022 is a tri-lateral exercise under the command of Pacific Air Force (PACAF) which is considered US Pacific Air Forces’ largest multi-lateral exercise. Established in 1978 as a quarterly bilateral exercise held at Misawa Air Base (Japan), Cope North moved to Andersen AFB (Guam) in 1999.

This year the exercise was held from 2 to 18 February 2022. The air operations were conducted from Andersen AFB and Northwest Field on Guam; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, including Rota, Saipan, and Tinian; Palau; and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The goal of the exercise was interoperability between the participating units and to support the Indo-Pacific region during a natural disaster. But more important was that the units have been training on various Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concepts.

ACE is PACAF's model to project combat air power via a network of distributed operating locations throughout the Indo-Pacific. Over 2,000 sorties were planned across seven islands and ten airfields. The units trained on both defensive and offensive scenarios as Guam air base is an advanced base in the front of US Armed Forces in the Pacific.

Total number of participating aircraft have been reported as 130. These came from the following units:

US Air Force
F-15C/D Eagle from 67th Fighter Squadron Fighting Cocks at Kadena (Japan)
F-16CM/DM Fighting Falcon from 14th Fighter Squadron Samurais at Misawa (Japan)
F-16C/D Fighting Falcon from 18th Agressor Squadron Blue Foxes at Eielson AFB (AK)
F-35A Lightning II from 355th Fighter Squadron Fighting Falcons at Eielson AFB (AK)
US Navy
EA-18G Growler from Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 138 Yellowjackets ('NL-51x') at NAS Whidbey Island (WA)
US Marine Corps
F/A-18C Hornet from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 112 Cowboys at ('MA-xx') Fort Worth NAS JRB/Carswell Field (TX)
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
E-7A Wedgetail from 2 Squadron Consilio et Manu at RAAF Base Williamtown (NSW)
F-35A Lightning II from 77 Squadron Swift to Destroy at RAAF Base Williamtown (NSW)
C-27J Spartan from 35 Squadron Adept at RAAF Base Amberley (Qld.)
Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)
F-2A/B from 6 Hikotai at Tsuiki
F-15J/DJ Eagle from 204 Hikotai at Naha


Photos via PACAF

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