Major General John Wood (US Air Force), Air Commodore Jez Attridge (UK RAF) and Major General Luc de Rancourt (French Air Force).
By Guido Lanfranchi
At the end of October, the Air Forces of the United States, United Kingdom, and France conducted the Trilateral Air Force Exercise “Point Blank” in the United Kingdom. The exercise, the first of its kind with France on board, focused on interoperability among different assets and high state of readiness.
About 50 aircraft involved, including the F-35B from the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, the French Air Force’s Rafale, and the US Air Force’s F-15, and two key words: interoperability and readiness. This was the Trilateral Air Force Exercise in a nutshell, as described by Major General John Wood (US Air Force), Air Commodore Jez Attridge (UK RAF) and Major General Luc de Rancourt (French Air Force), during a press conference on the eve of the exercise.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and France have been historic allies, including in the military domain, and “the links between our three Air Forces are very tight” – Maj. Gen. de Rancourt said. While bilateral exercises are not anything new within the framework of NATO, the 2018 edition of Point Blank featured for the first time the presence of the French – Maj. Gen. Wood noted with satisfaction – as well as the integration of 5th generation platforms.
The exercise allowed to test the integration of 4th generation and 5th generation platforms, bringing forward the work started in previous exercises. As Air Comm. Attridge put it, the two platforms should complement each other, leveraging their respective strengths to support each other’s capabilities. The overall focuses of the exercise – Maj Gen. Wood outlined – were air interdiction, offensive counter-air, personnel recovery and dissimilar air combat maneuvering.
In a quickly changing world, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France continue to strengthen their cooperation in the military domain, with two major aims: being able to work together, and to do it fast.
Visual material at: https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/PointBlank
