Aircrew from the German Air Force are participating in a Mountain Roundup exercise at the Mountain Home air force base, US to complete the final stage of their training for their fighter weapons instructor course.
Mountain Roundup is an annual exercise held by the base, where the German personnel conduct the final stage of training for two pilots and two weapon systems officers undertaking the fighter weapons instructor course.
Eight PA-200 Tornadoes and over 130 German Air Force personnel have travelled from Holloman Air Force Base for the exercise.
The exercise tests personnel through various missions in air-to-air and air-to-ground scenarios including attacks on vehicle convoys and defending high-value airborne assets such as tanker aircraft.
The exercise also includes red-air-versus-blue-air scenarios where players either attack opponents in their territory or defend their own airspace.
German Air Force Detachment Commander Lt Col Bjoern Jansen said the exercise includes all the different scenarios found on a battlefield today.
“You want to have experts on certain aircraft and experts for the whole mission, so we train them to be an expert, not only for the Tornado itself, but also an expert at employing a whole force,” Jansen said.
The joint exercise facilitates an opportunity to continue building relationships between Nato allies.
