Enhancing Joint Air Dominance, Readiness - CF26-1
by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Charles Welty
October 25 , 2025

Checkered Flag 26-1 (CF26-1) hosted by the U.S. Air Force 325th Fighter Wing (October 21 - November 6, 2025) ... is one of the U.S. military's largest air-to-air exercises. This bi-annual exercise integrates fourth and fifth-generation airframes to enhance mobility, deployment, and employment capabilities for aviators and maintainers, directly supporting global power projection.

Checkered Flag provides a unique opportunity for U.S. Air Force and joint units, with participation from allied nations such as the Royal Australian Air Force, to integrate and train in a challenging, realistic, large-force air combat environment.

This iteration of the exercise involves more than 50 aircraft, including F-16C Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, F-35A & C Lightning II, and E-7 Wedgetail airframes, and more than 500 personnel from seven participating units, to simulate real-world scenarios, enhancing their ability to deliver decisive combat airpower anytime, anywhere.

Checkered Flag builds the U.S. military’s global response force by strengthening partnerships between units to ensure a more lethal force in combat and answering the CSAF’s call to reorient Air Combat Command to focus on generating and presenting ready forces to combatant commanders.

It also features participation from the Royal Australian Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps, further strengthening international and joint force capabilities.

The exercise directly supports Air Combat Command’s plan to train the Immediate Response Force (IRF), a dedicated force for rapid response to unforeseen or unplanned operations and aligns with the Air Force Chief of Staff’s objective of developing Mission Ready Airmen with diverse skills for operational readiness in contested environments.

Concurrently, with Checkered Flag, some participants will support the Weapons System Evaluation Program (WSEP) 26.01, an Air Force-led joint exercise that tests air-to-air and air-to-ground live-fire weapons employment for combat aviators.

Hosted by the 53rd Wing and run by the 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron out of Tyndall ... WSEP serves as a formal evaluation of a squadron's ability to conduct live-fire missions by affording aircrew the opportunity to launch live missiles at threat-representative, maneuvering targets, while providing maintainers an opportunity to load live munitions onto aircraft. By combining Checkered Flag and WSEP, the U.S. military saves resources and provides a unique training battlefield for a variety of joint personnel and equipment.

Checkered Flag directly supports the Air Force's strategic priorities of enhancing readiness, modernizing capabilities, and fostering interoperability with partner nations. It stands as a testament to the U.S. military's commitment to maintaining a strong and capable joint force ready to defend the nation and its interests anytime, anywhere.

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