The members of the 98th Bomb Group Vets Association were invited to attend a "Live Fire" demonstration by the 98th Bomb Range Group at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. This was a "By invitation only" event. It's purpose was to demonstrate to our Political and Military leaders and those of our allies, our latest Air Force weapons. It was quite impressive. Nellis is also the home of the Thunderbirds. They were practicing overhead as our bus pulled through the gates.
We had a special treat before the show. We were invited to visit a static display of examples of all the aircraft that were taking part in the show. Many of the planes that were actually in the show flew in from other parts of the country, did their thing then flew back to their home base. The F16 in this picture is the type plane that flies over our place in Phoenix. Luke AFB near Phoenix is where all F16 pilots are trained
There was a big screen TV in front of the stands that showed closeups and replays of the action. This is an F16 making a pass. You can see it both in the air and on the screen. The people in front of the stands were news media photographers.
This is the F22 our newest Stealth fighter/bomber. It is probably the most beautiful plane made. It doesn't have all the angles of our first Stealth planes. It is very clean, smooth, and sleek. This was the first time that we saw one close-up.
This is the B1 bomber. The one in the show flew in from Texas. The whole show was conducted like an actual mission. An AWACS flew overhead, identified the targets, and coordinated the attacks of all the aircraft taking part. We had the opportunity to see the inside of the AWACS and visit with the crew. The pilot on the AWACS and B1, and the Navigator on the B52 that were on static display, were all women. The Air Force has changed a lot since we were active.
The B1 launched five GPS guided missels at one time. Their targets were five tanks that were about a quarter mile from each other. This picture shows direct hits on all the tanks. One minute they were there, the next they were gone
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