Interesting images of the 180th Fighter Wing’s Vipers flying over KSC.
During the cold winter months, the 180th Fighter Wing’s F-16s belonging to the Ohio Air National Guard, based at Toledo Air National Guard Base, are able to train and maintain their mission readiness by deploying to airbases located in states where weather does not affect flying activities.
Among the bases that provide nicer weather and mild temperatures, there is Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach, Florida.
These days, Ohio ANG’s Vipers are deployed there to perform Dissimilar Air Combat Training, Basic Fighter Maneuvers, Defensive Air Counter Tactics and Tactical Intercept missions alongside F-15 Eagles assigned to the 104th Fighter Wing, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts.
Patrick AFB is located close to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and 180th FW’s F-16s have exploited the proximity of NASA’s primary launch center of human spaceflight since the end of the 1960s, to perform a quick tour of KSC and take some stunning photographs.
The 180FW deployed to Patrick AFB more than 130 Airmen “to develop and enhance interoperability, force integration and understanding of [their] sister service units.”
Noteworthy, the aircraft in the photos released by the 180th FW sports what appear to be the Have Glass V paint scheme. As already the “Have Glass 5th generation” is the evolution of the standard Have Glass program that saw all the F-16s receiving a two-tone grey color scheme made with a special radar-absorbing paint capable to reduce the aircraft Radar Cross Section. Indeed, all “Vipers” are covered with RAM (Radar Absorbent Material) made of microscopic metal grains that can degrade the radar signature of the aircraft. The Have Glass V is the latest version of the special paint.
H/T James Drew for the heads-up!
