Military aircraft don’t just appear in the field ready for duty. Check out these photos from the U.S. Dept. of Defense to see what went on last week away from the front lines.
District of Columbia Army National Guard aviators conduct pre-flight checks in the cabin of a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter before taking off Jan. 25. The UH-60M’s cockpit features four multi-function displays, a four-axis fully coupled flight director, a digital map, dual embedded GPS/EGI, joint variable message format (JVMF) messaging, Stormscope and integrated vehicle heath management systems (IVHMS) with acrash survivable memory unity (CSMU). Photo: U.S. Army National Guard
Airman First Class Carlos Quintanilla, left, and Staff Sgt. Tayrell Washington, 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons load team members, load a Mark 82 general purpose bomb on an Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II during Green Flag-West 17-03 Jan. 25 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Weapons Airmen enabled joint force training during the two-week exercise by loading weapons, inspecting jets and maintaining munitions systems. Some of the live munitions included the Mark 82 and 84 general purpose bombs, high-explosive incendiary 30-mm rounds and the 500-pound GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb. The Thunderbold II has night-vision imaging systems (NVIS) goggle-compatible single-seat cockpits. Photo: U.S. Air Force
On Jan. 25, sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) prepare a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2 for takeoff. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on a western-Pacific deployment as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of U.S. 3rd fleet. U.S Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific regularly and routinely for more than 70 years. The F/A-18 features reduced radar capability. Photo: U.S. Navy
U.S. soldiers assigned to 8th Medical Company conducted Sling Load Training with a Boeing CH-47 Chinook. at the Baumholder Military Training Area, Baumholder, Germany, Jan. 26. The Chinook is equipped with a fully integrated, digital cockpit management system and a Common Aviation Architecture Cockpit. Photo: U.S. Army
Four Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighters fly in formation over Naval Air Station Lemoore Jan. 25 after arriving earlier that day. The F-35 Lightning IIs are equipped with helmet-mounted display systems, replacing a traditional heads-up display (HUD). The aircraft’s distributed aperture system (DAS) streams real-time imagery from six infrared cameras to the helmet. Photo: U.S. Navy