According to the Spanish defense news website, from October 10 to 21, the American countries carried out a joint air exercise of "Nitrate-2022" at the Sero Moreno Air Base in Antofagasta, Chile, and the Los Condores Air Base in Iquique. The exercise is one of the most important and largest air joint military exercises in South America. What equipment appeared in this joint military exercise? What are the advantages of these equipment?

A wide range of equipment appear collectively

According to relevant reports, there are a wide range of equipment to participate in this joint military exercise, including F-16 Block50 of the Chilean Air Force, F-16 Medium Life Improvement (MLU) fighter, F-5 Tiger fighter A-29 "Super toucan" attack aircraft, IA-63 "Pampa" trainer aircraft of the Argentine Air Force and A-4R "Fighting Eagle" attack aircraft, and F-5 "Tiger" fighter aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force also participated in the joint military exercise. In addition, the joint military exercise also saw a large number of air combat support equipment, including the Chilean Air Force C-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft, KC-135E tanker, MH-60M "Black Hawk" helicopter, Bell-412 helicopter and the Brazilian Air Force KC-390 transport aircraft. It can be seen that the participating countries attach great importance to this joint military exercise.

The weapons and equipment for this joint military exercise are mainly from Chile. Chile regards the air force as an important pillar of its armed forces, and its air force was also known as the "air overlord" in South America. The Chilean Air Force has more than 200 aircraft, of which the F-16A/C fighter is the main combat force. The F-16 Block50 participating in this exercise belongs to the F-16C series, which is also the latest model improved in active service. Although the F-5 is a low-grade fighter, its maneuverability is no less than that of contemporary fighters, and the F-5 Tiger fighter is the most important improvement of the F-5.

In terms of combat support equipment, we have to mention the KC-390 designed and manufactured by Brazil. It is the largest aircraft produced by Brazil so far. Since its first flight in 2015, this aircraft has been officially in service in Brazil, Portugal and other countries.

As the most classic tanker in the United States, KC-135 has a maximum fuel carrying capacity of about 90 tons. The machine adopts the hard tube refueling mode. During the refueling process, it can be adjusted according to the position of the receiver, which improves the refueling efficiency and safety. In addition, KC-135 can refuel multiple fighters at the same time.

Stable performance, good performance of participating equipment in the past

Most of the equipment used in this joint military exercise has been in service for a long time. The frequent appearance of these equipment benefits from their stable performance and good performance.

The F-16 fighter is the most popular air combat weapon in this performance. In the Gulf War, the US Air Force used F-16 for the first time in actual combat, which was used to carry out strategic attacks, fight for air supremacy, suppress air defense weapons, air interdiction and other tasks. In the Kosovo War, the F-16 destroyed a large number of radar positions, ground tanks and vehicles, buildings of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and MiG fighter planes of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Air Force.

In terms of combat support equipment, we have to mention the C-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft. The C-130 is one of the most successfully designed transport aircraft in the world with the longest service life and the largest number of countries in service. At present, it has produced more than 2500 aircraft, has more than 40 models, and has served in more than 70 countries. Although it has been in service for more than 60 years, it still occupies the core position in the tactical air transport force. With continuous research and upgrading, its functional use has also been expanded, also known as the "all-around fighter".

Although the performance of these weapons and equipment is good, with the development and progress of military modernization, the current integrated joint operations not only need the cooperation between various arms, but also need the cooperation between various weapons and equipment. Therefore, this joint military exercise is also aimed at adapting to the interoperability and cooperative combat capability between various weapons and equipment. (Jiang Xiao, Liu Kaiyu, Ding Ruihua, Zhao Wenbin)

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