The U.S. Air Force demonstrated the agility of its aircraft and the abilities of its pilots during a recent flyover at a well-known Northeast landmark: Fenway Park, in Boston, MA. During the baseball season opener (April 2, 2021) for the home team, the Boston Red Sox, the flyover included a F-35A Lightning II fighter jet, a KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueler, and an F-15 Eagle tactical fighter jet (Fig. 1, above). The aircraft represent the state-of-the-art in aerial threat detection and tactical response systems, combining data from electro-optical (EO) and radar-based sensor systems.
The extremely reliable, fifth-generation F-35A fighter jet (Fig. 2), produced by Lockheed Martin is a multiple-role aircraft with advanced integrated avionics systems and sophisticated sensor package for long-range detection and tracking of targets. Sensors include a variety of radar systems an EO distributed aperture system (DAS) for 360° missile and threat aircraft warnings, and an EO targeting system (EOTS) for long-range air-to-ground and air-to-air targeting.
In the flyover, the F-35A was joined by a long-range F-15E Eagle tactical fighter jet, with its own suite of sensor systems including a high-frequency pulse Doppler radar system and identify-friend-or-foe (IFF) electronic-warfare (EW) system, and a KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueler, to keep both fighter jets in the air longer. The KC-46 features a refueling boom driven by a fly-by-wire control system and can perform high-speed refueling of fixed-wing aircraft equipped with the proper fuel receivers for the boom. Fans during the flyover had the opportunity to observe three strong reasons to feel secure in terms of aerial military action.