NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada—The United States, Britain, and Australia carried out joint air drills on Wednesday over the Nevada desert and beyond as part of an effort to simulate high-end combat operations against Chinese fighter aircraft and air defenses.
Reuters accompanied British forces for several hours during the U.S.-hosted, three-week-long Red Flag exercises aboard Britain’s KC-2 Voyager refueling tanker aircraft, which on Wednesday supplied fuel for U.S. and British fighter jets.
U.S. Air Force Colonel Jared J. Hutchinson, commander of the 414th Combat Training Squadron that runs Red Flag, said the annual drills were not tied to any recent events. On Saturday, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, hiking tensions….