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The huge display of sortie generation capability comes as the base's F-35 force reaches full capacity after transitioning to the F-35 years ago. The 388th and 419th Fighter Wings that call Hill Air Force Base in Utah home have just executed a massive readiness drill that included an 'elephant walk' of a whopping 52 F-35As. The exercise coincides with the wings reaching full strength following the transition to the F-35A, a process that began years ago. The elephant walk and the massive number of flights that usually go along with it are all about sortie generation and displaying a level...

Full Title: U.S. Air Force warns Iran with huge show of strength as 52 fully-armed F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters worth $4.2 BILLION take off in a single wave after 'elephant walk' along Utah base runway The U.S. Air Force has performed a huge show of strength by launching more than 50 fully-armed Lightning II stealth fighters in a single wave following an elephant walk down the runway. The 52 F-35A aircrafts, which are worth a whopping $4.2 billion, took off in quick succession from the Hill Air Force Base in Utah on Monday. The exercise carried out by the...

Hill Air Force Base was selected as the new home for the Air Force's first operational F-35A Lightning IIs. Air Force officials chose Hill AFB after a lengthy analysis of multiple locations' operational considerations, installation attributes, economic, and environmental factors. "Hill AFB is ideally suited to assure a successful path to Initial Operational Capability," said Timothy Bridges, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations. "The nearby Utah Test and Training Range provides access to one of the largest and most diverse airspace and range complexes in the Air Force. Access to high-quality airspace and ranges is essential for...

Show of force: Hundreds of fighter jets paraded in South Korea as US displays its military might Kim Jong-un, take note. After the North Korean leader made his first visit to the tense demilitarised border and Pyongyang agreed to freeze its nuclear weapons programme, United States and Republic of Korea aircraft joined forces in this huge display of F-16 Fighting Falcons. As these pictures from Kunsan Air Base show, hundreds of the jet fighters stretched as far as the eye could see. Formidable: Row after row of F-16 Fighting Falcons fills the airstrip in a show of force at Kunsan...

Two Block 40 F-16 Fighting Falcons set out from Hill Air Force Base on April 27 for a new home. They were reassigned to the South Dakota Air National Guard at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls. The F-16s are the first of 24 jets currently assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing scheduled to be transferred or retired from the base in fiscal year 2010 to comply with the Air Force's combat air force restructure plan announced last June. Under the Air Force plan a total of 259 aircraft will be retired including 138 F-16s, 112 F-15 Eagles and nine...

The U.S. Air Force will retire more than 250 aircraft and fighter jets in the next several months. Those in the Air Force admit it's a bit of a risk phasing out so many of their fighter jets, but in the long run they hope it will make the force more effective. As part of the Combat Air Force Reduction in Forces plan, Hill Air Force Base will send out 12 aircrafts in the next two months and another 12 this fall -- making their inventory smaller, but hopefully more lethal. It's not just Hill Air Force Base losing fighter...

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Engine failure is to blame for the Thursday afternoon incident that saw a F-16 pilot jettison bombs and fuel tanks over the west side of Hill Air Force Base, Air Force officials said Friday. Base emergency personnel will dispose of one unexploded bomb today by blowing it up in place. The other bomb exploded on impact with the ground. About 4 p.m. Thursday, a male F-16 pilot from Hill’s 388th Fighter Wing had engine problems approximately 20 seconds after takeoff, causing the pilot to drop two external fuel tanks and two 500 pound Mark 82...

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AP) -- An official with the Davis County sheriff's office in northern Utah says there has been an explosion at Hill Air Force Base. Capt. Kenny Payne says the explosion occurred Thursday at a weapons cache. He did not have other details.

A man who crashed his car into the restraining barricades at Hill Air Force Base's south gate early Wednesday morning managed to elude the base's security forces for six hours before he was caught. Hill officials said the man drove up to the gate at about 4 a.m., but was told by guards that he could not enter without identification. When the man gunned through the checkpoint, guards activated a set of emergency barriers, which rise out of the ground a short way from the gate. The barriers stopped the car, but the man fled on foot. Base spokesman Rich...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A gap between the possible loss of F-16s and the arrival newer planes to be serviced could jeopardize jobs and future missions at Hill Air Force Base, according to U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. “It’s a little bit fluid as to the impact on Hill AFB,” he said, speaking to the Clipper and other media from across the state Friday morning. “One concern is the phase-out of the F-16s that have been flying there” and maintained there, the Republican senator said. “They (F-16s) won’t be completely gone, but then comes the impact – what are they going...

An F-16 pilot missing after his jet crashed overnight during training at Hill Air Force Base was killed, according to a friend of the pilot's family in Candler, N.C. Hill officials would not release the pilot's name or confirm his death, but Bill Jamison confirmed that Capt. George Bryan Houghton, 28, of Candler, was killed during a nighttime exercise over the Utah Test and Training Range in the massive, rugged and remote west desert around 10:25 p.m. Monday. Col. Scott Dennis, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, said the pilot's body was recovered near Wendover after a seven-hour search. Houghton,...

TOOELE, Utah — Military officials are trying to locate the pilot of an F-16 that crashed at the Utah Test and Training Range west of Salt Lake City. Base's 388th Fighter Wing, crashed late Monday night while on a routine training mission.

ATLANTA -- A commander at Hill Air Force Base was killed Sunday in Atlanta on his way to the airport. Col. Stephen Mittuch, commander of the 419th Maintenance Group, was in Atlanta for an Air Force Conference. Col. Mittuch was traveling south on Interstate 75 toward Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a taxi about 6 a.m. when a car going the wrong way hit Col. Mittuch's taxi. The Georgia State Patrol believes alcohol was involved. The cab driver and the driver of the other vehicle survived and were taken to the hospital. Both are in stable condition. Col. Mittuch joined...

A missing case of military assault rifles has turned up on Hill Air Force Base, but officials still don't know who took them. Whoever took them had a change of heart. He brought the weapons back for base officials to find this morning. Maj. Shannon Smith, air base wing security commander, said, "What we think happened was this was a crime of opportunity." An early-morning phone call led base officials to the missing M-16 rifles. Smith said, "We think that he saw some of these news reports and decided the best thing to do was bring the weapons back." Whoever...

Two soldiers in a sport utility vehicle had the scare of their live when an F-16 fighter jet from Hill Air Force Base opened fire on their SUV at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). The incident occurred during a nighttime training mission April 8 in which the fighter pilot was practicing shooting at ground targets. A Hill Air Force Base spokeswoman says the soldiers were not hit, but did suffer minor injuries "while exiting the vehicle in rough terrain," The sport utility vehicle, a rental from Avis, was in part of the range where the Air Force uses...

  HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Imagine losing an entire city in an instant.       It could happen here.       This city known as Hill Air Force Base is one of roughly 400 military installations awaiting its fate in the upcoming round of base closures.       "We've got everything you could ever need, all right here," said Marilu Trainor, public affairs director at the Ogden Air Logistics Center. "We're just another small town."       Hill is just like any other city in America — plus barbed wire fence surrounding its borders and...

Cannon glides to primary victory By Tad Walch Deseret Morning News PROVO — The irony of where their respective campaigns met on primary election night wasn't lost on either candidate in the 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday night. Incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon's supporters watched results pour in at the Hampton Inn in Provo while Matt Throckmorton's backers did the same from a Hampton Inn in Orem. A few miles on I-15 were all that separated the gatherings, and only a handful of key issues separated the candidates in the Republican primary. Otherwise, they were nearly identical ideological twins. Their differences...