Fighter jets in Las Vegas skies next week as Red Flag 24-3 begins at Nellis AFB

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — A noise advisory issued by the U.S. Air Force announces the Monday launch of Red Flag 24-3, which will run July 22 through Aug. 2.

Nearly 150 military aircraft are scheduled to take off twice a day from Nellis Air Force Base during the large-scale exercise that will involve about 2,000 participants from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and Air National Guard.

A steady stream of aircraft heading to the Nellis Test and Training Range is a daily — and nightly — routine during Red Flag, which prepares aircrews for combat. Nellis has hosted Red Flag exercises since 1975, providing aircrews the experience of multiple, intensive air combat sorties in the safety of a training environment.

Crews involved in the training can remain in the air for up to five hours at a time. About 30 units will participate in daily training both in the air and on the ground.

“The 1st Fighter Wing from Langley AFB, Virginia will serve as the core wing as all the units participate in complex mission scenarios against aggressor forces,” according to a Nellis news release on Friday.

The range is the Air Force’s premier military training area with more than 12,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land north of Las Vegas.

There are three iterations of Red Flag annually: one U.S. only, one open to FVEY (Five Eyes) participants and another that welcomes an expanded roster of international allies and partners, according to the news release.

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