ABC News(MOSCOW) — ABC News’ Martha Raddatz gets a backseat ride in a U.S. Air Force F-15 as the Americans practice war games with European partners along the Russian border.
The air-to-air combat training missions are a counterpoint to Russia’s military buildup in the Baltic region. The F15’s mission is to simulate dogfights as one group of fighter jets portrays the enemy trying to penetrate and bomb friendly territory.
“It’s going to find your aircraft before you know we’re there,” Lt. Col. Jason Zumwalt, the Air Force squadron commander, says of the F15’s capability to go after the enemy.
“We’re going to ID you, we’re going to target you, and we’re going to make you go away before you can get to what we’re trying to protect.”
The exercises are meant as a deterrent to further Russian aggression after their annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine, which has put U.S. allies in the region on high alert.
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