SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – As you’re out today watching the maneuvers and listening to the soothing sounds of jet engines, we thought you might like to know what you’re seeing. Let’s meet the William Tell 2023 teams, and the hardware, that make up the best fighting force in the world. Pilots came to Savannah from air bases around the nation, and the globe. They include:

  • The 1st Fighter Wing from Virginia
  • The 3rd Wing out of Alaska
  • The 4th Fighter Wing from North Carolina
  • The 18th Wing from Kadena Air Base in Japan
  • The 104th Fighter Wing out of Massachusetts
  • The 154th Wing from Pearl-Harbor, Hawaii
  • The 158 Fighter Wing out of Vermont
  • The 366th Fighter Wing from Idaho
  • The 388th and 419th Fighter Wings out of Utah
  • The 552nd Air Control Wing from Oklahoma

The F-15 Strike Eagle is an upgraded, two-seat, all-weather craft capable of deep attack, tactical nuclear delivery, and air-to-air combat. It has the capability to fight its way to a target over long ranges, destroy enemy ground positions and fight its way out. Strike Eagle is capable of sustaining 9 G’s throughout the flight envelope, can carry a 12 bomb load, and fly safely at a low altitude. The F-15 Eagle first saw combat in Desert Storm in 1991.

The F-22 Raptor main function is air dominance. With a 44.5ft wingspan, it can reach Mach 2 and has Supercruise capabilities. It features thrust vectoring engines and offers low observability. The F-22 boasts air superiority capabilities, along with ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence functionality.

The Air Force’s fifth-generation warplane is the F-35 Lightning. Advanced electronic warfare capabilities can locate and track enemy forces, jam radars, and disrupt attacks. The F-35’s advanced sensor fusion enables pilots to draw information from on-board sensors to create a single integrated picture of the battlefield that greatly enhances awareness and survivability.

The precision of the pilots, thrust of the engines, and top technologies all come together to allow the United States Air Force to lead the defense community in the migration to the net-centric war fighting force of the future.