“Together for Peace and Victory”
From the 8 to 19 October 2018 the skies over Ukraine were part of history when for the first time, the United States Air Force and eight other nations joined Ukraine in the country’s largest aviation exercise till date, called Clear Sky 2018. The Eastern European training exercise was aimed to enhance capabilities in the region to secure air sovereignty with NATO partners and other allies. Clear Sky 2018 focussed on air interdiction, air-to-ground integration, air mobility operations, aeromedical evacuation, cyber defence and personnel recovery. Aircraft participating in Clear Sky 2018 were distributed across several bases in the region, making this really a multinational and real-life exercise.
Some 700 troops took part in the exercise, half of them from NATO member countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. Denmark and Estonia, not NATO members, also participated. Ukraine contributed around 350 military personnel out of five tactical aviation units. Clear Sky 2018 was a way for NATO and its allies to work together with the Ukraine military in close proximity to Russia. Establishing and further developing the partnership in the region is the key for NATO. Major General C Garrison, United States Exercise Director for Clear Sky 2018 explained; “This is the first time we conducted an exercise maintaining the NATO standards and this close to the Russian boarder. Working according to these high NATO standards and procedures during the exercise will make the Ukrainian Air Force interoperable with other NATO countries and their regional partners”.
Exercise goals
Speaking about the exercise conducted from the Starokostyantyniv Air Base, Ukraine, Colonel Evgen Bulatsyk, Commander of the 7th Tactical Air Brigade stated, “The Ukrainian Air Force’s main goal during the exercise was to enhance interoperability with the United States Air Force and other air forces of NATO countries. In addition, this was an ideal opportunity for our air and ground crews to improve their level of training. This exercise provided us a unique opportunity to work closely with our allies and learn from them on how they operate and use their aircraft in the hostile situations. Exchanging experiences and skills is vital for the development of crews on both sides”.
Exercise operations
With bulk of the aircraft flying out of Starokostyantyniv Air Base, the operational planning was conducted from there. With upgrades performed over the last years to all the Ukrainian Air Force’s current fighters and bombers, each type was represented at the base. Mikoyan MiG-29MU1s from Vasylkiv, Sukhoi Su-25M1s from Kulbakino, six McDonnell-Douglas F-15Cs from the 144th Fighter Wing and Sukhoi Su-27P1Ms from Myrhorod all joined the locally based Sukhoi Su-24M/MRs. Operating out of Vinnytsia Air Base, together with the locally based Antonov An-26’s and Mil Mi-8’s, was a single Lockheed C-130J from the 146th Airlift Wing. Tanker support was provided by Boeing KC-135s from the 126th Air Refuelling wing which was operated out of Powidz Air Base, Poland, and KC-135s from the 100th Air Refuelling Wing. Major General Garrison explained; “The vast majority of participants for the United States were from the California Air National Guard, with the six F-15s from the 144 Fighter Wing, we were mainly focussing on air interdiction, air sovereignty and air-to-air combat manoeuvring. All these missions were flown in accordance with NATO standards”. Apart from the personnel from National Guard units, the exercise also witnessed the participation from the US Army and US Air Force.
Directly operating from Poland were Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds from 31 Baza Lotnicza Taktycznego. Also participating from the home base were the recently, from Portugal, acquired Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BMs from Baza 86 Aeriana in Romania. Finally, the exercise saw cooperation between United States Air Force General Atomics MQ-9s and Ukrainian Air Force UAV-America PD-1 Unmanned Air Vehicles. The MQ-9s operated from Miroslawiec Air Base, Poland. These Reapers began flying operations from Poland in May, due to its strategic location in Eastern Europe.
25 years of partnership
The State Partnership Programme (SPP) has been successfully building relationships for 25 years and now includes 75 partnerships with 81 nations around the globe. Major General Garrison, stated; “The California Air National Guard has a long standing, 25-year relationship which is sponsored by the US Chief of Mission (UCoM). We came here to train together with the Ukrainian Army and Air Force. Clear Sky 2018 is the second air-centric exercise that we have done in Ukraine within that 25-year period. The last air exercise we participated in was back in 2011 and was called Safe Sky. This exercise was focussed on air sovereignty and air defence procedures in preparation for the Euro Cup 2012. Clear sky 2018 was built completely on a different scale since it covers a much broader spectrum of missions and at the request of the Ukrainian Air Force, it is completely aligned with NATO interoperability. This exercise is built on those initial standards so that the Ukrainian Air Force can train and operate better with NATO and with its neighbours and regional partners”.
5 Su-25's from Kulbakino participated during the exercise. All were upgraded aircraft in this new standard pixel colour scheme
A locally based Su-24 Fencer lands after a Clear Sky 2018 mission 
A Su-27P1M from Myrhorod Air Base takes to the sky Early morning flightline activity with Su-24's, Su-27's and MiG-29's all lined up together
One of the USANG F-15C's lifts off for a morning mission out of Starokostyantyniv Air Base 
This dual seat MiG-29UB was also used for familiarization flight, during which US pilots could get a feel of the Russian build jets This F-15C was painted in special colours to celebrate 75 years of the 195th Fighter Squadron
US ground troops worked closely together with their Ukrainian counterparts, flying side by side in the aircraft participating during the exercise