The fighter jets preparing the US and its allies for World War Three in the skies above Nevada

The maneuver plays retired similar an aerial ballet astatine 280 knots and 20,000 feet implicit the Nevada desert.

A US Marines F-35b Lightning warplane slips its refueling probe from a nozzle towed by a Royal Air Force tanker and slides away, forming up with 2 much American planes, arsenic an Australian physics warfare pitchy takes its place.

As the Royal Australian Air Force Growler guzzles down 5000lb of fuel, the 3 F-35s soar into the sky, climbing precocious supra the tanker earlier banking hard near and accelerating into the sun.

They are crammed with each the latest warring technology, truthful concealed that DailyMail.com is aboriginal told it cannot people pictures of the American jets.

Welcome to Exercise Red Flag, an yearly simulation wherever U.S., British, and Australian pilots practise warring together. 

It has tally for decades, adapting and evolving to correspond changing planetary dangers. Today the buzzword is 'pacing threats'—powers that could sound the U.S. from its perch but that bash not correspond an contiguous subject threat.

Think China oregon Russia.   

And if that wasn't a wide capable hint astir the enemy's identity, Operation Bamboo Eagle follows, moving the enactment retired crossed the eastbound Pacific. It adds what planners telephone the 'tyranny of distance,' simulating the trouble of warring a agelong mode from home.

'For a batch of my career, Red Flag was focused connected a godforsaken theater. Now we're transitioning to a pacing threat,' said Col. Eric Winterbottom, commandant of the 414th Combat Training Squadron which represents the 'enemy.'

'We are presenting precise high-end capabilities that rival our own, giving our folks the accidental to integrate to decision those threats. 

Where erstwhile it mightiness person focused connected grooming to instrumentality connected an insurgency successful Afghanistan oregon Iraq, present it is each astir what strategists telephone 'great powerfulness competition.' Instead of Taliban gunmen successful caves, ideate immense Chinese craft carriers oregon their latest combatant jets.

Red Flag has operated since 1975, calved retired of a realization that pilots were simply not combat acceptable erstwhile they took to the skies of Vietnam. At times, the world's astir almighty aerial unit was losing much planes than the Northern Vietnamese.

The effect was an workout designed to beryllium much realistic than ever before. 

Winterbottom's ace U.S. pilots alert mostly F-16s. Their occupation is to correspond the reddish forces. 

Up against them, the Brits, Aussies and Americans of the bluish forces are tasked with archetypal pushing backmost the reddish aerial forces and carving retired aerial abstraction for the adjacent phase.

'They besides person to propulsion backmost the force aboveground to aerial missiles done our suppression of force aerial defence role,' helium said. 

'And past we'll person strikers spell in, and those strikers volition either beryllium bombing pre-planned targets, on with dynamic targets, which successful our script contiguous a moving target, typically that volition determination determination and past stop.'

All of that happens implicit hundreds and 100 of miles. That is wherever the RAF Voyager and its tons of aviation substance comes in.

It banks near and near and near arsenic it stays successful presumption extracurricular the conflict space, acold from the hostile reddish forces, but adjacent capable for its much than 120,000 lb of substance to support the bluish fighters successful the battle.

The voyager is based connected the Airbus A330, but has a antithetic acceptable of wings to accommodate other substance tanks and the refuelling system.

It tin enactment successful the aerial for arsenic agelong arsenic 12 hours if it needs to.

Fl. Lt Jason Alty, the plane's captain, is waiting for a brace of RAF Typhoons to rendezvous.

'Once refuelling is complete, past they tin enactment successful the combat to the precise end,' helium said.

Behind him, a workfellow is watching a slope of monitors which helium uses to usher successful the thirsty warplanes.

Earlier, Fl. Lt. Calum Falconer, a Typhoon pilot, described immoderate of the differences helium recovered coming from a smaller aerial unit and moving with Americans.

'We brought to the array the cognition of having 1 instrumentality that fits galore locks,' helium said. 'And they've got their mode of looking astatine things which is simply a batch much bespoke. 

'They tin usage much specialized capabilities for much specialized nuts to ace arsenic well.'

The Voyager is an example. It is equipped wrong arsenic if it were inactive a rider jet, truthful it tin run successful a dual relation arsenic unit transport and substance tanker. 

Two Typhoons travel into presumption down the near helping successful the past refuelling creation of the day. 

After that it is location to Nellis Air Force basal conscionable extracurricular Las Vegas for a debrief. 

For Winterbottom, the cardinal is ensuring that the antithetic forces tin enactment unneurotic successful a satellite wherever 1 time determination could hundreds of F-35s stationed successful Europe, but wherever lone a fewer dozens are operated by the U.S.A.F. 

'Multinational integration is key,' helium said. 'We triumph aboriginal conflicts arsenic a coalition.'