US, Australian forces hold mass munitions production exercise in Texas

US, Australian and US Marine Corps personnel have taken part in a large-scale munitions production exercise at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, the US Air Force has announced.

Exercise Overview

The 7th Munitions Squadron hosted the exercise, named Death Strike: Trident Fury, from 22 to 25 June. Conducted as an Air Force Global Strike Command capabilities exercise, it was designed to:

• Evaluate combat production techniques
• Validate operational plans
• Improve interoperability through hands-on training

Exercise Details

According to the US Air Force, the exercise began with an air tasking order (ATO) drop that required squadron personnel to:

1. Assess on-hand stock
2. Conduct lot selection
3. Move assets to production pads

Crews then entered continuous 24-hour operations, building munitions and delivering them to the flightline for checking and grading over the four-day period. The weapons involved included conventional bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs).

Personnel Quotes

Master Sergeant Chris Kirby, the squadron’s Munitions Accountable Systems Officer, stated:

"This exercise tested our ability to take a massive ATO, break it down into a supportable plan and execute it under extreme pressure. With evaluators throwing unexpected daily FRAG changes at us, our Airmen had to rapidly pivot and adapt our production on the fly. It validated our ability to surge and sustain operations in a highly dynamic environment."

Weapons Assembly and Integration

In the weapons armament section, crews carried out multi-role pylon loads, using a launcher load frame to load heavy weapons directly onto racks within the facility. Munitions production was split into specialised areas covering both standoff missile operations and conventional bomb builds, with US airmen from multiple commands, the Guard and Reserves integrating with Marines and Australian personnel.

Chief Master Sergeant Jason Buzzard, the squadron’s senior enlisted leader, stated:

"Having our Marine Corps and Royal Australian Air Force counterparts here allowed us to show them exactly how AMMO does it, while also learning from their unique perspectives. These joint partnerships are absolutely vital. When we can seamlessly integrate our teams on the pad, it ensures we can deliver combat power together in any theater."

Australian Role

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel took a prominent role, leading a major conventional bomb build on the final day alongside US airmen and Marines.

Corporal Shannon Upton, an armaments technician with the RAAF’s No. 6 Squadron, stated:

"We are executing an agile combat operations weapons preparation activity, which essentially means we are working with limited tooling, limited base resources and limited facilities to see how we can collaborate to prepare munitions. In the RAAF, we are jacks-of-all-trades. Integrating our procedures here with the Marines and the USAF has been a great opportunity to see how easily we can cross over our roles to achieve the mission in a realistic, high-tempo environment."

Corporal Lachlan McFarlane, a non-commissioned officer supervisor with the RAAF’s 77 Squadron, stated:

"I had the opportunity to lead a shift involving short-notice bomb builds alongside U.S. forces and seeing how well everyone integrated was incredible. It is vital we do this now for real-world operations. If a crisis arises, we need to hit the ground running on day one."

Conclusion

According to the US Air Force, the exercise culminated in the use of Agile Combat Employment techniques on the production pads, testing the ability to build weapons under simulated austere conditions. Dyess Air Force Base is home to the 7th Bomb Wing and its fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers, and the ability to generate munitions at scale underpins the wing’s strike role.