Large-Scale Air Exercise Set For Northern Plains

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Military airplanes are taking to the skies this week for the first large-scale exercise in a training area over the Northern Plains.

The exercise in the 35,000-square-mile Powder River Training Complex is Wednesday and Thursday. Bombers, fighter jets and refueling tankers will be practicing maneuvers in the airspace over the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming.

The FAA in March approved quadrupling the training airspace, making it the largest over the continental U.S. The move came over the objections of some people in the region who worry about disruptions.

Ellsworth Air Force Base spokesman Master Sgt. John Barton tells The Bismarck Tribune this week's exercise won't involve supersonic speeds, so it will be less noisy.