The United States, Britain, and Australia carries out joint air drills on February 8, 2023, over the Nevada desert. (Photo: Reuters)

US Air Force Colonel Jared Hutchinson said the annual drills were not tied to any recent events.

On Saturday, a US fighter jet shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina, hiking tensions.

At the heart of the drills was addressing the vast distances that the United States, the UK and Australia would contend with when operating across the Pacific, and improving inter-operability of the three countries' air forces.

Air Commodore John Lyle, told Reuters that the mission during the Red Flag drills would simulate bringing the air forces into "an area where there has been an invasion by a hostile country."