Speaking of that Raptor deployment, the 1st Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Langley AFB, Va., sent 10 ammunition troops to help the fighter squadron carry out its work. The ammo airmen left before the F/A-22s made their cross-country flight so that they could be in place to build 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions for the training exercises. This variant of the JDAM is new to the Air Force arsenal, and the 1st EMS were eage to see how a concrete-filled inert version would perform on the Raptor. A transmitter in the concrete sent data to aircraft contractors who monitored the drops. They will use the data to help configure the weapon more accurately. The Air Force can use these kinds of weapons to attack specific buildings while avoiding collateral damage caused by a blast.
The Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces heard testimony from the Defense Department’s top missile defense leaders and demanded to know why the Missile Defense Agency's proposed $9.6 billion fiscal 2023 budget will not yield more reliable defense against hypersonic weapons already being fielded by adversaries, including Russia on…