Operations stop Friday at Rhein-Main AB, Germany, as US strategic airlift missions shift to Ramstein and Spangdahlem Air Bases. Military flights ended Monday at Rhein-Main. Nicknamed the “Gateway to Europe,” the base played a central role in the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift and served as USAF’s main air transport hub during four decades of the Cold War. USAF plans an official closing ceremony for Oct. 10.
North American Aerospace Defense Command on Jan. 25 tracked two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. NORAD tracked the two Tu-142s in international airspace, and they didn’t enter the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada. No U.S. or Canadian aircraft scrambled to…