The fledgling Afghan air force has reached 1,000 flight hours with its C-27A transport fleet, according to a senior USAF official helping to train the Afghans. The milestone was achieved during a C-27 mission bringing Mi-17 helicopter cargo to Kandahar and taking out wounded Afghan military personnel. This historic mission on Aug. 29 coincided with certification of the first Afghan C-27 aircrew to fly in day/night all weather conditions without US air advisor support. Earlier this month, the Afghan air arm took delivery of its sixth C-27A. It plans to operate a fleet of 20 refurbished C-27 airframes, along with various helicopters and other fixed-wing platforms. The first C-27 arrived last December. USAF advisors operating with the Combined Air Power Transition Force continue to develop the Afghan C-27 pilot cadre.
SDA Outlines Missile Tracking Satellite Plan
April 16, 2021
The Defense Department's Space Development Agency wants to blanket Earth with a constellation of low-cost, open-architecture data-relay and missile-tracking satellites whose sheer numbers, along with their 1,000-kilometer-high orbits, would theoretically thwart some modes of interference—but not all. With all going according to plan so far, SDA expects to launch five…