Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein confirmed an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node crashed in Afghanistan on Jan. 27, but said it’s still unclear if there were any casualties. US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement it does not appear the appear the aircraft was brought down by enemy fire, saying "Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false." The Air Force maintains a small presence of the E-11 aircraft at Kandahar Airfield, which is used as a bridge between communication devices for forces on the ground.

Combat platforms are taking a back seat to all-domain command and control in the fiscal 2021 defense budget, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Jan. 27. Wargames have shown that connecting all platforms with all other platforms and sensors has a bigger impact than having more platforms in a notional 2030 fight, he said at a Center for New American Security program. Space will be a large area of investment, with counter-space capability included, he said. Other priorities will be logistics and a mix of standoff and stand-in capabilities.

US strike aircraft dropped more bombs in Afghanistan in 2019 than any other year since at least the surge in 2009. US aircraft flew 2,434 strike sorties, releasing 7,423 weapons, according to statistics released Jan. 27 by Air Forces Central Command. These totals are higher than any other annual tally released by AFCENT, whose online archives date back to 2009. The previous high was 7,362 weapons released in 2018. There also was a sharp increase in US intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sorties in 2019.

The head of France’s military used her visit to Washington to press the Pentagon to maintain its operations in the Sahel region. “The US support is critical to our operation,” French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly said during a Jan. 27 press briefing alongside Defense Secretary Mark Esper. “Any reduction would limit our effectiveness against terrorists.” The visit comes as the Pentagon reviews the US military’s global force structure, with the overall goal of reducing personnel deployments in certain areas and realigning focus to the Indo-Pacific or bringing units home for training. The Africa review is ongoing, and a review of US Southern Command began last week. There’s “no decision made, and in due course we will make them,” Esper said Jan. 27.