Two Air Force Reserve intelligence squadrons activated at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., last week. The 63rd Intelligence Squadron, which reports to the 480th ISR Wing and the 497th ISR Group, activated during a Dec. 6 ceremony at Langley-Eustis. The squadron is responsible for operating the distributed ground station-one, allowing it to exploit near real-time data from the U-2, RQ-4 Global Hawk, MC-12 Liberty, MQ-9 Reaper, and the MQ-1 Predator, according to a Dec. 10 release. Lt. Col. Brian Mueller assumed command of the 42nd IS during an activation and assumption of command ceremony also at Langley-Eustis the following day, according to a Dec. 11 release. The 42nd IS supports current operations and contingency planning by “providing targeting, focused products” to the 36th Intelligence Squadron and the Air Force Targeting Center at Langley-Eustis, states the release. The 42nd IS traces its lineage to the 42nd Photo Lab, which was activated in September 1945 at Smokey Hill Army Airfield, Kan., as part of the 456th Bombardment Group’s conversion plan for the invasion of Japan. The lab was inactivated once the invasion was cancelled and has since been redesignated as the 42nd IS, according to the release.
Hypersonic ARRW Readied for Booster Flight
March 8, 2021
An AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile is being readied for its first booster flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the Air Force announced March 5. The missile that flies within the next month will not be an all-up round. Instead, the test will run the missile through…