An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle struck enemy combatants with a 500-pound laser-guided bomb and Hellfire missiles May 15 in the vicinity of Sangin, Afghanistan, Air Forces Central announced May 16. In Nangalam, an F-15E hit an enemy combatant fighting position with a 500-pound joint direct attack munition. Also on May 15, Royal Air Force GR9 Harriers fired rockets onto enemy combatants in the vicinity of Sangin, AFCENT said.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…