The Afghan Air Force now has its own fixed-wing close air support capability. The US Air Force on Jan. 15 delivered the first four of 20 A-29 Super Tucano close air support aircraft to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Army Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, Operation Resolute Support spokesman, said during a Tuesday briefing that the aircraft are expected to go into service in April. The US Air Force’s 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., is expected to train 30 Afghan A-29 pilots over the next three years, according to an Air Forces Central release. The first class of pilots and maintainers graduated in December. “This is a fighting aircraft which will destroy the centers of enemies in the country,” said Col. Bahadur, public affairs director of the Afghan Air Force, in a release. “This aircraft has the ability of transferring weapons like rockets and machine guns. This fighting aircraft will provide security and combat support.”
President Joe Biden signed the instruments of ratification for the entry of Finland and Sweden into the North American Treaty Organization. The two High North nations had up until months ago remained unaligned and fiercely independent, Biden said, until Russia’s aggression against Ukraine spurred public support for NATO entry. The…