A B-1B bomber dropped a 2,000-pound joint direct attack munition on enemy combatants in Maimana, Afghanistan, April 28, Air Forces Central said in an April 29 release. Coalition aircraft carried out a total of 26 close air support missions in Afghanistan on that day, including F-15Es taking out enemy positions in Nangalam with 2,000-pound JDAMs, and British Royal Air Force GR9 Harriers dropping enhanced paveway II bombs on enemy combatants in a building near Garmsir. In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 50 CAS missions, 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…