The pilots of the Czech Air Force are coming out of NATO’s Air Meet 2005 with big grins on their faces. Why? Because the pilots and their L159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft “shot down” in simulated air combat US F-16 and F-18 fighters. They got their shot against frontline American aircraft and a variety of other aircraft in the alliance’s multinational exercise in Norway.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.