A day after the nationwide constitutional referendum, US helicopters and fighters targeted insurgents in villages near Ramadi, Iraq, leaving some 70 militants dead, according to US Central Command. The scene was near the spot where five US soldiers died from an attack by an improvised explosive device. USAF F-15s performed an air strike against the location—when it appeared insurgents were going to plant another bomb—using a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition. Navy F/A-18s also struck a building being used by insurgents in the vicinity of Ramadi, after gunmen opened fire on a passing Cobra attack helicopter.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.