US Central Command Air Forces released additional information on the Nov. 14 precision air strikes against insurgents near the porous Iraq-Syria border. Coalition aircraft were aiding Operation Steel Curtain, and, according to CENTAF, air strikes accounted for most of the 80 terrorists killed since the operation began on Nov. 5. In Monday’s action, USAF F-15s, deployed from RAF Lakenheath, Britain, unleashed precision-guided munitions to strike enemy forces in a grove of trees near Karabilah and Ubaydi. A USAF Predator unmanned aerial vehicle fired a Hellfire missile, driving insurgents from their firing position in a building. Later in the day, Air Force Reserve Command F-16s, deployed from NAS JRB Forth Worth, Tex., provided close air support in the same area, and a Predator launched a Hellfire missile at insurgents in a tree line.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
