Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who championed the fight to save the B-1B bombers at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., from BRAC 2005, obviously is not resting on his laurels. Thune plans to keep emphasizing the worth of Ellsworth. He met with Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, last week to urge the Air Force to consider the South Dakota base for a new financial services center “and other operational missions.” According to Keloland TV news, Thune talked on Feb. 21 with base officials about expanding and enhancing the training range—extending it by three million acres of airspace—to open the door to other missions, such as unmanned aerial vehicles or as a training center for other US or foreign aircraft.
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
