A recent operational readiness exercise gave testers from the active duty 416th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., and the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center in Tucson, Ariz., the opportunity to join forces in conducting accelerated development testing on a software upgrade for Block 30 F-16s, primarily flown by the air reserve components. Service officials expect Software Capability Upgrade-6 to improve the fighter’s survivability and weapons capacity and effectiveness. Team members put in 12-hour days to meet an aggressive flying schedule, carrying out approximately 20 sorties over eight days.
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…