The Administration’s 2006 defense supplemental request also includes nearly $15 million to enhance AC-130 gunships and EC-130 Compass Call for the global war on terror. The Air Force plans to add an advanced signal processing system, called Senior Scout, to provide real-time processing of target data and enhanced traffic alert and collision avoidance systems to its gunships. For the EC-130 electronic warfare aircraft, USAF wants to buy two more improvised explosive device “defeat capability kits” for operations in Southwest Asia.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
