The 524th Fighter Squadron recently became the second F-16 unit to cease operations at Cannon AFB, N.M., where the 27th Fighter Wing is transforming from a Viper wing into a special operations wing next month. The 27th FW inactivated the 523rd FS in May. The wing’s third operations unit, the 522nd FS, will be last to shut down; it took one more Air Expeditionary Force rotation, deploying to Andersen AFB, Guam, in late May for four months.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.