The Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis AFB, Nev., recently reactivated a squadron that was the last active duty unit to fly the F-4G Wild Weasel—the 561st Fighter Squadron (deactivated in 1995) is now reborn as the 561st Joint Tactics Squadron. The squadron’s job is to become a clearing house for lessons learned during expeditionary deployments and to apply those lessons to subsequent spin-up training. The new commander, Lt. Col. Louis Dupuis, acknowledged challenges of standing up a new unit, but expects his airmen to “go out to into the combat air forces to fly, teach, and brief lessons learned and tactics.” Creation of the joint tactics squadron evolved from a worldwide conference hosted by AWC to identify ways to improve combat air forces deployment preparation.
Lockheed Martin’s proposed autonomous drone, called Vectis, is still on track to fly a prototype by the end of 2027, an official from the company’s Skunk Works division said Sept. 10, and the firm already started work on four more Vectis aircraft.
