Two A-10s returning to Bagram AB, Afghanistan, after a mission last week got a call for help from coalition ground forces. Capt. Michael Meridith reports that Capt. Dennis Hargis from San Antonio, who was nearing the end of his six-month deployment, said the situation was “dire” when he and his wingman arrived over the scene of a 10-vehicle convoy under attack from both sides by heavy machine guns, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades. The shock of the Hogs’ initial pass failed to stop the enemy attack. Hargis called it a “four-mile kill zone” and said a nearby orchard was “just alive with muzzle flashes.” He got clearance to fire from the ground commander despite his troops closeness to the enemy. Hargis fired an initial 300 rounds from his seven-barrel Gatling gun, stopping fire from the orchard. It took six passes over the next 10 minutes by he and his wingman to quiet the enemy fire, all the while getting instructions from the ground troops as to direction and distance.
RTX, parent of Raytheon, Collins and Pratt & Whitney, is getting out of the space prime business and focusing on its "strengths" as a maker of space sensors, buses, and components, company COO Chris Calio said during an earnings call.