US Central Command has confirmed the identity of two al Qaeda leaders that were killed by a coalition air strike in Husaybah, Iraq, on Nov. 2. During raids by ground troops in the Syrian border town, USAF F-15s used precision-guided munitions to destroy two safe houses that were believed to house terror leaders. According to CENTCOM, the two killed were: Asadallah, a senior al Qaeda leader in Iraq as well as a go-between for foreign fighters trying to gain entry into the country; and Abu Zahra, a key facilitator of weapons and ammunition for al Qaeda fighters in the Husaybah area and a close confidant to the Emir of Husaybah—a senior terror leader in the region.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.