In a separate engagement (see above), but still around Musah Qal’eh in Afghanistan, USAF A-10s, flying close air support with a B-1B and a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, strafed Taliban extremists firing upon coalition ground forces. The A-10s fired cannon rounds and a GBU-12 Paveway II, “ending the engagement,” reports US Central Command Air Forces.
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.