Alaska Air National Guard officials tell the Anchorage Daily News that the state’s 176th Wing has taken center stage for airlift operations in Afghanistan—a role that may extend for two years. The wing volunteered for the job and plans to rotate approximately 50 airmen from Kulis Air National Guard Base in and out of Afghanistan every two months. This is the first time the wing has participated in the current Southwest Asia operations because Pacific Air Forces restricted the unit to maintain sufficient airlift in the Pacific region.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
