A quick reaction team from the 53rd Wing and 46th Test Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., installed new solid state recorders on two 494th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagles operating in Southwest Asia to help determine why F-15Es were getting flight display discrepancies. Al Berard, chief of test support instrumentation development, said it was the first time the SSR had been used on fielded aircraft, adding that it provided “an unprecedented amount of data” to aid troubleshooting efforts.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.