US Central Air Command Air Forces has placed the USAF radar system that used to reside in Uzbekistan at K2 (we got tossed out of there earlier this year) in Afghanistan to service the airfields at Kabul and Bagram Air Base. It was a smart move, “greatly increasing our operational flexibility” by enabling limited visibility takeoffs and landings, says the air component director for Combined Joint Task Force 76, Brig. Gen. Bruce Burda. He says that Kabul is an air traffic hub not only for US military forces but also the International Security Assistance Forces and civil flights, as well.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.