There was another F-15C crackup in midair (see above), but instead of the pilot walking away with a busted shoulder, this one—Maj. James Duricy—was killed. Editor in Chief Robert Dudney recalls that 2002 fatal accident in his January editorial. In the 2002 event, part of the tail section broke off, forcing Duricy to eject at 900 mph. As Dudney reports, the Air Force has warned about aging aircraft for years, but, “evidently, the warnings haven’t registered.” In Dudney’s view: “Washington’s apathy toward USAF’s geriatric fleet comes close to outright negligence.” (Read more in “Catastrophic Failure.”)
The U.S. and Sweden signed a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement on Dec. 5 that will strengthen military ties between them and likely lead to U.S. troops and prepositioned gear on Swedish soil. Swedish Defense minister Pal Jonson said the war in Ukraine prompted Sweden's joining NATO and he laid out…