US airmen and other warfighters stand to benefit from a scheduled launch of the latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft—the F-17 Block 5D-3—aboard a Boeing Delta IV Medium booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Nov. 4. The Lockheed Martin-built satellite features advanced sensors that collect meteorological data in all weather conditions, a more powerful computer with greater memory, and ring laser gyros that supply more flexible precision pointing than earlier mechanical gyros, states a company news release.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.