The F-15E Strike Eagles flown and maintained by airmen deployed from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, to Bagram AB, Afghanistan, have had a chilling effect on Taliban forces. Since their arrival in January, the Mountain Home airmen, operating as the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, have unleashed a variety of weapons and even adapted their wing-mounted guns for close air support. One of their key advantages, the Strike Eagles get to the action fast, reports Air Force Magazine’s Marc Schanz from Bagram. (Read more at right in “Tiger Strike on the Taliban.”)
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.