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.”)
House lawmakers unveiled a new reconciliation package July 15 with $60 billion for defense, $290 billion less than the Pentagon has been seeking, a day after a Senate vote to advance the annual defense policy bill failed—developments that show the perilous state of the Pentagon’s ambitious plans for fiscal 2027.