The French Air Force completed three months of flying support and combat sorties for Operation Enduring Freedom and for the International Security assistance force in Afghanistan on Nov. 4, according to US Central Air Forces officials. The French flew more than 400 sorties, logging nearly 2,000 flying hours: 720 hours in the M-2000 Mirage, 550 hours in the F-1 Mirage, and 680 hours in the C-135 SR tanker. Lt. Col. Marc Bexombes, a French liaison officer at the Southwest Asia combined air operations center, called the effort a “wonderful experience,” one that “fortified the links between the French and US Air Forces.” If only our diplomats could say the same.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
