The half of the 55th Electronic Combat Group flying EC-130H Compass Call aircraft for operations in Afghanistan has just passed 5,000 combat hours. The airmen of the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., have flown more than 940 sorties supporting coalition ground troops operating in Afghanistan. (Their sister unit, the 43rd EECS, covers Iraq.) The 41st EECS maintainers have ensured a more than 95 percent mission capable rate, changing propellers, engines, and making major repairs to keep the EC-130Hs in the air.
China is expanding the arsenal of counter-space weapons it could use in a potential conflict with the U.S., to include on-orbit systems, according to a new report from the Defense Intelligence Agency.