An Air Force KC-135 is working with the Navy’s V-22 Osprey team to test the tilt-rotor aircraft’s mid-air refueling capability. The tests, which began on Aug. 24 at NAS Patuxent River, Md., will determine first if the two aircraft can operate near each other safely, and then proceed with actual in-air refuelings. According to V-22 program spokesman Ward Carroll, the Wednesday test proved for the first time the two aircraft could connect via refueling boom. Carroll said the current testing phase will conclude early next week.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…

