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.
Multiple U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters have deployed to the strategic outpost of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to protect the myriad of assets deployed there, including strategic bombers.