The AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface-Standoff Missile program scored two successful flight tests—one from a B-1B and the other an F-16—last week, say Lockheed Martin officials. The tests, which mark the 11th success of out the last 13, demonstrated the latest upgrades to improve reliability and affordability, said company officials. USAF plans more tests this year, working toward initial operational capability of JASSM on the F-16 and B-2. The service already declared JASSM IOC for the B-1 and B-52.
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.