USAF forces at RAF Lakenheath in Britain will be one of the first bases to receive USAF’s newest and smallest precision guided weapon, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb. Officials expect to deploy it on the 48th Fighter Wing’s F-15Es beginning in October 2006. The bomb is also slated for use on the F/A-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.