Battlefield Airman Tests the Future in Binoculars: The coordination between battlefield airmen and pilots may get a boost with a new gyro-stabilized, laser-incorporating set of binoculars, called the Stabilized Portable Optical Target Tracking Receiver. The SPOTTR, recently tested during Northern Edge 2006 by TSgt. Nathan Hoffman, a joint terminal attack controller with the 354th Operations Group at Eielson AFB, Alaska, enables a battlefield airman to see where an aircraft’s targeting laser hits the ground. “I can give quick target ‘talk-ons’ to pilots, like ‘move your laser spot 100 meters east,” said Hoffman. In the current, time-consuming process, a JTAC uses terrain features to guide a pilot using a laser-guided bomb to the target.
Pentagon Puts Greenland Under US Northern Command
June 17, 2025
The Pentagon has given U.S. Northern Command responsibility for U.S. military operations in and near Greenland after President Donald Trump expressed interest in acquiring the Danish territory. Defending Greenland was previously the responsibility of U.S. European Command. But Greenland, an icy island in the High North between North America and…