First Ops Osprey Arrives at Kirtland: The commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, flew the first operational CV-22 Osprey (recently completed in Texas) to Kirtland AFB, N.M., today, according to the Air Force. Wooley flew the new tilt-rotor aircraft from Edwards AFB, Calif., to Kirtland, where it is the first of four Ospreys to be assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing, the advanced training unit for AFSOC aircrews. USAF plans to purchase a total of 50 Ospreys by 2017, with the first combat squadron schedule for operation at Hurlburt Field, Fla., by 2009.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.