The Air Force has laid out requirements for its $1.07 billion Wideband Gapfiller Satellite program, stipulating that the Boeing contract has options for a second block of satellites, reports Dow Jones Newswires. Each block will have three satellites and the second block will provide for more bandwidth access to spy planes and other aircraft. Plans call for the first WBG satellite to launch in 2007.
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.