There’s more to the story of the first deployment of the new C-12 force at Yokota AB, Japan. Stars and Stripes reports that the Yokota airmen that deployed to support the US special operations mission in the Philippines last fall flew into short and rugged airfields to deliver cargo and troops, something the former Yokota C-21s could not have accomplished. Capt. Omar Rashid, one C-12 pilot, likened his aircraft to a Bronco SUV and the C-21 to a Mercedes. Another, 1st Lt. Logan Draves, said the runway on one island was “like an uphill sidewalk,” but he added, “I knew the aircraft could handle it.”
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.