An Air Force accident investigation board has determined that Mallard ducks caused a T-38 crash on Jan. 18 some 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn. The Commercial Dispatch reports that the ducks “shattered the cockpit canopy” of the T-38, which was on a training flight out of its home base at Columbus AFB, Miss. Both the student and instructor pilots ejected safely.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.