Installation began in July 2004 for a new antenna for the Air Force Satellite Control Network operation at New Boston AFS, N.H., and operational testing began on Dec. 14. It took more than one year to complete the radome housing the antenna, reports Maj. Dean Bellamy of the 23rd Space Operations Squadron at New Boston. The unit must complete four phases of testing before putting the system online. By the way, the last antenna lasted some 44 years.
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.