Air Force officials from Spangdahlem AB, Germany, say the F-16 crash on Sept. 14 was not an accident; instead it was a “controlled bailout.” Col. Darryl Roberson, commander of Spang’s 52nd Fighter Wing, told reporters that the F-16 flown by 1st Lt. Trevor Merrell, 28, developed a gear problem and Merrell planned his ejection so the fighter “ended up in the middle of a field and did not impact any buildings or hurt any people.” What caused the gear problem, “we don’t know,” said Roberson, adding, “The safety investigation board will figure that out.”
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
