Ever wonder what happens to unexpended ammunition rounds downloaded from A-10 Thunderbolts—more familiarly called Warthogs? The Air Force uses a GFU-7 machine—called the Dragon—to separate brass from the ammo, returning unused rounds to a container to be reloaded. Playing the statistics game, the 455th Munitions Flight, Bagram AB, Afghanistan, estimates that, since Sept. 15 it has “expended” more than 23,000 rounds of 30 mm ammo, 15,000 countermeasures, 103 rockets, 14 500-pound air burst bombs, and nine laser-guided bombs.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.