A proposal for a new African Command is in the final stages and will be sent to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by the end of October, an unnamed military official told Voice of America News. Time Magazine online reported in August that the Pentagon was working this initiative, which would put Africa under one command instead of the three that currently share the region. According to VOA, Rumsfeld requested a “milestone” proposal developed in collaboration by Central Command, European Command, and Pacific Command—all of which share some portion of Africa under the current Unified Command Plan.
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.
