USAF airmen have been providing airlift support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of Sudan for the past few years. The most recent mission for the 786th Air Expeditionary Squadron was Oct. 20, when the unit flew 400 Rwandan soldiers to Darfur, reports Capt. Erin Dorrance. The 786th AES expects to assist in transporting approximately 2,200 Rwandan troops and heavy equipment in and out of Darfur.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.