USAF and Canadian forces completed the largest-ever Combat Hammer air-to-ground weapons systems evaluation earlier this month, featuring A-10 Warthogs from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., B-52 bombers from Barksdale AFB, La., and CF-18 Hornets from Cold Lake AB, Canada. The participants gathered at Eglin AFB, Fla., utilizing the base’s western range, where they dropped more than 40 precision-guided weapons, according to an Eglin news release. Besides evaluating man and machine, the WSEP provides “invaluable” combat experience, said Maj. Chris Bridges, with Eglin’s 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.