The French Come Back for Seconds:
Some 21 members of the French Air Force have started a second deployment to support war on terror operations in Afghanistan. The new phase, dubbed Operation Serpentaire, picked up May 26 where the first left off and will continue until October. Officials say that the first group conducted about seven percent of coalition Operation Enduring Freedom air sorties.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.