Airmen from the 728th Air Control Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., are controlling aircraft over Iraq, operating the center known as Kingpin at Balad AB, Iraq. It’s not the unit’s first time. Last year, the Eglin crew “surveyed, identified, and controlled more than 166,000 aircraft” from May to September, reports journalist Maj. Damien Pickart. Enlisted surveillance and weapons directors and air weapons officers control the action from within mobile operation modules, packed with computers and communications equipment.
The Defense Innovation Unit, the Pentagon’s commercial technology hub, plans to demonstrate low-cost, commercially derived missile defense sensors on orbit within the next two years, according to a new notice to industry.
