The radar analysts of the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron at McChord AFB, Wash., recently aided the rescue of two survivors of a glider crash. The pilot and student of a sailplane crashed in the remote southern California San Gabriel Mountains. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department used 84th RES radar data to pinpoint the aircraft’s last known location, speed, heading, and altitude. A California Civil Air Patrol aircraft spotted the glider and the downed airmen a day after they crashed.
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.