Airmen assigned to Lajes Field, Portugal, in the Azores, say they recently recorded the second highest ground-level wind gust—at 68 mph—in three years and it came on the second straight day of 50-plus winds. The field’s tower level wind sensor (at 431 feet mean sea level) recorded 94.4 mph winds. The winds damaged the American Forces Network satellite dish and the instrument landing system on one runway. MSgt. Sean Lehman, operations superintendent with AFN Det. 6, told journalist SSgt. Christin Michaud, “The extent of thhe damage surprised us a little. … It took some force to actually rip it off its mount like that.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.