The Air Force has given a $2.7 million award to SpaceDev—the outfit that provided the rocket motor for SpaceShipOne—to develop a large hybrid rocket motor that can produce about 100,000 pounds of thrust. A prototype motor is to be test fired next year. Oh, the 100K thrust is about nine times the capability of the SpaceShipOne motor.
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.