US airmen with the 506th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron at Kirkuk AB, Iraq, have succeeded in getting Erbil Airport operating regularly schedule commercial flights to and from Vienna, Austria—the first of any scheduled passenger flights since 2003. Air Force journalist TSgt. Russ Wood reports that the 506th airmen worked with coalition officials to develop new procedures for the commercial flights, building on those in place for chartered services.
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.