An Air Force B-1B bomber dropped 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions onto enemy fighting positions in both Nangalam and Asadabad, Afghanistan, on April 27, and an A-10 Thunderbolt fired cannon rounds onto enemy combatants in Jalalabad, Air Force officials directing the air campaign from the combined air and space operations center in Southwest Asia said in an April 28 release. These strikes were among the 46 close-air-support missions flown by coalition air forces over Afghanistan that day. In Iraq, coalition forces executed 43 CAS missions April 27.
Air Force exercises in the Indo-Pacific may soon get even bigger and more robust, as lawmakers move to invest more than $620 million in such efforts. The bulk of that money, contained in a $150 billion reconciliation package currently making its way through Congress, is $532.6 million for earmarked for…