The wildfire that has burned more than 12,000 acres at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., was 70 percent contained as of Thursday morning, the 30th Space Wing announced. Specialized teams are now re-entering south base to assess the damage, according to a release. More than 1,000 firefighters from the USAF and more than 50 other agencies have been battling the fire since it began in a remote canyon on south base on Sept. 17, according to base releases. An Atlas V launch scheduled for Sept. 18 was delayed so the base’s resources could be focused on fighting the fire, according to another release. High winds are forecasted for the area, but firefighters are confident they will continue to make good progress as they continue constructing containment lines and eliminating hot spots, according to Thursday’s announcement.
While the Pentagon is halfway through its review of the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program in the wake of “critical” cost and schedule overruns, the service has declared a similar issue for the helicopters meant to provide security and transport across those ICBM fields. The Air Force recently…