Fiscal 2019 proved to be safer for the Air Force than the year before, with nine fewer of the most destructive mishaps compared to fiscal 2018, according to Air Force Safety Center data. The service logged 14 Class A mishaps between Oct. 1, 2018 and Sept. 30, 2019, compared to 23 Class A incidents during the same time the year before. Of those 14 Class A events, the majority involved fighter jets: six F-22s, two F-15s, and two F-16s. AFSC noted one fatality in fiscal 2019.
Air Force Special Operations Command has changed its search for a missing special tactics airman into a mission to recover his body. SSgt. Cole Condiff, 29, was a special tactics combat controller with AFSOC's 24th Special Operations Wing. He served in the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron. Military personnel have been searching for Condiff since he fell from a C-130 over the Gulf of Mexico during a static line jump in training Nov. 5. The Air Force and Navy are still conducting recovery efforts and USAF is investigating the incident. The Coast Guard suspended its search effort Nov. 8.
Lockheed Martin for the first time demonstrated a high-energy laser weapon’s ability to take out multiple small drones for the Air Force at the Army-hosted Maneuver and Fires Integrated Experiment last month. The Advanced Test High Energy Asset, or ATHENA system, shot down multiple fixed-wing and rotary drones during the test, according to a Nov. 7 company release. Lockheed spokesman Mark Lewis said the exact number cannot be made public. “The Air Force has strong interest in systems with ATHENA’s demonstrated success,” he said.
