US Air Force pararescuemen wrapped up a week of drills with their Russian and Canadian counterparts for Arctic Search and Rescue Exercise 05. The event, conducted out of Eielson AFB, Alaska, tested the three countries abilities to conduct combat search and rescue operations in Arctic conditions. The three countries have run the exercise over the last 11 years.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…