Daily Report

July 20, 2010

Report Shows Air Strike Casualties Comparatively Low

Improvised explosive devices planted by Taliban insurgents are much more likely to kill or injure Afghan civilians than coalition air strikes, according to a new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research. In fact, the data presented in the...

Guardsmen to Deploy to Southern Border

Obama Administration officials announced Monday that up to 1,200 National Guardsmen, including both soldiers and airmen, will deploy to the southern border areas of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to support law enforcement officials protecting the border with Mexico....

Global Hawk Block 40 Ready for Radar

Northrop Grumman announced Monday that AF-18, its first RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40 remotely piloted aircraft built for the Air Force, has completed envelope expansion flights at Edwards AFB, Calif., just six months after conducting its first flight. The Block...

Meanwhile, Global Hawk BACN Configuration Makes First Flight

The first of two RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20 remotely piloted aircraft being outfitted with special gear to serve as aerial communications relays has made its maiden flight. The inaugural sortie was a functional checkout flight of this battlefield airborne...

Pacific Airpower Powwow

Thirteenth Air Force, headquartered at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is co-hosting the 2010 Pacific Rim Airpower Symposium this week in Singapore with the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Discussions on regional cooperation and the use of air forces in support...

Kandahar’s C-130J Unit by the Numbers

Airmen of the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron have delivered more than 8.5 million pounds of supplies via airdrops to troops at forward operating bases in Afghanistan with extremely high levels of delivery accuracy over the past 16 months. The C-130J...

New GPS Satellite on Course to Operations

The Air Force's first Global Positioning System Block IIF satellite is progressing on schedule through its on-orbit checkout phase, USAF space officials announced Monday. The satellite was launched into orbit in May and is about halfway through its 90-day checkout period, said GPS officials with the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif. They said the satellite is currently broadcasting the same L1 and L2 navigation signals as previous GPS satellites as well as the new L5 safety-of-life signal. They are monitoring the quality and characteristics of the signals and the satellite's overall performance. Tests done by German researchers showed that, while the three signals are operating nominally, there are higher residual errors than expected. GPS officials are investigating the root cause. They think it may be due to the satellite's sensitivity to changes in its thermal environment.

Eager for Production

Boeing has delivered to the Air Force the last of the three C-130 test aircraft upgraded with state-of-the-art cockpit equipment during the developmental phase of the C-130 avionics modernization program. The company says the program is now ready to shift...

Afghan Wing Conducts First Field Training Exercise

Under the watchful eye of their US Air Force advisors, members of the Afghan National Army Air Force’s Kandahar Air Wing recently conducted their first-ever fielding training exercise. During the July 11 drill, the Afghan airmen responded to the simulated...

Rockwell Providing New AWACS Avionics

Rockwell Collins will provide components to upgrade the avionics in Air Force and NATO E-3 airborne warning and control system aircraft, according to a company release Monday. The components will allow the Air Force’s 33 E-3B/C aircraft and NATO’s 17...

Air Sorties from SWA 071010

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, July 10-11, 2010 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 51 112 163 12,910 CAS/Armed Recon 42 170 212 18,227 Airlift 365 365 33,101 Air refueling 105 105 8,646 Rescue 71 71 3,905 Total...