Daily Report

The Air Force has completed on-orbit testing of AEHF-2, the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency military communications satellite. The test campaign, which concluded in late September, included a period of single-satellite testing followed by crosslink testing between AEHF-1 and AEHF-2, and culminated with testing in the operational Milstar constellation, states an Oct. 31 release from Air Force space officials at Los Angeles AFB, Calif. The testing "successfully demonstrated the performance" of an all-AEHF constellation and also validated that "multiple AEHF satellites can operate seamlessly within a Milstar constellation," states the release. AEHF satellites will eventually replace the Milstar constellation. Like Milstar satellites, AEHF spacecraft are designed to provide global assured and protected communications to the US national leadership and military commanders. The Air Force and its industry partners launched Lockheed Martin-built AEHF-2 into orbit in early May; the satellite arrived at its intended orbit in August.

Seventy-five members of the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh, together with an equal number of airmen from the state’s 107th AW in Niagara Falls, deployed as part of the statewide response to aid in the...

The 2nd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., accepted satellite control authority of SVN-65, the third GPS Block IIF spacecraft, according to a base release. The handover occurred during an Oct. 26 ceremony at Schriever. Initially, personnel from the...

More than 100 members of the California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno, along with eight of the unit’s F-16s, last month participated in a two-week Combat Archer air-to-air weapons system evaluation at Tyndall AFB Fla. The exercise...

Boeing has opened the first KC-46 Tanker System Integration Laboratory at Boeing Field in Seattle, announced the company on Oct. 31. The company will use “SIL 0,” as it is known, to test commercial avionics and software for integration into...

Members of the 451st Tactical Airborne Gateway at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, recently marked a major milestone for one of the E-11A aircraft that they operate as an overhead platform for relaying coalition troops’ communications. Each of the airplane’s two Rolls-Royce...

Some 25 British forward air controllers last month came to south Georgia for close air support familiarization training with A-10s from Moody Air Force Base. During Exercise Flying Rhino on Oct. 23, the British army and Royal Air Force controllers...

Boeing delivered the fourth and final 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft to the South Korean air force under the Peace Eye program, announced the company on Oct. 31. The aircraft arrived at Gimhae Air Base, the main operating...