T
he first of eight new C-17 strategic airlifters arrived at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, where the active 517th Airlift Squadron and a new Air National Guard unit—the 249th Airlift Squadron—will share operation and maintenance duties. The 517th formerly flew C-130 tactical airlifters and gave up its last Hercules in March. SSgt. Francesca Popp reports that the units, which should receive their final C-17 in November, each provided crew members to fly the first Elmendorf C-17, named the “Spirit of Denali,” to the Alaskan base.
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.