US Africa Command on Thursday began detailing its new campaign of airstrikes at the request of the Libyan government of national accord, outlining exactly what the US aircraft had in its sights near the city of Sirte. Air strikes on Aug. 1, the first day of Operation Odyssey Lightning, US aircraft hit one T-72 tank, two military support vehicles, an enemy fighting position, one T-55 tank, and two pieces of heavy engineering equipment. Aircraft on Aug. 2 hit one rocket launcher, one piece of heavy engineering equipment, and one pickup truck with a mounted recoilless rifle. On Aug. 3, an airstrike hit one pickup truck with a mounted recoilless rifle. The strikes were outlined in a news release from AFRICOM, which closely resembles how US Central Command has announced its airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. AFRICOM also released a video of the airstrike on the T-72 tank, showing a precision strike destroying the vehicle with buildings nearby.
Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.