About 200 airmen and 10 A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from Air Force Reserve Command’s 924th Fighter Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., deployed to Florida this weekend to practice providing close air support during combat search and rescue operations. The training with the 301st Helicopter Squadron, which flies HH-60G Pave Hawks, at Patrick AFB, Fla., will last through the end of the month, according to a 944th Fighter Wing release. The 47th Fighter Squadron trains with an HH-60 unit at Davis-Monthan, but it’s the unit’s first time to Patrick. Col. Thomas McNurlin, chief of the 924th FG, said the new unit’s deployment to a “location in a new setting will force them out of their comfort zone and encourage them to overcome the challenges by working together,” according to the release.
The cost of the nuclear AGM-181 Long-Range Stand Off missile has come down slightly and the program is on track, but several technologies it relies on are still considered immature, the Government Accountability Office found in a report. Meanwhile, the GAO also assessed the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile as…